I also completely disagree with you. I want to make more for less work. If we can get substantial raises, then you won't need to fly 90 hours/month. Most guys want to work as little as possible. It seems to me since we've taken huge pay cuts, you want to make it up by working more. Why not fix the real problem? Our low hourly rates. Letting pilots fly more will downgrade everyone thus we will be working more for the same overall pay. Did I mention this is a terrible idea and very flawed thinking on your part?

 

I'm not sure that I entirely agree with you. Telling guys "you can't be productive so we can hire a kid still in middle-school twenty years from now" is a vestige of a tired era where you had an entire generation of narcissistic copilots who would deliberately bid the same schedules as LCAs, all so they could get paid for NOT working.

Hey, I want to pay $500 for a brand new Lincoln Navigator...but then I realize I have to also live in the real world.

I personally don't like flying a lot of hours, but so long as we don't have guys furloughed (which changes the discussion) AND have great pay and work rules for the trips that we do fly (which we also don't have now, at least on the pay side), guys should be able to pick up more time if they wish. Mandating inefficiency never creates "jobs"--it is merely feather-bedding that gives the illusion of creating jobs, all the while contributing to an increasingly unprofitable enterprise that puts into jeopardy ALL the jobs in the first place.

The cap/ALV is a good tool for initially creating schedules in PBS/Lines of Time. Not having it during the initial schedule creation would create chaos. That said, after the initial schedules are built, then guys who want to should be able to pick up as much time as they wish.

Look at it the other way. Why don't we make the cap 20 hours? Think of all the "jobs!" we could create. How about a cap of...zero?...Mathematically, the entire universe could be on the DAL seniority list and we still wouldn't have enough pilots. Think about your career progression then!...oh wait, that wouldn't work.

So...somewhere between a cap of zero and the entire universe on the seniority list, and a no cap, let's-waive-all-contractual rules and FARs and all fly until we collapse in the cockpit, is the happy medium.

I just think that that happy medium should allow those who want to fly more the ability to do so, while not mandating it for those of us who don't want to. Seat progression and the rest is wonderful--so long as it is based on a thriving, profitable company. "Featherbedding" and telling guys who want to be productive that they cannot be all in the name of some theoretical job that the company's financials don't warrant, is ultimately a losing proposition.

 

Some are going to training as early as next week. The base should most likely open in March however don't expect any time for the base and those that are converted should be on reserve. Expect to see flying in the base in April.

 

Have the company give back every single concession we've ever given, and I'll be for removing the cap. The cap is pretty high to begin with. You have to work around 18 days/month to break it without greenslips.

 

Just got settled in my hotel room in DEN and finally made it to this page before signing off....


As far as the 75/76 VNAV... it's rock solid. The only consistent issue I see with guys is not catching the difference between VNAV PTH and VNAV SPD. They'll get a speed change, drop it in the box...and while the hamsters are turning their wheels, the plane reverts to VNAV SPD at the updated speed, and of course floats away. Then once the hamsters say "done, here's your path!" many times people miss that they have floated off and don't take any action to recapture the path.

In all airplanes that I've flown, the path will always trump speed. It will make that crossing hell or high water. As far as holding speed, it's just a matter of how good info you've fed it (winds, a/i correction) and how overly optimistic the software is. I've heard the 800 is quite optimistic on the path as opposed to reality.

Looking forward to flying the 800.... not looking forward to leaving the 75/76. It is what it is!


My opinion on the spirit thing- BAD IDEA.

 

Thanks 80, but I was asking if the 737 was like the 767. Ya know, a good VNAV system.

 

Can't, but check your PM's.

 

acl65, I've yet to find an airplane that didn't have its quirks, and I've flown almost everything in the current pre-merger DAL fleet and many that are no longer here (DC9, 727, 737-2, L1011, MD11)). As several have mentioned, the 738 doesn't hold speed that well in a VNAV descent; it sets the throttles to hold what it thinks it should, then they go into "arm" until the speed gets off desired by a pretty big amount (I don't remember exactly).

Having said that, the two biggest disappointments in my flying career to date (airplane wise) were when I switched onto the B767 and when I switched to the L1011. In both cases, I'd flown with so many guys who had nothing but great things to say about them but, alas, when I got there, I found those planes had just as many quirks as any other.

It's just a matter of getting used to a different set. I think you'll really like the 738, just don't ask it to be something its not.

 

Given the aircraft that I have previously flown, I have fairly low expectations. I love the 757/767 and really do not see too many issues with the jet, the 88 did not bother me too much, and the jets in the regional world were not that bad either.

