Any "Latest & Greatest" about Delta?
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 20,876
Likes: 193
Now that the Virgin LOA is a done deal, what's next?
The AF/KLM grievance.
Management will mitigate. It is in their best interest to fold this grievance into C2015.
This harm to us has been going on for almost 4 years. The damage is millions and millions. And the damage is ongoing even after any settlement because they will still not be in compliance.
This grievance needs to be handled separately. Either through settlement or arbitration.
If DALPA allows it to be folded into C2015, WE LOSE.
C2015 with the grievance included will have the same yield as C2015 without the grievance. Why would we make that mistake?
Settling the grievance outside C2015 will allow us a second bite at the apple. It will allow for major improvements in our scope language. Shorter time frames and specified penalties. It will also mean millions for our pilot group outside of C2015.
Sadly, I believe it will be folded into C2015 and we will miss this opportunity.
Make your voice heard.
The AF/KLM grievance.
Management will mitigate. It is in their best interest to fold this grievance into C2015.
This harm to us has been going on for almost 4 years. The damage is millions and millions. And the damage is ongoing even after any settlement because they will still not be in compliance.
This grievance needs to be handled separately. Either through settlement or arbitration.
If DALPA allows it to be folded into C2015, WE LOSE.
C2015 with the grievance included will have the same yield as C2015 without the grievance. Why would we make that mistake?
Settling the grievance outside C2015 will allow us a second bite at the apple. It will allow for major improvements in our scope language. Shorter time frames and specified penalties. It will also mean millions for our pilot group outside of C2015.
Sadly, I believe it will be folded into C2015 and we will miss this opportunity.
Make your voice heard.
I think the company gains the same thing they gained when the first scope provisions were negotiated, known parameters.
Can't abide NAI
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 12,078
Likes: 15
From: Douglas Aerospace post production Flight Test & Work Around Engineering bulletin dissembler
Buck
I am no expert in this area. It would have been nice to have more education from the MEC.
Specifically, if tomorrow brought the absolute worst case scenario, how much flying could we lose? And worst case scenario, how much can they grow with no gains for us?
What are the actual penalties for noncompliance? I apologize if I missed them.
As you know performance is the centerpiece of all of the contracts Delta signs with partners/vendors/regional partners. This performance is clearly spelled out as well as the penalties for noncompliance.
Did we study and use these contracts for our negotiations?
Jerry
I am no expert in this area. It would have been nice to have more education from the MEC.
Specifically, if tomorrow brought the absolute worst case scenario, how much flying could we lose? And worst case scenario, how much can they grow with no gains for us?
What are the actual penalties for noncompliance? I apologize if I missed them.
As you know performance is the centerpiece of all of the contracts Delta signs with partners/vendors/regional partners. This performance is clearly spelled out as well as the penalties for noncompliance.
Did we study and use these contracts for our negotiations?
Jerry
The Negotiator's Notepad does a good job on the worst case scenarios. Rather than retype what they wrote, let me just re-direct you to that document on your MEC Library page. As you read through those scenarios, I would ask you to compare the result with VS LOA to without VS LOA.
Noncompliance requires a cure. If the Company does not cure then it would result in an expedited grievance.
You raise an interesting point about vendor agreements. Very few people have seen these contracts. Board members do not have access. I was asked to resolve a lawsuit between fee for departure providers who basically were suing each other for "loss of use" due to RJ's getting damaged. The task was figure out the revenue streams less variable costs. The confidentiality of the contracts was the primary reason for the agreement to seek alternative dispute resolution.
If you were to apply a similar agreement to a PWA it would look something like this:
- pilots take a 60% cut in pay. Base rates are less than costs. Therefore, pilots must make bonus money to survive.
- Company keeps metrics on pilots on time performance, completion factor, training, and safety metrics (in no particular order).
- Pilots can potentially earn an 50% bonus for performance (hence a 10% potential raise). Lower levels of bonus for lower performance.
