JungleBus

No, AMS is far, far easier than CDG in my experience. You just list online and check in using a kiosk just like the US. You can pull up our listings on KLM kiosks, you just need to know your reservation code. If you need help the KLM agents are much nicer and more helpful than Air France agents - again in my experience.

My wife and I usually connect through AMS when going anywhere in Europe. Seriously, it's easier than connecting through JFK or ATL on Delta! ZED tickets are pretty cheap, European airlines rarely overbook, and there are almost no nonrevs to compete with .

Fly4hire

You mean one who wants to climb all the way to National and leads from the top down?

T.O is doing exactly what he is supposed to do - let the process play out, let the line pilots provide their input, the Reps provide direction, and ask what you want. The process is to start with the contract survey.

Don't you find it a little ironic that there is constant yelling that the MEC doesn't listen to you, but then when they are asking your input and waiting to evaluate it you accuse them of lack of leadership?

If this a bottom up organization those on the bottom need to provide some leadership as well instead of just looking for someone to follow and criticizing when they don't like the way the get lead.........

Model Citezen

Timbo,
Can you please tell me what you are referencing? I have no idea what you are talking about. Can you give me the rest of the story?
Thanks
MC

Denny Crane

Thanks JungleBus! Our plans to go to Bangkok on Friday got changed this morning with all the flooding going on in Bangkok itself. Had to make a last minute change in plans. We decided to get eurail passes for traveling between countries. Thought it would be a nice change. Thanks again!

Denny

capncrunch

We as Delta pilots want to get paid handsomely and we don't want the regionals doing 50% of our flying. Do they really need to wait for the survey to quell some fears on those issues?

IMHO, even if 100% of the pilots did the survey and every single one of us said we want full restoration, I still don't believe that is what they would go ask for. Just my humble O.

Timbo

IF I were to do it, I would open each road show with something along the lines of, "If you guys want RESTORATION, you had better be ready to WALK OFF THE JOB WHEN THE TIME COMES! You MF's had better start building your strike fund NOW!"

Not, "I thought I was done with ALPA work but they pulled me back in, I really don't want to be here..." There's a guy I want to lead the troops...

I think the problem is, how many guys are -really- ready, willing and able to walk, when the time comes? We'll have to wait a year or so to find out, but here's what happened in the past:

Back during the run up to POS 96 at DL South, we had a strike vote. The YES number was never made public but I spoke with several LEC guys after the fact and they were telling me the Yes vote was only about 70%.

They said we needed at least 95% Yes for the strike to be effective, that's why they never released the actual number. POS 96 was a POS, and after 4 years of "Record Profits" while we worked for crap, we were pretty PO'd about it come C2K time.

During C2K, we also had a strike vote, the results were much better, and were made public, I think the official number was 96% Yes. There was better, stronger, more militant leadership with a real Slogan, not "I don't want to be here", but "Restore the Profession!" (Thank You John Malone!) We finally got a pretty good raise (about 25%) plus a nice Retro-check for the 18mo. it took to negotiate it ($25K for me).

So, if you want ME to "represent" you, well, I can't, I can only represent ME. And I want a 50% raise, PLUS benefits, Pluse work rules (6hrs. per day minimum), Plus a Fully Funded 401K, Plus FREE medical insurance, oh, and a whole bunch of other stuff, like $5/dy Per Diem, Deviate DH included.

BUT...it may take a couple years and a walk out to get there. Are you (the big you, as in all DL Pilots) ready for that?

I'll close with what John Malone told me after POS 96 passed and I called him to ask him WHY did so many (morons) vote Yes to that POS??!

"What did you think that rocking chair was for...?"

I don't know if the Silent Majority has the backbone for a real job action.

gloopy

Yeah and we also had to pick between scope and pay and work rules as we weighed them against one another. This despite the fact that scope erosions hurt pay and QOL. What if our founders had a survey where they had to assign points to freedom and security to pick which one they wanted more. Less of one gets less of the other.

And then there was the positive space tickets for vacation. Where did that come from? Would it be nice? Sure. But before that even enters the discussion we had better already have a grand slam contract already locked in.

gloopy

That's what I'm saying. There is this arguement that if we get one outsourced RJ back in scope negotiations we will lose staggering amounts of barganing capital and that just isn't so. I want to see immediate, significant outsourcing reductions starting on day one and progressing rapidly over the next several years until anything over 50 seats is either parked or brought back in house. Allowed 50 seater outsourcing should be reduced in line with the company's scheduled reductions of them anyway. And turbo props should be treated like jets. A pilot block our is a pilot block hour.

gloopy

I can understand their esire not to have the details of their contracts blasted all over the media, which is what would happen if the details were released. But like you said, the percentages would actually help their case and public PR because all it would do is call out the American companies for undercutting their work force. I doubt they would have a problem with that. The "delta" (pun) between us and them is all that matters and we should get to see that.

Timbo

That Positive Space for Vacation thing has been around for awhile, because you can NEVER for sure, get on a flight with your wife and kids, and actually go on vacation...to someplace nice, where you have made reservations, like maybe a Cruise, etc. One time per year we should be able to KNOW we will get on a flight, any flight, to anywhere, with our Family, to actually "go on vacation".

What we have now are pretty much usless if you want to book a hotel or cruise vacation months out, to a nice location. You won't get on...