People are "afraid" of the 88 and complain about the 737. Keeping that in perspective makes me think it will be a fun but cramped jet. Probably going to have to get a smaller suit case (27 inch currently) and pack a smaller computer bag.....(carry way to much crud)

 

By: Reuters | 12 Jan 2010 | 06:30 AM ET
Text Size

By Mariko Katsumura and Chris Gallagher

TOKYO (Reuters) - American Airlines <AMR.N> and its partners in the Oneworld alliance sweetened their offer to Japan Airlines <9205.T> to $1.4 billion to keep the struggling national carrier from joining hands with rival Delta Air Lines <DAL.N>.

The announcement came as JAL shares plunged 45 percent to a record low, wiping out nearly $900 million in market value, on growing expectations the airline is headed for bankruptcy and a delisting from the Tokyo exchange.

The carrier, weighed down by $16 billion in debt and mired in losses, said on Tuesday it had secured enough support from retired workers for pension benefit cuts, which was required for it to qualify for a much-needed injection of public funds.

The state-backed fund plans to put about 300 billion yen ($3.3 billion) in fresh capital into JAL, provided it files for bankruptcy and its banks agree to waive about 350 billion yen in debt, sources told Reuters last week.

The fund, the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp of Japan (ETIC), is leaning toward delisting JAL after the bankruptcy filing and is not planning to accept investment from either either Delta or American until a new management is in place, if ever, a source said.

"With all the media reports there's a lot of talk going around about JAL delisting or staying listed," said Toshihiko Matsuno, a senior strategist at SMBC Friend Securities. "Investors don't know what to think any more."

JAL shares closed at an all-time low of 37 yen, giving it a market value of $1.1 billion, barely a fifth of what it was worth four months ago. Although Asia's biggest airline by revenues, JAL has fallen to No.16 by market value among major airlines in the region, between Malaysia's AirAsia <AIRA.KL> and India's Jet Airways <JET.BO>, Thomson Reuters data shows.

AMERICAN, ONEWORLD RAISE INVESTMENT OFFER

Japan's top three banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group <8306.T>, Mizuho Financial Group <8411.T> and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group <8316.T>, have basically agreed to the ETIC's plan, Transport Minister Seiji Maehara said on Tuesday.

"I met with the heads of the three megabanks this morning and explained to them about a public-led restructuring and asked for their support. I got mostly positive responses," Maehara said.

Even as JAL appears headed for a court-led restructuring, American and Delta have been courting it with rival offers of financial aid, eager to gain access to its routes to fast-growing Asian markets and a stronger foothold in Japan.

American said on Tuesday that it, private equity firm TPG and other Oneworld alliance members would invest up to $1.4 billion in JAL, $300 million above their previous offer, to keep JAL from defecting to Delta and the SkyTeam group.

The offer is composed of $1.1 billion from TPG and $300 million in equity from Oneworld partners, which includes British Airways <BAY.L>, Qantas Airways <QAN.AX> and Cathay Pacific Airways <0293.HK>.

"We believe our proposal is in the best interests of JAL and its employees and customers, and the government and taxpayers of Japan," American CFO Tom Horton told reporters in Tokyo.

"It provides JAL and the government with the greatest long-term value with the lowest risk and most stability."

Horton said Oneworld would be happy to form a business alliance without capital ties if that was what was sought by the government.

PENSION WOES

JAL said on Tuesday it had secured support from two-thirds of nearly 9,000 retirees for proposed pension cuts, paving the way for it to slash its pension shortfall and avoiding having its pension fund dissolved in bankruptcy court.

The shortfall had ballooned to about $3.6 billion as of March last year due to high interest rates promised on pension reserves, a problem shared by many other companies in a country where interest rates have been pegged near zero for years.

JAL's success could embolden other firms to seek cuts.

"In the past the thinking was that you could not cut the claims of pension recipients, but with this that may have changed," said Nobuhito Sawasaki, a lawyer at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune.

"Today's decision by JAL will set an example and could be a precedent for other companies with a similar problem," he said.

JAL had already won the support of current employees last week for a halving of their payments but took until the Tuesday deadline to secure the agreement of two-thirds of retired workers, who had been asked to swallow a 30 percent cut.

The ETIC had planned to allow JAL's pension fund to be dissolved if the airline was unable to get support for the cuts on its own, which would have forced employees and retirees to accept even larger cuts, a source with knowledge of the matter said.

The cuts are still expected to leave JAL with a pension shortfall of around 100 billion yen. Dealing with the remaining liability could increase the burden on creditors, adding to the 350 billion yen in debt relief, the source said.