Staying at a profitable international airline based in the fragrant harbor.

Well, Delta is a profitable airline located in the fragrant South.

Bless your heart.



(When I moved here I learned my neighbor wasn't really being nice when she said this):D:D

Hmmmmm I'd say AS is doing an awful lot of LAX - SEA last I checked SEA and LAX are hubs. I am certain we sell seats on 100% of those flights, am I missing something here?

In life, you will have all sorts of decisions to make. Most easy, a few difficult. Career decisions can be difficult as you weigh what is safe to do balanced with the opportunity that involves greater risks like exposing oneself to probation and furlough.

Most everyone who starts with an airline faced this dilema, particularly when moving from one major airline to another which in my case I did.

Early on, I learned that the most successful and content guys were Western pilots. Most had fantastic and interesting side businesses on the side, flew for fun, and were more than finacially secure as most were finacially bullet proof. They were happy when they were at work and in life.

The common thread they all shared....furlough. They had been furloughed and used the opportunity to cultivate businesses and talents outside of aviation. I eventually had the opportunity to practice what they had preached and demonstrated after the invasion of Iraq, and you know what, they were right.

Point is, to not make a decision because of fear is a tragedy. The two words "what if" will always haunt you. Resolve to move forward and take what looks like a negative and turn it into a positive when you encounter them.

Probably the statistically safest time to go to Delta is now, and one can feel somewhat secure in that fact. But be ready for anything, like that errant EKG, the DUI driver, hunting accident, an attack on Saudi oil facilities or worse yet a revolution there (take what is happening now in Egypt and imagine it happening in the Kingdom.) When that negative happens, and they will, look for the positive. A wise person one said, "The darker the cloud, the brighter the silver lining you will find if you look."

It is NOT clear to our reps or the MEC chairman Scambo. My DTW reps who vote defend all this stuff as "increasing" flying for Delta pilots. The MEC chairman defends it as well - because he was the Negotiating Committee Chairman who helped develop it.

Now that DPA looks dead, everyone needs to know where their reps and the MEC Chairman actually stands on Section 1. If you care about reversing outsourcing, you'll be very alarmed.

Carl

I got a call from the Wilson polling people last night. Questions about "how do you think Delta mgmt is doing? How is the DALPA working for you? What problems does DALPA have, How effective is ALPA National" (I mentioned Scope about five times - both at the large airplane level and small airplane level.) then, "Have you heard of DPA?" when I said I was very familar with them, a whole slew of questions about DPA were asked.

I hope I get the call - when they ask if you have anything else to add I'll give them "Please tell ALPA National to Pull out their Suck it and SUCK IT!!"

Baja.

A good friend of mine is on the freighter there. I was working my way through the interview there when I decided it wasn't right for me and my family. The takeaway from the comparsions about Cathay vs Delta is that scheduling and predictability of my career is much better at Delta. It sounds like you have very little control over what days you work, while at Delta, I can basically pick which days to work - even on reserve. I'm probably working more days for less money though, but I live half an hour from my base.

Anyway - Delta didn't furlough in 08 or 09 when everyone else way (yes, we had no-furlough clauses, but if they really want to, they would of, in my opinion). I foresee slow to medium growth here over the next 3 years, depending on the economy. No parking of fleets without replacement planes coming in.

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