forgot to bid

Well, standb, more to post.




Note that on the A330 where first officers are not released via 23 G.5 on a 3-man crew, there would be no LCA trips withheld.

*

They say one picture is worth a thousand words.* Below is the effect across all categories.* The red bands indicate the possible number of additional reserves:*

Conclusion:*Any negotiation involves compromise, and your Council 44 Officers acknowledge that some compromise was needed to achieve the gains in this agreement.* The gains affect all pilots on the seniority list regardless of seat position. Specifically, improved reroute language, rotation construction and trip mix were top priorities for the Atlanta pilots.* The MOU will give the Rotation Construction Committee the authority to build higher quality and a better variety of rotations. Additionally, Individual Vacation Days (IVDs) were established allowing a Delta pilot to take vacation days at other times by using a portion of a vacation week when it would be most convenient, any month of the year.* Taken as a whole, as we outline in the scorecard below, the gains for all Delta pilots greatly outweigh the quids required to achieve them.* Ultimately, which set of work rules you prefer will be your choice to make.*

*

BobZ

What is apparent from the c44 missive is apparently there was no stastical weighting to addressing the issues they heard 'loud and clear' from the pilots in atl.

It is simply unbelievable that the 'improvements' they cite were obtained in the process of 'compromise'......would have appeared on anymore than an insignificant number of survey inputs.

I mean....really? Im betting nearly 100% answered 'don't f-wth the PS and get higher pay rates. How many here believe items like reroute issues were even on the typical pilots radar screen......

and how many believe these issue would have even been cited at all by ANY pilot....if the survey had disclosed any wish list involving things like rr issues would in the process of 'compromise' only be improved at the cost of sick leave, lca schedule trip pulls, reduction in ps, and a hourly pay increase we pretty much pay for out of existing compensation.

to offer such a narrative...as if it were logical and reasonable...they really must believe the typical line pilot is a fool who will swallow anything they publish.

forgot to bid

A little more from the work rules thing:

forgot to bid

Council 44 Vice Chairman’s Perspective

Over the past several months and certainly the past several weeks I have heard from many of you. As you might imagine the reaction to our tentative agreement is as varied as our pilot group. Some pilots are angry and others are quite pleased. That leaves the majority of us somewhere in between.

Much has been said about the shortcomings of the tentative agreement. But there are also a lot of meaningful improvements to our contract.

There are ten pages of Power Point slides in the negotiators’ overview. These slides list, in bullet point fashion, the gains for each party. The company’s gains end on page one. The next nine pages list only the gains for us. Some of these items have been on our wish list for a very long time. These are real quality of life improvements. Reroute for example is fixed. We also have RCC language that will actually allow the RCC to improve trip mix. You will have better control of your schedule due to adjustments in the reserve required formula, and the use of individual vacation days. Hopefully you won’t need to avail yourself of the disability improvements. But if you are one of those that end up on disability, they are very real.

The pay raise is less than most of us wanted. However, I asked our professional negotiators (combined 80+ years of airline negotiating experience) and our committee if they were certain that nothing was left on the table. They are all, to a man, absolutely convinced that there is no more value available from Delta Air Lines. We are, in my opinion and theirs, in a take it or leave it scenario.

I look at senior management’s history. During the merger, the framework for a JCBA, along with a SLI and Transition Agreement was nearly complete, we had agreed upon wages and DC contributions for NWA pilots, among other things. However we became hung up on the seniority list integration in March. In June, the NWA MEC re-engaged, and we all got $250 million per year less than the initial framework. When senior management approached both the Endeavor and Comair MECs with a request to restructure their contracts, the Endeavor MEC cooperated and the Comair MEC did not. Endeavor grew, and Comair shrank to eventual extinction. When the Comair MEC came back with their hat in their hand, they were told that ship had sailed. When Boeing would not work with Delta senior management, they bought aircraft from Airbus. When Alaska Airlines wouldn’t work with them, they made other arrangements, and we are now expanding rapidly in Alaska’s hometown of Seattle. I cannot identify any situation where our present management team was inclined to sweeten a rejected deal. But history is replete with their willingness to find alternate paths that don’t benefit the people with whom they have bargained.

