Originally Posted by tsquare (Post 1176958)

Donut strategy meetings all day. We aren't invited.

Originally Posted by Bill Lumberg (Post 1176863)

DALPA must use it correctly, or face possibly getting replaced. Plain and simple.

Originally Posted by Bucking Bar (Post 1176854)

It's OK to quantify.

They lost longevity and potentially job security. We lost jobs, the corresponding representational relevance and set the outsourcing bar a bit higher by weight & capability.

I would like to know what, if anything, we got for it.

Originally Posted by Bucking Bar (Post 1176950)

Our follow on booster will be much more capable than the Shuttle (we never bought that much stuff down), if it gets funded. It will be a big sucker (graphic too big for here):

http://www.space.com/12957-nasa-gian...fographic.html

Originally Posted by sailingfun (Post 1176755)

I post it because many on here seem to have a limited understanding of contract negotiations and how they progress under the NMB and RLA.
The first rule of negotiations that everyone needs to understand is that its all about leverage. Who has it and who does not. The 1113 process is the apex of leverage for management. A NMB release is the peak of leverage for labor. After that there are many levels and ways to gain leverage or lose it.
Contract negotiations can very quickly go south and turn from a cooperative venture to all out war. There have been many posts on here and the DALPA forum that suggest that as a union we should be in all out war with the company at all times. I simply don't think that is a smart strategy. At the moment we enjoy a pretty good working relationship with the company. That has allowed many things to be accomplished. In fact the mid contract changes and additional source of money to pilots have been almost unheard of in the airline industry. It also assures that we don't have to worry about 1000 airtran pilots showing up next week.
I am cautiously hopeful at this point because the company has not chosen to use or attempt to use some very obvious tools for leverage they have had at their disposal. Lets hope it stays that way.

Originally Posted by Elvis90 (Post 1176913)

Capt Steve Maher & the other ALPA Rep that briefed us in MSP about 3 weeks ago or so said otherwise, that the company approached ALPA to start negotiations early, in order to take advantage of current "opportunities" that disruption in the industry is providing.

Originally Posted by sailingfun (Post 1177021)

From the MEC chairmans letter dated 9 Mar.

But as we have in the past when opportunities have presented themselves, we again choose not to wait. The Pilot Working Agreement permits contract openers to be exchanged up to 270 days prior to our December 31, 2012 amendable date, which is April 5, 2012. We believe opportunities exist, so today, your MEC directed the Negotiating Committee to meet with Delta management early next week to discuss opening the contract now with the goal of achieving a comprehensive agreement on an expedited basis.

Originally Posted by Elvis90 (Post 1177052)

Perhaps the truth is they both recognized the opportunity jointly. From SD's March 16th Weekly Update:

"On Tuesday of this week, we met with ALPA and received ALPA’s opener for our Pilot Working Agreement that is amendable at the end of the year. The fact that we are opening contract discussions a few weeks early is an indication that both ALPA and the company believe there is an opportunity to reach a comprehensive agreement on an expedited timeline in advance of the amendable date."

Originally Posted by acl65pilot (Post 1177059)

Anyone see that DAL and LCC had a nice bump in the last two and a half hrs of trading?

Volume went up too. Looks like a couple of big buys.