- Poor performance (perhaps due to no fault of the pilot) results in payments less than it costs the pilot to buy a car, buy a uniform and drive to work. Bankruptcy results from poor performance. (In Mesa / Freedom's case they alleged they had been moved to KLGA where they could not make the bonus money ... not their fault ... Court said, tough)
I would like to explore economic incentives for compliance, but probably not in the way you are thinking. Since Delta manages their money, perhaps we could restrict payment for non-conforming operations by third parties (like the vendor agreements). The question is whether any penalty which could be realistically negotiated would be as good a deterrent as the expedited grievance process. In concept, the grievance should be resolved by making the affected pilots completely whole. The Company has the uncertainty of the outcome (which they hate) and the risk of ugly labor relations making the press.
Another aspect to consider; Labor Protective Provisions evolve at a glacial pace (maybe slower than glaciers if measured by Al Gore). American's Scope Section remained stuck, got struck down by the Courts and effectively mirrors our ~ 2010 agreement, after 15 years. United's also mirrors ours. In the meantime, the Delta MEC has remained in nearly constant scope negotiations which have substantially increased the amount of flying being done by Delta mainline and this VS JV is another World first. Compared to the rest of the industry, we've been in warp drive.
Just my opinion ... .
To further illuminate.
When Delta buys A 350 s or 787s and delivery is late, do you think their is a financial penalty in the contract or they just say we will figure it out later?
In Delta's partnership with Skywest, do you think there are financial penalties if Skywest cannot perform some flights for lack of pilots? Or do they just say we will work it out in arbitration?
These LOAs are severly lacking and if we changed sides, RA would NEVER agree to the garbage we do.
When Delta buys A 350 s or 787s and delivery is late, do you think their is a financial penalty in the contract or they just say we will figure it out later?
In Delta's partnership with Skywest, do you think there are financial penalties if Skywest cannot perform some flights for lack of pilots? Or do they just say we will work it out in arbitration?
These LOAs are severly lacking and if we changed sides, RA would NEVER agree to the garbage we do.
FDX pilots have a clause in their contract that limits the amount of wet lease lift. Once the limit is exceeded, the company has to pay a financial penalty to the pilot group. Even with this in place, FDX management outsources and pays the penalty, as it's still cheaper than hiring enough pilots to complete the schedule. Is that better than taking each scope situation to expidited grievance?
The company weighed the options and chose to willfully disregard the scope clause. Monetization of scope can be a dangerous road to travel...
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 3,108
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As of Nov it appears that at the end of the measurement period in the spring the company will be above 47%. The numbers are up on the Delta website. They were required to be at 48.5%. We are about somewhere just over 1 flight per day. If we use 1.5 flights per day as the shortfall then we are talking around 30 total jobs lost. The arbitrator will have to determine the value of those jobs. At a average cost of 300,000 a year per pilot your looking at 9 million per year over 4 years. I suspect however the arbitrator will adapt some metric we may not like but I would say 36 million is the very top end of value he would find for the pilot group. Reality is it will probably be a fraction of that.
Line Holder
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 1,281
Likes: 0
From: C560XL/XLS/XLS+
As of Nov it appears that at the end of the measurement period in the spring the company will be above 47%. The numbers are up on the Delta website. They were required to be at 48.5%. We are about somewhere just over 1 flight per day. If we use 1.5 flights per day as the shortfall then we are talking around 30 total jobs lost. The arbitrator will have to determine the value of those jobs. At a average cost of 300,000 a year per pilot your looking at 9 million per year over 4 years. I suspect however the arbitrator will adapt some metric we may not like but I would say 36 million is the very top end of value he would find for the pilot group. Reality is it will probably be a fraction of that.
and let's talk about something else, like what's the current mbh ratio... Wait no, how about we talk about profit sharing, how awesome it is and how we need to monetize it.
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 1,724
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From: Boeing Hearing and Ergonomics Lab Rat, Night Shift

The first vertical black line in March 2014 labeled Measurement date is when we measured compliance.
The company din't comply with the PWA lower limit and fell short.
The second vertical line in March 2015 labeled Cure date is the cure date.
With 3 months to go, it is safe to say that the company will also fail to meet that goal.
Would you like me to show you that MEC data also?
Cheers
George
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 5,816
Likes: 5
From: retired 767(dl)
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