The play book is to get the planes(dc9-30/40) off the property first, then go for the relief. There will not be a single 100 seat jet on property at DAL during the 2012 contract. They will then ask for a limited number of 100 seat jets to be flown at the regionals to replace the DC9's. No one on property will be affected by the change. It is the selling out of the future pilots not on the seniority list YET.

This gets thrown in our face a lot on here. Let's think about what a yes vote really is. A yes vote just says that you would rather have what's on the table than what you think you might get if you prolong the process. In other words you prefer the "known" over what's behind "mystery door #2." We do not get a line item vote, so just because you vote yes does not mean you endorse everything in a contract.

In the case of LOA 19, since the DAL pilots had already approved it for themselves, we could either vote yes, or be left out in the cold.

Anyone on the MEC or negotiating committee who gives up one penny for a "pension" should be recalled immediately, and all DAL pilots feel the same way.

While our pension termination was horrible and painful, the bottom line is that we realize that a pension is merely a "promise to pay." Those promises are becoming increasingly difficult and impossible to pay for most if not all companies.

We won't for one second give one penny to the company for a "promise" that we all know will be reneged on at the drop of a hat.

No, not al DAL pilots feel that way. There are a number of pilots in certain demographics that feel exactly the opposite. They think that they are near enough to retirement and they don't have enough money to live their lifestyle. They will give almost anything to get that pension or large increase in pay and DC. I know because I've had A's tell me this point blank.

I don't know how big this faction is but I bet the size is directly proportional to the sweetness of the package offered to sell the 76-125 seat mission.

PAY ATTENTION DELTA PILOTS...DOES MOAK NEED REGIONAL SUPPORT TO GET ELECTED TO NATIONAL? VOICE YOUR OPINION CONSTANTLY OR BE HAPPY IN 20 YEARS WHEN YOUR KID STARTS COLLEGE AND YOU ARE WITHOUT A JOB AND THE WIFE IS LEAVING ETC..ETC...ETC...(ADDED FOR DRAMATIZATION)






US regional growth could hinge on major airline labor negotiations

Thursday March 11, 2010
The current round of pilot negotiations at US major network airlines "will be the most important since deregulation" and could determine the future growth path for the regional airline segment, according to William Swelbar, a research engineer at MIT's International Center for Air Transportation.
Speaking yesterday at the FAA Forecast Conference in Washington, Swelbar said that if unions representing mainline pilots agree to relax restrictions on the size and number of aircraft that may be operated by regionals in codeshare with majors, the pilots will become "irrelevant in the US domestic market 25 years from now." Currently, scope clause agreements typically limit the size of regional jets that may be operated under codeshare to 76 seats or fewer. But if, as some suggest, mainline pilots agree to raise the limit to up to 125 seats, regional airlines simply will assume most domestic flying.
Regionals already operate 53% of all US domestic departures and are the majority service providers at many major airports, Regional Airline Assn. President Roger Cohen noted. For example, they operate 52.3% of departures at Chicago O'Hare, 56.4% of Houston Intercontinental departures and 52.1% of New York LaGuardia departures.
Much of this transition occurred during the last major round of scope clause relaxation before and during airline bankruptcy restructurings. According to Swelbar, regional ASMs increased 178% between 2000 and 2009 while mainline domestic ASMs fell 27%. But much of this growth represented a bubble as US majors raced to dump capacity following 9/11 without shedding market presence rather than taking a realistic look at the revenue potential of the domestic market: "Does Jacksonville, N.C., really need nine flights per day when five or six would do?" he asked.
While they may be poised to resume growth after a brief hiatus, regionals face their own challenges. As independent analyst George Hamlin noted at the conference, regional airline profits are not as high as they once were owing to increasing pressure from major partners to accept lower fees under capacity purchase agreements. Furthermore, majors are expected to continue to dump 50-seat RJs from their regional partner fleets. Swelbar said 486 50-seat RJs are under expiring capacity purchase agreements through 2016 and could leave the fleet. "We are in a state of flux," Hamlin said.

Maybe it is time to take scope off the table in any further negotiation.

Maybe we can get a resolution passed where all small jet and domestic codeshare scope is off the table for ANY negotiation. Lets put a Concrete Casket around it just like they did in Chernobyl to stop the spread of the cancer. The best way to do it would be to get all the LECs at ALL the Majors to do it. ALPA, APA, USAPA, all via grassroots. Unity is the only way.

SCOPE relief should be NON-NEGOTIABLE. ALPA needs to come out and declare that outsourcing further jobs WILL NOT happen.

Well said!! I agree 100%. We need to put a PERMINANT CAP on SCOPE relief. Not one more seat, pound, jet, or JOB!!!

Super, are you so unhappy with your Government Motors POS that you set it on fire?