Not now! Not in front of all these lurkers!.......Tonight

Shiz;
The deal will be very interesting. There is a lot more at play here then was at play during the NWA-DAL merger.

If successful, I am willing to be that all the flying is shared with KF-KLM, JAL and us.

I would love to bring their expat guys here after their contracts are up. The Japanese government is involved, and because of that this deal will weigh heavily in JAL's favor no matter who has the better hand. Just remember that. Also remember that we need the deal for long term growth in that sector.
We may have gotten more growth on plan B, but it would be short term and actually cost more to us and our airline in the long run. This is rational and steady. Though not as exciting it is more sustainable that what we will have to do if we fail to cement the deal in the 11th hr.

I couldn't disagree more about contract guys. They are independent contractors, for a reason. JAL/ANA contract pilot levels ebb and flow regularly. Contract brings relatively premium pay with respect to longevity at any carrier.

This is nearly the same thing as saying we should hire as many Mesa, SkyWest and ASA guys as soon as possible because mainline flying is replacing much of their flying at the moment.

Well Professor, we can agree to disagree then. I think we should hire our DCI brethren.

On a different note, any of your going to be come a Delta Star with the new videos they are looking to shoot? :D

I'm too ugly..

So am I, but I figured I would throw it out there for our pretty boys and girls!

I have a problem with our hiring practices being tilted towards any one group without a solid reason.

ASA is a good example of a group we owed when Comair kinda gave our pilots the middle finger.

On a separate note, just back from training and came away with no new information except the 4th floor was hopping.

The new hotel is great and even through a free food/drink reception for us last night. Expecting cheese and beer and wound up with a beef carving station, shrimp chicken - the works plus free beer!

They're supposed to be repeating this each Mon night for the net month.

Well if that is how you feel, then direct the MEC to change the PWA.

DAL knows that they are going to get when they hire a DCI guy. There is better access to how they were trained and what their company expected of them. It is the same line of thinking with military pilots. It is a known quantity.

It does lower DCI costs when we hire their senior guys, but brand loyalty among our ranks does have benefits.