Just to give an update to the poor working conditions. We needed to hire 1100 by summer we have only hired 165 so far. If we extrapolate that that number and extrapolate it we will be very short once again this summer. (Numbers at based off known retirements and AC deliveries)

We are so far behind on hiring that the company hasn't a clue how to fix it other than asking our union for concession in this environment of record profits...

Its very captain gummy sadly he thinks he can run this pilot group like he did at the regionals he has worked for before. The best part is he can't even hold Captain on the airplane he currently flys Captain on... this its another failed attempt by mangmant to bypass seniority our PWA must remain intact.. and we will fight every instance they disregard it for operational needs... Just like the JV's...

Down with Gumm!

You sound like a crazy old man shouting at a cloud with this post.

Other than that, I don't recall the pilot numbers we were supposed to hire being that high. But more importantly, the obsession you have with blaming everything on Gumm just reduces your credence. And yes, he is an honorary Captain, but a lot of management pilots here are. If they aren't a CA when they are hired into management they are made one for their title in management. What seat the management pilots sit in when they fly has no bearing on our actual seniority list or who can hold what because they aren't line pilots. It's not an abrogation of seniority and isn't contrary to our PWA. There are a lot more important things to care about than what the "seniority" of management pilots are.

Gumm’s productivity “finds” from the summer of 2018 are exactly responsible for our current staffing situation.

If it took hiring Ryan Gumm to slightly tweak the rotation builder to get rid of credit to save money on credit and staffing, Delta is in BIG trouble.

This Gumm hysteria is why no one takes these cranky old men seriously. And why we have the reputation we do throughout the industry. Can't wait for these guys to retire.

And yes, his number is misleading....I know that's shocking

The guy is a 737 FO can't imagine that he is too senior.

Just look at his post history. Something else is going on.

I don’t really care who is responsible but I do care that my QoL has decreased significantly since about July of 2018. I’m more senior today in my base/seat than I was in 2018 but my trip quality and ability to manipulate my schedule have decreased to a level that isn’t sustainable for very long.

so yes, the Gumm hysteria may be a bit blown out of proportion, but something significant has happened and it doesn’t appear to be temporary. Can we at least agree to that?

Whatever the cause, I think it's safe to say Delta is indeed in big trouble. Much of the premium we command is due to our schedule integrity. All the tea leaves I'm reading point to a meltdown this summer, that has sadly been forecasted for months now. Perhaps a lingering caronavirus will blunt the damage.

I'm also displeased with Delta kicking the can on IT. Hopefully we'll get lucky and our long outdated infrastructure will keep humming along. If only we had some free cash flow to do some preventive maintenance...

We only hired 165 since end of last summer? Source?

IIRC, when BS put out the plan to hire for summer 2020, he included the hires from Oct-Dec 2019, and then stated we were ramping up to approx 125/month Jan-May 2020.

Jun-Aug 2019, the plug on the seniority list was in the 14,43x range.

Current plug is 14,5xx.

if we are hiring 100+ a month right now but losing approx 50/month in retirement, that’s still a rough net gain of 50 pilots per month, so another 200 pilots gained Feb-May.

Whether those extra couple hundred pilots will make up for the growth from summer 2019 to summer 2020 is TBD.

I ❤️ Gummy Bears!