Bingo. For the company to get serious, our discontent must impact the bottom line and all the DOT statistics they crave(and to which we seem to be dominating) Oh and the JD Power awards, et al.

I think we have leverage with the JV language, manning issues and PS, but I don't think that's enough to motivate them to move quicker

Retro check at NWA after a 2 week strike in 1998 was 3.5% for 1996, and 0% for 1997.

Retro check at DAL for C2K was 3.8% for most categories (Delta Express I think got a bigger bump) from May 1, 2000- May 1, 2001.

With regards to JV language, manning issues and PS, what leverage would that be? The company is making billions with the contract just as it is and many are saying the company will continue to make billions more into the future. How do you propose we turn those company issues into leverage to get us a significantly richer contract?

Making billions and we're just trying to mitigate our losses? Might as well wear red dresses and bid layovers next to shopping malls. They just got a 14.5% pay raise and didn't pay dues.

The non-banded TAed 330/764 rates would still be $12 light of the UAL numbers. Otherwise, I stand corrected. I believe we are on the same page. OFG

Yes the company is making good coin and firing on all cylinders.... for now.
But the last TA was looking forward for productivity gains. Yes we have been hiring and training a lot but mostly all at the bottom end. How efficient do you think the company will run when 500+ guys are going out on the top every year and we are taking in 1000+ at the bottom?

First off - the market for Pilots is heating up. Compensation is increasing everywhere. Simple supply and demand here. DAL is no longer the airline of choice for many but basically an just equal among the Majors. How long before we start becoming a lot of folks second choice?

Second as mentioned above the training burden has not even really kicked in yet. We have had a lot of training lately, but mostly all on the bottom end of the FO side. In a few years every category from 777A to 717B will have massive turnover every year. I have no idea how to even calculate the required training evolutions.

And don't forget many Pilots are still going above and beyond to keep the operation running smoothly. If this thing drags out and management is seen as stalling morale will plummet. Any good leader in the military or business knows the value of high unit morale and the deleterious affect of low morale. This is especially true for a service industry like an airline.

Additionally the company has many things in our PWA they would like to modify. This industry is continuously changing and our PWA will limit the ability of the company to change and evolve.

Finally one of the companies highest priorities is keeping the other employee groups non-union. DALPA has always remained neutral on this issue but that could very well change. The FAs have come very, very close to voting in a union - it would not take much of an effort from DALPA to push them over 50%. I have personally discussed this issue twice with John Malone and DALPA is looking at it.

Keep in mind I am not even discussing the informational picketing and running the traditional course through section 6.

This is not going to be easy but we have a lot more leverage than many think.

Scoop :)

puzzle palace rule of thumb.... for every departure off the top the cascade is 6 moves down the list.

Unfortunately several of those items are concessions we are unwilling to make. Scope, LCA drops, Profit sharing and Sick Leave are a few that come to mind. The areas the company wants to "improve" are areas which decimate our QOL. It will take a long time for us to resolve these issues in a manner acceptable to both parties.

If the union secures a huge contract victory for the pilots, it sends a clear message about the value of a union to the FAs. Protracted negotiations with perceived negative repercussions for the pilots serves management well in this regard. If we push hard for the FAs to unionize, the company may see value in doing everything they can to make DALPA look ineffective and undesirable. Presenting a one sided view on DeltaNet is already happening.



We are lagging the industry in every area except profit sharing and in that regard are even with United. Market forces are on our side for a winning contract. I believe we have a capable team in place and great leadership under JM. I'm sure he and his team will take us down a road to a winning contract.

We could have been the geniuses of the industry by keeping NATCO. It was an asset that could have supported organic growth and produced revenue with the excess capacity during a decade of unprecedented industry growth and retirements. We could have leveraged it much the same way we do with the Tech Ops and the refinery. A few extra sim bays in ATL won't cut it.

Heard a rumor that the extra space for the new sims will only be sim space. They are not taking advantage of the extra footprint to enlarge the 3-5 floors. As the airline grows they will need more space for the OCC if nothing else.