As far as not wanting DAL guys at Comair, that was company management, not the pilot group. Think about it, why hire a guy spend 40,000 bucks training him then having him leave a few yrs later.


Dude,
You are so wrong - and here is a copy of one of your MEC letters to prove it. The sad part is about 3 years after this when DAL started hiring the Comair MEC quietly changed their policy. No wonder DAL pilots are not all that enthusiastic about hiring Comair pilots, the DAL MEC Captain, Will Buergey, offered Comair pilots preferential hiring but your MEC was not interested.
Scoop



TO: Comair Pilots
FROM: J.C. Lawson, Comair MEC Chairman
DATE:December 16, 2002
Your MEC met in CVG with the Delta MEC Chairman, Captain Will Buergey, at his request, to discuss preferential hiring of furloughed Delta pilots at Comair. Through this letter, I hope to dispel rumors and provide a more thorough understanding of the purpose and outcome of that meeting.

The Delta MEC, while in session at the bi-annual October Board of Directors meeting in Hollywood, Florida, formally directed the Delta MEC Chairman via resolution to meet with the Comair MEC Chairman to seek preferential hiring for furloughed Delta pilots at Comair while allowing them to retain their Delta seniority.

The general philosophy held by the Comair MEC is:

We are sensitive to the regrettable plight of all furloughed pilots in our industry.
We encourage our management to hire pilots who seek a future at Comair.
We have formally approached Comair management and our management has agreed to preferential hiring of furloughed ALPA pilots.
We agree with our company's policy that requires prospective Comair pilots to resign their seniority at their previous carrier.
We believe our Company's industry-standard policy requiring seniority resignation is sound and wise. It promotes the general health and welfare of all Comair employees and serves to protect the future of our company.
At our meeting in CVG, Captain Buergey offered preferential hiring to Comair pilots if the Comair MEC would recommend to Comair management that they hire furloughed Delta pilots and allow them to retain their Delta seniority.
Your MEC responded that hiring any pilots at Comair who do not resign their seniority at their previous carrier gives rise to numerous substantive concerns. The Delta MEC's offer of (future) preferential hiring at Delta is not sufficiently substantive to overcome those concerns and solicit Comair pilots' support. We suggested three alternative concepts, any one or all of which might lead to a mutually beneficial solution:

Relax the Delta PWA, Section 1, seat restrictions imposed upon Comair and ASA that limit our growth in 70-seat and larger airframes.
Negotiate Delta Brand Scope language with Delta management that defines all Delta flying within the Delta revenue stream to be performed solely by Delta, Comair, and ASA pilots.
Negotiate a plan for future integration of our Delta, Comair, and ASA pilots seniority lists that fairly recognizes the efforts and contributions of all.

The Comair MEC stands ready to work with the collective MEC's to bring about change that makes sense in a challenging economic environment and works for all pilots who perform flying under the Delta brand. As we stated in the Tuesday, December 3rd meeting, our door is still open.

COMAIR MEC
AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION, INTERNATIONAL
SUITE 120 3940 OLYMPIC BOULEVARD ERLANGER, KY 41018
859-282-9016 FAX 859-283-5533

At no point in that letter does it say it is unsafe to have a DAL guy in our cockpits. Our pilot group in general, had no problems with hiring Delta pilots, however, just like everyother pilot that comes to work here they would have to give up their employee number at their previous company.

ALPA by-laws clearly state: when a pilot moves from one ALPA carrier to another they MUST give up their senority at the company they are leaving. In other words you can't have 2 employee or senority numbers at 2 different companies.

Its pretty clear to see in my mind why so many Delta pilots get so angry when Comair is mentioned. I can see what Lawson was trying to do. Unfortunately he didnt have as much negotiating leverage as he thought he did and this whole scheme backfired. My understanding also is that the intergration being asked for by Lawson/Comair was DOH. There was no way in a million years Delta pilots would go for that. Had Lawson not taken such a hard line things could have turned out much different.

BS. Comair exists to fly Delta's code. Most routes that Comair flies were at one time flown by Delta pilots. THerefore, if Delta furloughs, Comair should employ the furloughed pilots. Preferably in the left seat, like at AMR, but at least as new hires. I forgot about that letter! It really ****ed me off especially after I sent cash to the pilots of Comair during their strike. Talk about Karma. Look at the state of affairs now. :)

INAV80R,
That letter was posted specifically to refute your comment that it was company policy, not the pilots policy, regarding hiring furloughed pilots. I have seen the correspondence about safety but do not have a copy of it. Like I said before - I'm sure that 95% of Comair pilots are great guys just like at DAL, a point which you no doubt take issue with, but in this case your MEC screwed the furloughed DAL pilots.
Scoop

By the way, I always smile and wave at other pilots and noticed a lot of guys don't reciprocate, so I don't think its a company specific issue.

I didn't write the ALPA by-laws. Maybe Alpa national should think about how they treat the regional pilots and how the Alpa "laws" only apply when it is a benefit for the major guys. And if DAL had so much support for us, tell me, why did they just get up and leave when they had their deal. If I remeber correctly, there was no physical signs of support when their deal was completed. No more walking no nothing. That just enforces my point of this joke, How do you tell if a DAL pilot is at a party? He tells you..

That DOH part was urban legend designed to motivate the troops. In fact the Comair & ASA Reps who acutally brought the PID (merger request) forward were in the crew rooms briefing "ALPA mergers have gone by paycheck, or equipment type. Either way, it is a staple."

Everything else you wrote is spot on. I have Lawson's "safety" memo here somewhere. He wrote that it was a CRM issue. I will have to find it.

In any event, I do not condone the way some of my Delta friends feel about Comair pilots, but I do understand them. Comair pilots probably feel the same way about all the Chautauqua, Freedom, Mesa and ASA guys who came in and back filled behind Comair in CVG. I smile and wave at everyone, but it is difficult to see the 14 month SkyWest Captain stroll out to his CRJ900 that was pulled off of ASA's confirmed order book after the acquisition to break our negotiations. When you lose your job opportunities it is not easy to be friendly with your alter ego replacement.

That is why I think a priority in the merger should be one list with the wholly owned subsidiaries. Lets end this outsourcing! Besides mainline rates are currently lower than SkyWest, ASA, Republic, rates for equipment so the joy of outsourcing can't be as great as it once was for management.

UAL furloughees were hired at ALPA regionals and certainly did not resign their seniority. Please show me these laws.

NWA guys,

This guy Bucking Bar is a new hire at DAL. What he doesn't understand is the reason he can hold 7ER f/o is no body is bidding it. Under our current contract, reserve on the ER in JFK is avoided by almost everyone.

He is eating a Sh*t sandwich and seems to be enjoying it. Maybe he lives in NYC. Who knows? Do not let him bother you.

Figuring we are all going to get screwed.

INAV80R - Congratulations on NorthWest.

Don't know why you're criticising me - I simply do not want a merger for the exact same reason you don't.

At least NWA pilots will flow down to Compass. I think it is a lousy system, but at least you have your RJ back.