Anyone heard about any April classes? Seems to have been quiet lately.

Again, you didn't "lose" anything. You now have free DPMA, which I have to pay into, you have 270/yr to use EVERY year AND you have up to 24 mos of coverage. The only thing you "lost" was the ability to call in sick your last 2200 hrs before you retire. I'm glad the company changed it up, obviously they had a reason and the amount of pmnwa guys flying sick for years to accumulate thousands of hours of sick leave and then go out in long term sick the last Couple of years ruined it for everyone.

That's a pretty broad brush. I know the urban legend of guys calculating to the minute when they could go out, but I didn't know any personally. Since you seem to be in the know, could you give us some statistics on how many guys did this? Also, while your at it give us a breakdown of how many pmdal guys called in sick towards the end and used dpma?

One other thing is that he did lose some. With 2200 hours he could of stayed out for 27.5 months at 80hrs. I also believe(and I'm sure i'll be corrected if wrong) we had the option of taking less than 80/month. IE: 70hrs/month would have bought him 31 months. Like Timbo said, under dpma the more senior one is, the less of your paycheck is reimbursed. Still a good program and one which I hope to never have to tap.

Nerd and timbo, DPMA pay has recently changed and it is based on final earnings average. There is no longer a penalty for being senior. If you fly more, you will get paid more.

All,

I do understand my earned NWA sick leave benefit is being applied to partially offset the cost of my DPMA today. That is a contractual benefit.

Regarding a poster implying it is free to NWA pilots while he/she has to "pay" for his DPMA is misinformed. The sick leave earned by NWA pilots was paid for and hence the value applied to DPMA.

But here is what the real focus should be. It is a benefit to protect the pilot in the event of an unplanned medical issue that affects his/her ability to earn a living at Delta Air Lines.

As a former NWA pilot I had to use DPMA during the untimely occurrence of cancer.

I am grateful for the benefit however the entire process is cumbersome and challenging. You need to satisfy the requirements of DAL (paperwork) to become eligible for LTD, you also need to satisfy the requirements of DPMA (more paperwork) to receive their benefit.

Your paydays with DAL remain unchanged (dollar amount changes) however your income paydays from DPMA are different. You are now OFF PAYROLL and must make additional changes to maintain certain obligations (health insurance fees, 401K loans, etc.).

I was contacted by a "mentor" which was entirely a joke. It was months after I was already "in the system" when he first contacted me with advice that was dated.

When the FOCUS should be on returning to good health you are tasked with other secretarial duties. Fortunately I was able to fuddle my through the paperwork obligations but what about the colleague who can't?

Don't misunderstand my comments because I am thankful to receive this paid for benefit, however I prefer we return to "one call did it all". Nothing should change... paydays stay the same, pay stays the same.. and you FOCUS on getting better. There is a better way!

Stay safe,

OC

Is there still a sliding scale, ie. the 44% down to 22%, of your FAE?

As new hires we were all told, "Don't worry about it, DPMA will make you whole..."

But 25 years later when I had to use it, it was far from "making me whole".

Why is there a sliding scale anyway? Why not a fixed number for all, regardless of years of service. And while we are talking about years of service, shouldn't scale slide UP, not down, with more years of service?

I'll let you in on a secret; nobody is getting any younger here, nobody is getting healthier as they age, and every day you wake up, you are one day closer to death...

Now get out there and work more, so you can increase your disability benefit!

Disability changed on the last contract. They eliminated the 80 hour monthly max for disability calculations. That is not DPMA. There were no changes to the DPMA program that I am aware of. It is private insurance not tied to the Delta disability program.

Timbo, DPMA has not changed, he is incorrect. Having said that however most pilots I know even senior ones have reported being made whole or very close in after tax pay. Not sure what happened in your situation.

"The spreadsheet" doesnt have anything on them yet other than 9 Mesaba folks going on 4/7. But there's also three classes in March (3/3, 3/17 and 3/31) with incomplete info as well, so...

When you transition to long term disability (LTD) your pay goes to 50%, but that is NOT tax free. You still have to pay all of your normal bills and deductions and pay income tax on that amount.

When you qualify for DPMA, you'll get what their sliding scale says you will get, which is tax free, but for you and me, that's only 22%. 50% with income tax and insurance and other fees taken out, plus 22% tax free, did not make me whole. I nearly filed for bankruptcy, but I also had 3 kids in college that I was paying for, and their cars, and all the rest of it.

My illness happened just as we were finally getting adjusted to our 42% pay cut...then to go on LTD, well, it sucked. You can't just sell your kids when you get ill and take a pay cut, I know, I've tried.

It varies for everyone, obviously, with different taxes, bills, etc. as to who is made whole, but that was a rude awakening for me.

The one bright light was the gal at the DPMA who turned me on to Dr. Faulkner, who was able to get me back to work in only 9mo, vs. the 24mo. that the clowns at ALPA Aero Med said I'd have to wait to come back.