as always delightful and amazing ftb...

...although I didn't realize there is an under-10/hotwheels/mac demographic

Cheers
George

Yay for ALPA on the pending progress of (an as of now effectively unimplimented) crewpass. Big fan of crewpass, and if it ever happens then ALPA deserves a lot of credit. But scope trumps crewpass. What good is crewpass if half your flights, block hours and pilot jobs are done by other pilots off your list? If more scope relief is allowed and mainlines shrink again, who cares if you can bypass the hastles of security for the masses if you don't have a job in the first place.

Scope is the Alpha and the Omega of anything and everything in this profession. Who cares if you have leading aeromedical or legal assistance if you're not employed to use it? What good are pay tables if your rate is zero because your job is outsourced? What good are retirement improvements if you spend less time on property or at lower paying categories because of rampant outsourcing?

Scope trumps all because its not only greater than any other issue, it is the foundation of every single issue.

And yet ALPA thinks the best strategy is to pretend it doesn't exist, ask for complete trust in the wake of the recent several decades of abysmal failures regarding the issue and focus on the tertiary.

Aviation Week Article
 

There was a good article about Delta on Aviation Week's website the other day. Link to it here, Delta Spends Big On Post-Merger Future.

Read that article the other day, I thought it was a pretty good breakdown.

I found a few things interesting, such as this:
"Having aircraft that are paid for and depreciated provides flexibility, if demand lessens, to park capacity at no cost. And Delta has used methods such as debt repurchases, debt restructuring and vendor contract renegotiations to reduce net debt to $15.2 billion, down from $17 billion in early 2010, with a target of $10 billion or less by the end of 2012."

Personally, I tend to like the direction the company is being led in and I think the guys & gals on the fourth floor are doing a good job. That being said, contract negotiations will be interesting to say the least. Management will with out a doubt come back to the pilot's with a reason for not having enough capital to fulfill our contract desires.
I think this will be the above reason/selling point.
The next year will be a bumpy one to say the least.
Curious to see what the ALPA negotiators come back to the pilot group with, I think in many ways this may be their last crack at proving themselves as a worthy national organization.

And if they prove themselves unworthy, how many more years will it take to restore our careers? And how much harder will it be to accomplish after those additional years? I'm thinking that failure is not an option this time.

Does anyone know what Alaska's seat cutoff is with regard to scope? In other words is there anything to keep, say, Pinnacle from flying E-195s for Alaska and carrying DAL passengers through the codeshare?

Don't know about Alaska's contract, but the Delta contract would prohibit the Delta code from being used on an E-195 operated by Pinnacle.
Alaska itself could operate the E-195 just like they do with 737s, provided it was done under the terms of the marketing agreement. (contract section 1.O.1.b.)

Gotcha. Heard some rumblings lately about a potential deal in the works between Alaska and Pinnacle.

Anybody ever had to use DPMA? Do you have to apply for it or does it automatically kick in when necessary? I am sure I can find out the answers if pointed in the right direction. Thanks!

There's a claim form to fill out. Log into www.dpma.org with your 9 digit employee number and date of birth (mmddyy) to get the form. If you need help there's a number to call on the website.

There's also a disability checklist on the website that should help you navigate through the process.