full of luv

Well it was born this way cause Delta was the majority of the threads in the major section. When the UAL/CAL merger went down, people wanted somewhere to discuss SLI/JCBA discussions so they created a "temp" subform. Then the same thing happened to SWA/Airtran and ultimately AA/USAir. That's the history, I think they took the "merger" part off of the subforms a while back.

Bucking Bar

I too would like that surprise.

The economics of the 747-400 have been pretty well covered. What oil prices don't resolve is the operational difficulties imposed by an anachronistic type. The 747 seems to have fallen from grace following a couple of high profile diversions and unscheduled maintenance events (apparently handled very well by the crews BTW). There is also the issue of thin margins on routes the 747 was flying.

The 747 is a beautiful jet and it's easy to be nostalgic.

sailingfun

I would sure like to keep those jobs but my understanding is the same as yours. The maintenance issues drove parking the airframes.

Bucking Bar

... unfortunately the vacuum toilets negate the real fun of bringing dry ice on the jet ...

Bucking Bar

If our 747's were to stick around, it would indicate to me that network / marketing hit some grand slams. That would be very good news if we could use that capacity while generating good margins. Unfortunately those opportunities are rare, even more so with the ME carriers throwing subsidized and cheaply staffed A380's and 777's into competitive markets.


While nostalgic for the queen of the skies, I am pleased that Delta has found a sustainable business model which appears poised to keep us profitably employed for the foreseeable future.

Schwanker

Looks like a viable LGA shuttle machine.

georgetg

This isn't about nostalgia, its about total per trip cost.

Fuel is a huge driver by a factor of 10/1 over maintenance.
As long as fuel cost is reduced by nearly half, an extra $3500 maintenance costs per trip become less of a factor.

The driver whether the jets will stick around longer or not will be demand and achievable yields so long as the lower fuel prices hold...

Delta has capital costs to recoup on those jets and you don't pay for KU-band internet and whole cabin mods by parking them.








As for Delta maintenance cost vs other airlines you'd be surprised that on a similar utilization basis, Delta enjoys a nearly 3:1 cost benefit over United's 747 fleet...





Cheers
George

flyallnite

All good points. But the main thing to remember is that on this thread, we're all stuck in the same circle of hell, together. And like any good, long running TV series, it has its ups and downs, it's heroes and villains, and often an ambiguous dialogue. Pop a cold one and enjoy...

scambo1

Step back Jack!

The only time in your life where this will be the correct answer...




Because we've always done it that way.

gzsg

December 21st, 2014

My fellow pilots,

I am writing this email to all of you because I cannot keep up with all of the emails I am receiving. I am sorry that I have not been able to return the majority of your emails but there are currently 75 pilots on list #1 and 4013 pilots on list #2. After the news that the MEC passed the Voting Resolution, I now have 537 emails in my list #2 inbox. I have read and answered 51 so far. As I have stated before, I work a second job as a mechanic, so I have to respond to you in my spare time, which I have little of!

I apologize to anyone that I have not responded to, but as I have stated before, I am not an ALPA rep, I do not get paid anything from ALPA or anyone else, for what I do! I am just a line pilot trying to make things better for myself and my fellow pilots! That being the case, I am just going to try and answer the most common questions and address the most common statements from the phone calls and emails that I have already received.

Yes! The voting resolution passed. I read the same ALPA email that everyone else did. I called my F/O rep at Council 44, and he let me know in a message that the resolution passed the MEC unanimously.

Yes! I have heard the rumors that it passed, but was altered and did not meet the intent and desire of the pilots.

On that note, I have requested from the MEC and my local LEC a copy of what the MEC actually passed. The local chairman and my F/O rep have both stated that they will get me a copy. From what I understand, this resolution will require a policy change at the highest levels of ALPA, and all other ALPA represented airlines will have to vote on it. Since we negotiate our contract individually, I do not know why we have to ask for the approval from other airlines. This is what the Delta Pilots want and this is what we should have before this next contract! If we negotiated as one union, negotiatingone contract for all of the pilots of all airlines at once, I would be okay with asking for their approval, but we do not. This resolution was designed to get the membership to support their union. If this gets pushed aside and wound up in red tape, it will have opposite effect.



Yes! I do understand that if this gets pushed aside that it is a sign of things to come. If this simple request from the pilots is ignored, then we know that our request to have our pay and work ruled restored will be ignored as well! In over 30 of your emails, you talked about the slideshow of the investor day conference that ALPA provided for us (Council 44 Hotline Dec 14th). As I have published many times and as the upper management has stated in no uncertain terms in the slideshow, Delta Air Lines is rolling in the dough! And, they will continue to do so, well into the future. RA’s great work has positioned us to be on top of any downturn imaginable! There is no diagram, graph, or pie chart that anyone could present to the pilots that could explain why we should not get a 20% raise date of signing. We all know that the money to do that equals about the money that you could dig out of the couch at the Delta house!

