Come on Carl, not the "my dad can beat up your dad" argument, AGAIN! Like it or not we are one company. So PLEASE take that early out. Damn I'm gonna look good in that Whale.

But back to reality, besides the non-common fleet, lack of a real West Coast presence, and that either or both of two hubs being ousted, it is a good merger (or acquisition :)).

So we go from being well-staffed for next summer to an early-out program and the "F" word being thrown around. I don't get it, the knowledge that this program was in the works was known long before all of the recent statements from the suits/meetings that our staffing was looking good going into next summer. Is this all just junior guy fear or do they just want to trim mostly DAL N guys due to the 747-2 being canned this December?

Any company wants to get rid of their highest paid employees for doing the same work, but I think that if the Compass deal wasn't hanging around their necks I'd already be gone.

My guess, the package is underwhelming to the vast majority of senior guys and we see a substantial furlough. Age 65, in one lump, couldn't have come at a worse time.

I haven't heard the F word from the company, or DALPA.

I knew I should have been a garbage man.

Management has to have decided that offering an early out is cheaper than furloughing. They also have to have decided that most, if not all, positions vacated at the top of the list will not be replaced. :mad: There may be training going on because of an early out but it wont be much.

One of the reasons that pilots are never offered an early out is that someone has to fly the widebody airplanes and whomever does is going to be paid the same thing since we are on a twelve year payscale. So whether they are 60 or 48, the same cost is still there. Now, if the positions just disappear, the company can see the advantage to offering an early out vs a furlough. The advantage to us at the moment is, hopefully, no displacements and in the future, if we ever start expanding again, faster upgrades. Hopefully this will happen but I'm not holding my breath.

Either way, if the company is offering this with no strings attached, I say go for it and see how many will take it!!!! What have we got to loose? :)

Denny

Yep. I think that combined with the fact a whole bunch of older pilots(747-200) will burn their sick time just before training(displacement) and then leave is also a factor. Cheaper to pay them off then have them use up sick time and do nothing.

Neither the company or ALPA has mentioned anything about furloughs. This program is not a furlough mitigation concept. It is designed to reduce training costs to the company and get pilots who will go many months or even a year without any revenue production. We will be overmanned next winter. Manning for the following summer is about right. If the program goes through and a substantial number of pilots take the program the company will have to hire if marketing does not make a change in the block hour program.

They don't come out and say it in so many words. Two direct quotes from MGMT...

1) Delta said in a statement that it "continues to take every step possible to avoid involuntary reductions of frontline employees as a result of current economic conditions."
...i.e., they're already planting the "this is due to the economy, not the merger" seed.

2) Delta said that in addition to those programs previously offered, it is working cooperatively with the Air Line Pilots Association "to ensure we have any flexibility needed as we adjust capacity to demand."
...lots of things this could mean, none good.

I understand nobody's said the word, but when have they ever done so.

You clearly don't comprehend a post before you respond to it.

Carl

That's exactly right Denny.

Carl