And in 5 years we will be just like American. An arbitrator would never release us nor probably even waste his time if we opened for SWA scope and stood our ground. While I really want DAL pilots flying DAL metal and code.. we ain't eating all that apple with one bite. Just sayin'

First off, no to separate regular/reserve categories.
Second. As it is now, if I have 10 days of availability and I am most senior, and there is a 3 day trip in open time.. and I want it, it will go to a more junior pilot that only has 3 days of availability. Abrogation of seniority, pure and simple. Take these buckets/raw score/all the other crap restrictions they put on reserves out of the equation.

Gotta love it, kid needs 4 stitches, urgent care says go to our ER because they'll have a plastics guy who can do better. Go to ER, no plastics guy. 2 hours later we leave.

Total bill $1400, total we owe after Delta insurance, $995.

I bring this up because remember where we were talking about how about being paid enough to afford our own product, as in airline tickets? I'd be happy if we could just afford to take our kid in for stitches on our company insurance without having to resort to making payment plans.

Swellbar's info is, as opposed to his opinion, correct.
The data from the MIT site comes from the BTS. The underlying data comes from the airlines required reporting to the DOT.
But there is one Chart that really matters and that's Cost of Production.
Even our Negotiation Committees breaks out this number on the bottom of the contract charts in the contract history.
It's called:

Pilot CASM

That number is really all that matters to the company and shareholders.
To most pilots what really matters is net pay including all benefits.
All you do is compare ASMs with money spent on pilot compensation. That gets you a number reflecting the true cost of production.

• 2010 Delta Pilot CASM ¢1.07
• 2010 WN Pilot CASM ¢1.42

Our contract comparison should have included the same charts as our contract history but it didn't.
Pilot CASM is of course affected by any changes to the two components.

• When we reduce capacity, Pilot CASM goes up.
• When we increase capacity Plot CASM goes down
• When pilots are not producing ASMs Pilot CASM goes up.
• When more pilots are flying the line Pilot CASM goes down.

Augmented crews, training, on medical, long term disability short any activity that precludes a pilot from producing ASMs increases Pilot CASM because the pilot still gets paid with "pilot money".
Remember the huge training footprint for all the base moves after SOC?

• 2009 DAL Pilot CASM ¢0.944
• 2010 DAL Pilot CASM ¢1.07

The Charts about "competitive advantage/disadvantage" and things like that are pure management fodder, but you won't see any of those numbers quoted in an Annual or quarterly report because they simply have no bearing on the operation.
Cost of production is all that matters.
Even with augmented crews and guys on disability, to Delta Air Lines, pilots are 32% cheaper than Southwest pilots and our paychecks reflect that difference.

Cheers
George

.

I've had to fight insurance because they felt a 2 year old with a 104+ degree fever and bleeding ears wasn't an "emergency".....rediculous

FTB,

Would you mind sharing which plan you use?

How would one balance the use of reserves without such things? I'm just thinking out loud, because I can't think of other ways to do so.

I'd like to know also.

First in first out is how some airlines do it.
No buckets just a list of names that can fly the trip in seniority order with the guys who have worked already on the bottom.

Cheers
George

Great post re pilot CASM, George!