Originally Posted by DAL 88 Driver

I think he's just looking at the FACT that the average F/O at SWA is making over $140K (more than I made as a Captain last year!) and not working any more days than the average F/O at Delta. Will that disparity continue into the future? Who knows? But I do know that GK's letter indicated he was interested in a "productivity" solution and not pay cuts. So what if they have to work an average of 13 to 14 days instead of the 12 days they average now? And with us... we currently have a union that's acting as if our contract is a new baseline from which to negotiate traditional improvements. Unless our line pilots wake up and force a change (whether that's DPA or somehow forcing ALPA to change), it's not looking very promising that we're going to significantly close that gap between current Delta pay and current SWA pay.



Man, aren't we all painfully aware of that!

I hope you weren't one of those guys that thought we had to do a merger to be "too big to fail and have a seat at the bailout table." That proved to be a bunch of crap. And now we're all stuck with a shrinking airline and backwards movement.

Originally Posted by DAL 88 Driver

And now we're all stuck with a shrinking airline and backwards movement.

Originally Posted by tsquare

I would have rather remained a stand alone DAL. It is what it is though. I am optimistic that we will close the gap on SWA pay. I am still not optimistic that we will see C2K rates however, because of AMR and the obama economy, but we will have to wait and see.

Originally Posted by DAL 88 Driver

FYI, to completely close the gap we would probably need greater than C2K rates (unless you are meaning + inflation). Our 2004 (C2K) 12 year MD-88 Captain rate was $237.37. At 80 hours per month, that translates to $227,875.20... still below the average SWA Captain.

Originally Posted by orvil

I really think we are underestimating the influence of this forum in evaluating any new T/A. The last real give and take was in 2000. The DALPA message board was in its' infancy.

While there are just a few active posters on both boards, there are many, many lurkers. Take an informal poll at work. Say something about "underboob" and see if there is a response. (That has got to be the greatest code word ever invented. I can see it at a disciplinary hearing, "Are you aware of the existance of 'underboob'? Why, I have no knowledge of the incident, sir.")

Anyhow, once the T/A is presented to us, I fully expect that it will be completely taken apart, sliced, diced and pounded by a bunch of us from every possible angle before the first day passes. We will have all the information necessary to completely evaluate it's value, either good or bad. There shouldn't be any areas that are nebulous. We will have a really good idea of its value pretty quickly.

The power of information is just too great. No one group will have an exclusive lock on information. DALPA and the Company will have a very difficult time spinning things. Saying, just trust us, won't cut it any more.

Originally Posted by orvil

Are you finished with trade day, or just taking a break?

I'm done. Time for a drink.

Originally Posted by orvil

I really think we are underestimating the influence of this forum in evaluating any new T/A. The last real give and take was in 2000. The DALPA message board was in its' infancy.

[SIZE=3]While there are just a few active posters on both boards, there are many, many lurkers. Take an informal poll at work. Say something about "underboob" and see if there is a response.

Originally Posted by newKnow

2.) Do you you thinks it's wise to base upgrade time based on the company's projected 2.1% growth? I've never seen a company grow after a merger and all the SWA commercials I see that tout "new service" are routes that Air Tran served for years. If I had a dollar for every time an airline made the unfulfilled promise that a merger would increase synergies and actually see growth because of it, I'd have an extra $10 by now.

Originally Posted by tsquare

Larry came to the P.I. when I was in -50. Hey was a really good engineer except that if there was a scratch on a tire he would not pronounce it good for flight when leaving Pattaya Beach, but it could be on fire in Atsugi and it was good to go... I heard he retired to Hawa'ii somewhere and bought a red corvette. I'll bet it was a show watching him get in that car...