Originally Posted by acl65pilot (Post 734670)

I would like to see it go junior to that. It is done btw. They stated today that it would be out on early on the first at the latest.

Originally Posted by acl65pilot (Post 734740)

I could have held it if I would have bid it higher up. I think it was my 23rd choice out of 65 or so MD preferences.

We will see on Friday.

Originally Posted by alfaromeo (Post 734722)

Well there are two issues here. First, is do I think we need to get contractual improvements, and the answer is yes. I think I pointed out in my posts that I consider it a given that we will increase our contractual costs in our next Section 6. The problem is that that increase will end up being some number of dollars and it will be fixed. That fixed amount will go to whatever the MEC (representing the pilots) deems are the priorities. If it is reserve then fine. As long as everyone knows the costs. There is a bucket of money to spread around and at some point the bucket runs out. If you use your bucket to increase reserve costs, there will be less left to increase pay, vacation or whatever and you can't pretend that is not true. It doesn't matter how much pay cuts you have taken, a finite amount of dollars is a finite amount, period.

The second issue is that in the short term, we have a contract with a defined cost structure going into the future. If we want to significantly increase the costs in one section of the contract, the company will demand some sort or trade to balance those costs OR they will have to eat the increased costs. Almost as soon as we exited bankruptcy, we have signed a series of agreements that have increased costs for the company, not significantly, but to a measurable amount. Most of these agreements gave the company some operational flexibility that could allow them increase revenue or decrease costs in some other way. For instance, we moved the equator 3 degrees south (that's a joke) so that 737's could go to Quito and in exchange we got 737-700 pay moved up to 737-800 pay. That was a trade. We obtained several other improvements along these lines.

If we are going to get mid-contract improvements that are significant, then we will have to trade something in return, otherwise why would the company do it. Maybe if the JAL deal goes through, we can leverage our cooperation in a Joint Venture for some contract improvements. Maybe some other issue will arise that calls for a trade. Despite all of the cuts that have occurred (and I remind you that they all happened to me the same as you, I don't know, you might not have been around for all of them) the idea that you can walk in and demand mid-contract improvements just because we took cuts in the past is probably wishful thinking. Remember, after 9-11, the company started asking for contract relief in early 2002. The deal was completed in late 2004 and only when the company was on the courthouse steps getting ready to file Chapter 11. We took three pay raises in the meantime. It does work both ways.

So the answer is yes I am quite upset that our contract has been hit hard by the collapse of the industry. Yes, I want more money. Yes, I think we deserve more money. But yes, I realize that every section of the contract is a trade in value against every other section. While I want our contract costs to go up, in the end it will be a FIXED NUMBER that can be spent on many different things, but not all things at once.

This is a business and we have to realize that in business there is no such thing as cosmic justice. We have a record second to none in navigating through these hard times. In the last five years we have retained and added more value to our contract than any other pilot group facing similar circumstances. That is the mindset that the current ALPA leadership team has shown.

You can't sit around and feel sorry for the past you keep having to work the future. I don't think we have gone more than six months at any time since bankruptcy exit where we haven't put more value into our contract. We created hundreds of millions of value out of this merger, something that has never been done before, something that was invented whole hog by the current Delta union leadership. Any normal person would recognize that accomplishment and realize that in a finite world with very real limits, we have pushed those limits harder than any other pilot group. Look at United, look at US Air and tell me what you see there.

Originally Posted by acl65pilot (Post 734715)

I am in NYC and my God is it cold.

Originally Posted by acl65pilot (Post 734740)

I could have held it if I would have bid it higher up. I think it was my 23rd choice out of 65 or so MD preferences.

We will see on Friday.

Originally Posted by acl65pilot (Post 734754)

Nope no peak for me ;) No time today. Other meetings and things to take care of.