Carl Spackler

Yes they have, but lots of folks are now trying to change this. My reps in DTW are doing a good job of trying to change this AWFUL union administration of ours. Other reps are trying as well.

The best thing we can do is to let our reps know that we've got their backs as they try to force this administration to behave properly, because any rep that does so will have a bullseye on their forehead.

Carl

scambo1

5% of Americans have a net worth greater than $1 million. 35% of Americans have savings greater than $40k. Sad sad sad. People have chosen to be enslaved...chosen.

Carl Spackler

Here's the key point: IT WOULDN'T BE STOPPING COMMERECE. The company could decide at its sole discretion which routes they wanted to fly, and which they did not. Ending the JV would simply mean that Delta pilots would figure into management's equation on the commerece that management decides to pursue.

How you can say that doesn't help Delta pilots is beyond me.

Carl

Oberon

You could do that but it would be punitive which I don't think would work in arbitration. You could make a case for higher staffing without a fine I think. It's just a matter of priorities...money or jobs.

I think the fine strategy would have better chance at success but you can always start with staffing and "settle" for money. I'm referring only to past violations. I think the best strategy going forward is staff for 50% of the JV and fly whatever Delta wants.

The whole idea of a percentage of flying is to protect jobs, which is why it is in section one. Instead of dancing around the issue by stipulating a percentage of flying why not stipulate a level of staffing based on a percentage of flying? That makes the equation much more simple.

sailingfun

Because we would have a massive drawdown in our transatlantic flying. It would also impact our domestic network as FFlyers shifted to airlines that offered a global reach. In the competitive environment we face it's very difficult to maintain many international routes unless they are fed from both ends.

casual observer

What percent of 747 trips are 4 pilot?

Carl Spackler

Even if you could get past the near impossibility of how you would realistically transition to your longevity based pay system, it ignores what I think would be a devastating impact on jobs. Specifically, it would incentivize the company to buy larger aircraft since we would have taken pay based on revenue production out of the equation. Further, it would make our smaller aircraft relatively more expensive to operate thus putting more pressure on outsourcing the bottom end. These two points add a compounding effect to job destruction.

With our current system, we are seeing a reduction in large aircraft which means pilots will be displaced to lower paying positions. I get that. But it's requiring more jobs. If I had to choose between higher pay for fewer jobs, or slightly lower pay for many more jobs...I choose the latter.

Carl

forgot to bid

I've made a half dozen PAs in the past few months. I hardly make them anymore. It is horrible sitting in the back and I don't want to add to their misery. Besides most of the As make the seat belt announcement and that suffices. They don't want to hear from us, they've got more technology back there then we do upfront to know where we are. Just are we on time?

I still am shocked over the two or three minute PA an 88 pilot gave during taxi out last year talking about how we are all tickeled pink that you are flying on Delta during beast cancer awareness month and then he began his lengthy canned PA. No idea how they got the taxi check or second engine started.

Or maybe they're one of those few who hangs out on the ramp after push to start both engines, set up the WDR then run the taxi check and checklist.

satchip

Man would I love to sit over dinner and debate this with you. We would need a 30 hour XNA layover for that.

Yes, it is better taken in a simplified way. But it's not nearly as good as it should be. Historically this is the worst recovery in the history of the US. The policies of the last 6 years have extended the downturn and slowed the recovery, much like FDR's did in the 30s. Just compare 1982 and the ensuing 6 years to 2008 and today.

The end of 2008 is a whole 'nuther debate. That might take a 48hr JAN.

iceman49

February 15, 2008

John McCain and the pilots

Sen. John McCain may have the Republican party nomination wrapped up, but he still has some convincing to do with one group of traditionally Republican voters. No, I'm not talking about evangelical Christians - I'm talking about commercial airline pilots.
McCain co-sponsored legislation in 2003 that would have changed the Railway Labor Act to include mandatory "baseball-style" arbitration in airline contract negotiations. That's a method whereby a mediator makes the final decision on disputed issues, and there is no appeal. Unions have long opposed any attempts to force that type of arbitration, because it removes their greatest form of leverage - the ability to strike.
McCain's 2003 effort failed, but lots of pilots still remember it. One told me recently that he will never vote for the Arizona senator, and he believes many of his colleagues feel the same way.
"Look, most pilots are ex-military, they're professionals, most of them vote Republican and have all their lives," the pilot said. "But when it comes to McCain, most of us all remember how he backed airline management and tried to screw the pilots. That's going to cost him some votes."
- Trebor