What the F is wrong with you guys. Why do we spend so much time fighting among pilots? We are all on the same team here. If we would all just band together and get along we could do so much for our profession, instead it's always Delta vs. DCI. Grow the F up. This career is going in the crapper, and fast. We need to do all we can to work together to fight management to get our work rules and pay back.

By the way, everyone should do EVERYTHING possible to get a jumpseater on, from ANY company (except gojet). The jumpseat is about the last thing we have any control over anymore.

To the Delta guys, we (ASA) just had our pass fees raised dramatically. Maybe that is why we have priority on our aircraft....I don't know. Every Delta guy I have ever met has been a class act. So come down to the jumpseat and we will run the numbers as many times as it takes to get you on.

Amen. Well said. (I never advocated a jumpseat war... i was talking about "massaging the numbers" on weight limited flights).

Read what Bar posted. It is in your agreement with DAL. If you remember the change to DOH on DAL came after DAL was in CH 11 and the judge reaffirmed the ASA/SKW/DAL DCI contract.
I am sure as soon as DAL can renegotiate it they will. Not flaming Joe, just calling it like I see it.

Agreed. The jumpseat is not a tool to use to get something changed. Neither group has any patience for that.

If you really want to tempt fate then I urge you to strike the match and try to burn what is left of ASA down. Wouldn't take long IMHO to burn what is known as ASA.

As for the RFP for DL connection flying. Wouldn't be too surprised if ASA was not a contender in the next round.

L

Quite frankly, sir, you have no clue what you're talking about. There will be no RFP. We have a 15 year contract with DAL. As long as we reach cost targets (which we will do, even if SKW, Inc has to reduce its profit margin) we can't be cut.

Do some research before you embarrass yourself again, k?

Once again everybody seems to jump at the chance to pee on the other guys campfire while the management of all the airlines involved in this little circus we call the Delta family sit back and laugh. I'm the proud son of a retired Delta pilot and also a Comair FO and I see no conflict of interest in those facts. My dad is of the stereotypical Naval Aviator pedigree and I would have been too if it weren't for my apparently barely sub par eyesight. I have dreamed of nothing but working for big D when I grow up and I happily chose Comair as a starting point. I wanted to qualify my postion before I started in because, based on what I've observed, its a favorite pass time of people on this forum to blindly stand on one side of a ridiculous line that we've allowed to be marked in the sand without any willingness to, even for an instant, see any perspective but their own.

Any one who is willing to take off whatever hat they wear to work and look at the new pass priveleges with a measure of objectivity should be able to see the inequities in some of the changes. Despite the pending incovenience to my own travel priority, I can see the fairness in giving mainline pilots priority on mainline shells. I'll be the first to admit that its not something I'm happy about but just because I'm not pleased doesn't make it unfair. Its your plane, there's nothing wrong with the notion that your guys should get on before anyone else. That cuts both ways though.

The argument that since DL buys the seats, therefore DL should get priority even on a DCI carrier falls ridiculously flat though. By that logic, a passenger could say that its their money that paid for the ticket so they should be upgraded to 1st class and employees put in the back before any non-revs get up front. You may buy the seats but we pay the leases, crew the planes, and do the mx on them. The commuter argument carries no weight either because DCI guys have to get work just as badly as mainline guys do. The next time your last shot to get home cancels and its a DCI flight, take a second to ponder whether it was because a DCI crew member got bumped off his flight to work. If we all get priority on our own airlines, at least we can all do some strategic planning and find the best way to get to work. The way it stands with the upcoming changes, any DCI commuter has no other choice but to ride the pine and hope for the best no matter what airline he chooses use.

I'm not saying this to stir up the already boiling pot. My point is that the industry has deteriorated to a a point where "whats right" is no longer a thought. It just "whats right for me." That wasn't how my Delta Captain father taught to wear my uniform. He was beaming with pride the day I pinned my Comair wings on. ALPA has failed in its mission. The reason we have a national union is so we can stand up for our own, not just our own MEC. UAW made it work. They might have gotten a bit too greedy, but they managed to ensure that working for competeing companies wouldn't create a cavernous divide amongst their members. If Delta went on strike, I'd be proud to walk the picket line alongside mailine pilots. Hell, if Mesa went on strike I'd do the same. I may hate the company but their contract is only as crappy as ALPA let it be.

This mainline vs. regional feud is plays right into the hand of management. If they can keep us fighting each other than we've done half the work for them. I may be jumping a bit on mainline's case in this instance but, believe me, I'm the first guy to pop the ego of RJ pilot that blames all his woes on Delta. We all need to wake up from our own egotistical, selfish dreams. DCI crews need acccept that we are what we are: regional carriers. Nothing more, nothing less. Mainline crews need to accept the fact that the regional market is here to stay and that we play an important role in the modern airline industry (beyond just running folks from Ft. Wayne to CVG). The bottom line is that management is going to staff a segment with whatever shell has the highest profit margin for that market. If that means putting an RJ on an ATL-JFK run they will. If that means running a 777 between MSN and CVG, they'd do that too. Instead of fighting over who's better than who and trying to find ways to separate our pilot groups into little blood thirsty clans, we ought to be kicking the tires and lighting the fires under ALPA national's butt to unify us and move forward as one unit with the goal of increasing the quality of life for every pilot under its umbrella. Thus ends my bloviation. My soap box is available for rental at a nominal fee.

There are benchmarks every five years, but ASA has the option of taking the cost hit.
2020 is when this contract runs out.

kcam, BRAVO! Well said on all points.

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