Fellow Council 44 pilots,
My name is John Warthen. I’m an LAX7ER Captain that lives in Newnan, Ga and am therefore, a Council 44 pilot.


Our union is at the lowest state I have witnessed in my 28 years. Our representatives have simply stopped acting upon our direct input, having decided that “they know what is best for us”.


This was apply demonstrated during the full court press sales pitch during the failed TA15 attempt… all to the tune of nearly $1.5 Million of our dues money. There is no better example than at the PTC roadshow. When confronted with hundreds of members passionately opposing the TA, instead of considering a midcourse correction, our union doubled down on its sales effort by screaming PEB!


The good news is, it’s not too late!


The list of candidates have been very clear on their intentions in their various emails.


The old guard is adamant that their way of “constructive engagement” (what many of us have come to recognize as one-way, constructive appeasement) is THE way forward. Several have gone as far as to write that the No Voters were, and still are, misinformed and just don’t understand.


Well I’m here to tell them that we DO understand!


We understand the draconian losses our profession has endured. We understand that our company is making more money than at any time since the advent of manned flight. We understand that our company is far exceeding every operational metric in this industry.


And yet the old guard want us to take further concessions. Concede pay (pay for our “raise” with our very lucrative PS), concede work rules (JV, SL, FO OE trip pulls), concede contract comparisons (refusing to show how far FedEx exceeds our contract… greater than 70% getting paid their highest rate compared to our less than 4%, their still having a large pension, touching trips vacation, 6hrs vacation pay, never having taken huge cuts post 9/11, as only a few of many examples).


In short, they want us to accept our bankruptcy as a “reset”… to CONCEDE our profession!


I say enough is enough!


Fortunately, we have before us four candidates that have the vision to carry us forward during these historically profitable times.


Four candidates who are true pilot advocates, in every sense of the word.


Four candidates who will go to the mattresses for the Delta Pilots, whether it is in the CPO or at the “horseshoe”, directing our negotiators.


If, like me, you want to RESTORE our contract, RESTORE our union, but most importantly… RESTORE OUR PROFESSION, the choice is crystal clear:


Team Restoration:


Capt. Sam DeRosa
Capt. Scott Martin (you must write in his Alpa number: 0961094)
FO Jimmy Johnson
FO Chris Kern

 

Sure beats that surrender asap mailer I found in my vfile.

 

Two more days! I hope that all of council 44 members have made their intentions known. Sadly, I am not overly optimistic. However, the vote on the Pos TA surprised me. So there is hope.

 

I voted for the guys listed in that letter. I've done all I can.

 

That is the best letter yet! I hope C44 pilots are reading, thinking, and most importantly VOTING! The Moak disciples are expert political organizers and WILL have their base voting. It's a minority of pilots in C44... but if they vote and others sit it out, nothing changes.

 

After reading the latest Joe Thomas letter I can't help but wonder if "The Math Guy" is the nick name he tried to give himself just like George Costanzo tried to give himself the nick name "T-Bone." His nick name should be "The Made Up Facts Guy."

Joe Thomas seems to have made the connection of voting down the TA to other employees getting a 14.5% pay raise, which results in our Profit Sharing being reduced. Doesn't Joe Realize the company was going to do this whether or not we voted the TA down? We all understood they wanted us to agree to trade PS for pay so they could do the same for other employees. Now they decided not to wait on us, and reduce PS for other employees. If Joe were honest in his letters he would include the fact the TA he was so in favor of included language that would have reduced our PS even further by changing the PTIX formula. Bonuses for management would have a significant effect on our PS, but that goodness we didn't sign off on that. Our negotiators need to ensure that garbage doesn't get into our next TA. More reason why so many of us are fine with the current PWA than the Pandora's box TA15 was.

I really hope this Joe Thomas fella is not elected. His distortions and straw men are hard enough to stomach during an election cycle. I can't imagine having to suffer through even more of his half-truths and exaggerations if he's elected. Pilots better be voting: You can't just vote for a TA and then go back into hibernation and expect something better when you wake up again.

 

Good luck to the ATL guy's on the vote tomorrow. Good luck to the whole pilot group for a clean "Restoration" sweep.

 

Joe Thomas: the meh guy