Section 28 A of the PWA states that absent an agreement by*March 31, 2016*we will jointly petition the NMB for mediation. So the question is, then what? When the mediator asks us for our perspective we would say the company didn’t offer enough. We feel we deserve more because Delta is making a lot of money, many of us lost our pensions, and we are only now getting back to where we were in 2001. Delta will say that they offered us industry leading work rules, industry leading scope, industry leading sick leave, industry leading profit sharing, and industry leading pay including the highest pay rates ever negotiated. They will point to an offer of projected total compensation for the Delta pilots at 15 percent above our counterparts at American, and 23 percent above our counterparts at United. How would the Mediator react?

Meanwhile, the NMB currently has a large caseload and we would naturally go to the back of the line. FedEx has been in negotiations for two and a half years and in mediation since last fall. UPS has been in negotiations for three and a half years and in mediation for a year and a half. Sun Country has been in negotiations for five years and in mediation for three years. Southwest has been in negotiations for three years and been in mediation since last November. Southwest opened at about the time we opened negotiations for C2012. We are now considering our second TA, our second round of improvements with 737 pay far in excess of theirs. Southwest is stuck in the mire of mediation. Mediation is not to be feared, but it’s not a fun place to be. We lose control of the process and the timeline.

The decision before us is a simple one. Do we pick up a minimum of $1.1 billion in additional value, place it in our pockets and come right back into negotiations less than 3 years fromtoday? Or, do we risk getting mired in mediation for years, with a management team with an easily discoverable history when it comes to business dealings? Depending on PTIX, if we wait 1.5 years for a raise, it will take an approximate 25 percent increase just to break even with this TA’s salary. If we wait two and a half years it is 53 percent. It is my personal opinion that this is not a path to success.

More importantly, I also believe that the battle with the Middle Eastern carriers over our international flying is going to be won or lost during the duration of this agreement. If we lose that battle I believe Delta’s profits will be severely affected. The ME3 are angry and they blame Delta for their troubles. They will come after Delta with a vengeance. On that day I would rather be making 21.5 percent more in hourly wages than I make*today.

As a member of the Delta MEC, I had to make a difficult decision on behalf of the pilots I represent. When I removed emotion from the equation, it became a business decision. It is usually my emotional decisions that I later regret, not the logical ones. I voted to approve the tentative agreement and send it to the membership for ratification. I support this TA. I have voted “YES” as a member of Council 44 and I recommend that you do the same.

Fraternally,

Vice Chairman, Council 44

gloopy

So vote yes or we're going to get Comair'd?

YGTBSM

Klondike Bear

9 pages of good things for us and one for the company.

Right out of the negoiators slides, because we know they aren't trying to sell the TA. I am glad we have reps that are smart enough to know that you don't have to actually read the TA.

80ktsClamp

All he did in that letter is just parrot what Harwood said on day 1.

scambo1

And all the "wins"

I don't get it. The concessions are deep and broad. But, the company has to call you when they change your time card...

Really?

Check Essential

That letter is disgusting.

The Pros and Cons... yada, yada, yada. Harwood talking points.
We've been over all that ad nauseam.

Its when he talks about our negotiating leverage that it becomes disturbing.
The Council 44 Vice Chair sounds like he is genuinely afraid.
Afraid of Richard Anderson and afraid of the NMB. Afraid to get up off his knees.

Was the MEC completely unaware of the current economics of Delta Air Lines? The corporation is rolling in cash.
Why is the MEC so afraid and unwilling to threaten that cash machine? The Delta pilots generate that cash.
We are not weak. We are in perhaps the best environment to get a good contract that ANY union has ever been blessed with.

You can't negotiate if you cower in fear of your opponent.
No wonder we have a TA full of concessions.
Anderson had this thing won before the talks even started.

Our MEC (or at least 11 of them) are completely intimidated by management.
It was GAME OVER right from the start.

The MEC is beaten and defeated. Anderson owns them.
This Council 44 letter confirms it.

That leaves the line pilots. We'll see what happens.

Check Essential

The Moakists are using that argument. Seriously.
It is right on Harwood's list of "strategic planning" reasons to ratify the TA.

The Comair pilots made Mr. Anderson upset. He shut down the airline.
We better not upset him or he might shut down Delta Air Lines too.

The MEC also uses the example of onboard duty-free. The company who had that contract made Mr. Anderson upset. He stopped onboard duty-free sales.
I guess that is supposed to mean that we better ratify this TA or Mr. Anderson will stop using pilots.

If you can't tell - ridiculous illogical scare tactics make me upset.

We are NOT in a weak bargaining position. The MEC is lying when they imply that we are.