TED74

I'm interested in thoughts on the title subject. How do you all (or do you) think we should ever address the "business needs" of our employer? Personally, I want to work less for more money. I don't anticipate a day in my life where that won't hold true. But I also want to be enough of realist that I accept how capitalism functions, and I accept that solid, industry-leading companies must operate efficiently if they want to stay at the top.

It's easy to say that any efficiency improvement is a gain for the company and a loss for pilots. But doesn't that logic reach a point of diminishing returns, even for us? Perhaps if someone told me I could work for the least efficient airline for the rest of my career and make more money with more time off than any of my competitor peers, I'd take it. But some of those traits would seem to be mutually exclusive, especially in a globalized economy in which our overseas competitors play by different rules.

I'm standing by for characterizations of Stockholm Syndrome. I don't think I have it, and I see management more as an adversary than a partner...especially after this round of negotiations. I'm all ears if you think I am wading in dangerous waters.

I'd just like to better understand where we and management can gain mutual benefit, because I think there must be such opportunities. Maybe none of that matters until we reduce profits to near zero, but with our lucrative profit sharing program, zero is probably a number a bit too low?

Big E 757

Couldn't have said it better. And I think you summed up the feelings of 90% of our Pilot group.

Scoop

Great post. In my opinion its all a balance. And on top of that priorities are always evolving.

For example say VB will cost say 100 jobs. When Pilots are furloughed this would be a showstopper. While we are hiring 1200 Pilots a year - maybe the QOL improvement for hundreds of commuters is more valuable.

We have 13,000+ Pilots and 13,000 opinions. Many yes and no voters alike make a great case for their side.

So to answer your question - we should attempt to work with the company whenever we can, keeping in mind we are labor and our interests may often be at odds with management.

Scoop

FL370esq

I am with you Scoop. I referenced it on another thread but we are quickly approaching the big uptick in retirements. Barring a 2 year reprieve caused by the FAA amending the mandatory retirement age to 67, I think we will be hard pressed to be able to hire quality candidates to keep up with retirements. At that point, it is really irrelevant how many jobs a certain provision will "cost" because there will be "x" number of unfilled vacancies regardless.

MikeF16

Why does it matter what the current hiring trend is? If I had a nickel for every time some old fart told me how cyclic the industry is...

sailingfun

They off course lived that cyclic industry and understand the impact it has.

Harold Finch

Ted, Outstanding post! I think of management as a business associate. I never take anything personal. (chitchat land takes everything personal) I never do favors for Delta unless it fits my needs. I love my job and will continue to take advantage of everything in the contract that favors me and will minimize my exposure to the bad things. Real simple in my book.

Scoop

Did you just call me an old fart?

Scoop

But seriously Mike - think about your question. Do you not see a difference in protecting jobs while guys are on furlough vs. when we are hiring at capacity and producing 4 month captain upgrades?

qball

I had always thought that RA was a very good CEO. But I also understood that he was not my friend and he had what he believed were the best interests of the airline as his highest priority. His interests and mine likely didn't align in a number of areas, but I still think he was a good CEO. Let's not forget that POS15 was under his watch and we didn't agree with his position. It was just business.

FL370esq

And remember the '99-'01 hiring boom? When Plato Rhyne said we were going to hire 60/month (that was aggressive for DAL back then) for the foreseeable future? Within a week of inking C2K, all hiring stopped. And that was pre-9/11. It is still a cyclic industry, but maybe, just maybe we have at least learned how to dampen the cycles.