With that said, don’t blame your union for not asking for what you want, if you do not participate. You cannot blame your reps for something that they don’t know. They are not mind readers!

If everyone of you that is reading this has not emailed at least one of your reps, MEC, LEC, it doesn’t matter, then you deserve to get the crappy pay that the company is about to offer us!

Don’t get mad at me for stating the obvious! I am involved, even working two jobs and raising a family, I am involved.

Yes! I have heard the rumor that the company would like to offer us 4, 8, 3, and 3. I have also heard that they want to take away sick time, make us pay for all of our health care, and take another chunk out of profit sharing. Let us face reality! If the company could get us to volunteer to fly, they would never pay us a dime! As a union of pilots, it is up to us to demand what we want. Do I have to go back to my previous post to explain to you what a unique group of people that you are?

Let us just take a little for instance:

At Delta we depart a flight about every 30 seconds around the clock 24/7, 365. Now because a lot of you live around pilots, your friends are pilots, you sit next to and talk to pilots while you are at work, you think that it is no big deal.

It is a big deal! Just because we make it look easy does not mean that it is easy!

That ability to show up from all parts of the country, fly people to all parts of the world safely and efficiently is where our value lies. Stop talking to the pilot next to you and go out into the street and talk to people that are not in this industry. They are amazed at what we do. Keep in mind, there are a lot of the general public that are afraid to even get on an airplane. Imagine what they would do when the number 1 engine flames out at 30% west in the winter time!

You are a unique group of employees that this company would not exist without and you should be rewarded for your talent and life-long dedication to this job!

Yes! I understand that everyone is frustrated that our reps are not saying out loud that we should be restored to C2K plus 2% COLA by the end of this contract. Again, we know they can! After the C2K contract, Delta Airlines recorded record profits. The company is now miles above where they were back then. Again do not blame your reps for not doing something that you have not told them to do. Yes, I said told them, because you are the dues paying members and you and only you can tell them what to ask for.

If you want them to publicly state that the pilots need to be paid C2K plus a COLA raise in this next contract, then pick up the phone, write an email, get a petition drive going, do something! Nothing will get do unless you demand it!

Something to consider, I have had long conversation about this business with people that are not in this business. People that have a birds- eye view of the big picture, so to speak. They marvel at the fact that this airline is so dependent on us, and even though we are unionized, we do everything that they want. We have eaten the dirt sandwiches that they have given us while we carry them on our backs to unimaginable wealth. It is mind boggling to them that so many people rely on us every second of every minute, of every hour of the day, and we don’t realize the power that we have with that. We just go on paying union dues and never act like a union. They have given me their views as outsiders, not pilots. They realize just how many people rely on us to move airplanes. It is not just the passengers in the back. It is thousands of people in hundreds of supply and service chains all around the globe. They say to me that the pressure should not be on us to fight for a raise, the pressure should be on the company to give us a raise, and keep us happy. If the airplanes don’t move, no one makes money! They realize that and the pilots of Delta Air Lines should too!

Back to just how unique that you really are! Right now the company is hiring pilots as fast as they can. The reasons for this are many:

· Pilots are retiring at an increasing rate now that the entire field endured the age 65 career set back.

· People with limited resources can no longer pay for the training on their own. That leaves the military or kids from wealthy families to provide our up and coming pilots. With all of the reductions in pay, talented people of lesser means cannot get the flight time they need, and some with means are not willing to endure the long hours and crappy pay, that it takes to get to Delta Air Lines.

· Because of 117 and the longer days, some pilots are not making it to 65. Make no mistake this is a hard life. Long days, time zones, back side of the clock, all take their toll on us. I heard (I cannot find the article to back this up, but you can Google it) that the pilots in all airlines are only making it to an average age of 63. So it doesn’t matter if they raise the age to 80. Pilots won’t make it that long under these conditions so they have to hire pilots.

· They are bringing more routes back to mainline flying. This is not because they are trying to be nice to us; it is because the lack of pilots will not allow them to fly the required segments. With that said, we do not need to give up any money for 50 seat scope and very little to RJ scope in general. They do not have the pilots to fly them! Once again, I want you to look in the mirror and realize how unique that you are! If this job were easy and/or easy to attain we would be worth what they are paying us now. Again the people from outside this industry that don’t sit next to pilots everyday know just how valuable we are!



We do so much more! I could keep writing. I have run out of time this morning because I have a blown up big block 7.4 Mercruiser on my bench that I have to disassemble before I go back to my job as an International 767 First Officer.

I will leave you with this thought. It is up to us, all of us, to stand up and say:

“We got you here with the money that you took out of our pockets and the 10 years of our lives that we gave to put this company on top. C2K plus COLA is not too much to ask and we want it!

Now go out, contact your reps and tell them what you want. The return on that small investment of your time could be enormous!

Sincerely and Fraternally,



Jimmy Johnson



P.S. I am sorry; I don’t read emails while I am out on a rotation. I dedicate myself to resting and exercise on my layovers so that I might make it to 65!


__________________
Jim Johnson