Simple, it is what was agreed to.

 

A buddy of mine got the official word, he is in the Oct 11 class. 35 pilots with some Compass and Mesaba flow-ups, don"t know how many. Has anyone heard if their is going to another class in October or is this the last one?

 

Most junior pilot on the Mesaba Negotiating Committee?

 

I believe one more after that, but I could be wrong.

 

Your right...1 more ( that has off the street's) and then Nov and Dec classes will be just Compass/Mesaba hold backs.

 

Awesome. (Sarcasm)

 

Actually it is awesome.

These first 100 compass guys or so are the same ones that were told that Northwest probably wouldn't be hiring for a couple of years. A month or two later Northwest was hiring off the street and these guys were locked in at Compass with no chance of going to mainline other than to flow ( NW obviously wouldn't interview them). They watched their buddies interview at NWA and get hired thru the front door while they stayed stuck at compass.

The stress levels they most likely endured during NWA's hiring ( every month more guys becoming senior to them), the announcement of the merger, the seniority integration, and recent sell of their company/possible loss of flow I'm sure were through the roof. I'm a Delta South guy ( not that it matters), but I have a great deal of respect for these guys and I'm thrilled to see them finally getting what they were promised long long ago.

I also have friends that I want to get on here that are not at Compass so yes it frustrates me a little as well...but bottomline the pilots at Compass are most likely what saved quite a few Delta South and North brothers jobs, so as far as I'm concerned they've earned it.

Hope you get a class soon. FWIW these guys training in NOV/DEC would have been senior to you either way if you were interviewed in August and are in the pool. They will have hire dates of Aug, Sept, and Oct.

I know you didn't come right out and say it, but I'd really hate to see any type of animosity between newhires going forward. The flow thru deal was in place long before anyone was hired this round. It was a "known"...not a surprise.

 

Its hard justifying any "stress" from the point of view of Compass pilots WRT to NWA hiring off the street. They all went in knowing there was a 30 month/etc requirement and at the time that was obviously not even close to being met. So while they may have believed there would be no hiring, the fact that there was should in no way be a stressor to them. As for their "risk of being furloughed", what about the droves of regional pilots that actually DID get furloughed, many at DLConex carriers that had been flying for decades, all while brand new Compass was hiring with lightning fast upgrades? I'm sure that was stressful to plenty of pilots.

They also signed on knowing that if ABC happened (they were sold) then XYZ could happen (the flow could be terminated). ABC did happen, but XYZ was mitigated for all on property which was extremely fair by any standard imaginable. I even had a Compass pilot tell me it was BS that the flow ups were being held back because that "takes thousand of dollars out of the pockets of Compass FO's who should have upgraded faster" and yes he was serious. I've even heard some whiney whimperings of lawsuits if the flow was cancelled even IAW the language of the flow itself. All while other DLConex had guys out on furlough. Not only that, but they "signed on" to a flow knowing full well that it not only might be cancelled, but that every other flow in history was cancelled as well.

As for Compass "saving a furlough" at mainline because of the costs of a bump and flow or whatever, I've heard that but don't believe it. I think if a furlough from a list of 12000+ happened, it wouldn't be 100 or 200, it would be a LOT more. As in 1000, 1500, etc. And DL was probably overstaffed by as much for a brief time. But had they furloughed that many, as soon as the last guy hit the street, he would have immediately been recalled with crisis training events and mass cancellations because the "running at redline" even with 12000+ pilots on property less than a year after "we could be furloughing" was pushing it, hence the need for hiring on top of the full staffing.Many argue that it still isn't enough and there is need for more next year.

In any case, even IF the existance of the Compass flow prevented furloughs, the additional large RJ's the creation of Compass permitted in the first place would have made the economics of said furloughs possible in the first place. Should DALPA agree to outsource all current or even just additional growth 777/747/787's in exchange for a flow to put future furloughs? No one would think that was OK, yet when done on the bottom end it is somehow justified. Either way it is a threat to become a self fulfilling prophecy whose very benefit is cancelled out by the proportional risk it itself created.

All that said, while not crazy about how the flows came about, I am glad that Delta made a decision to honor the intergity of the original promises made, expressed or implied. And love or hate the flow, once someone gets a Delta number, they are a Delta pilot. A brother. R.D. North. South. Post-Reconstruction. Compass. Mesaba. Anywhere else. Period.

 

None of this needs to be rehashed so I regret empathizing with the Compass pilots at all in my post because I guess it took away from the point I was really trying to make. The only reason I did was just to show that there is indeed lot of history behind the flow no matter what angle you choose to look at it.

These guys are not "taking anyones slots".

They chose their paths into Delta and off the street guys chose theirs.

All should be grateful. When their numbers get called, their numbers get called... All knew how it worked before they got hired ( whether it was at compass or the combined Delta).

There's no room for grudges here.

 

I'm glad someone with your expertise is not running crew resources. Delta has staffing tied down fairly tight and the flow-back provision was one of many parts that led them to not furlough last year. The crew resources folks also understand it "costs" to furlough so the days of just wacking 10% of the list in a knee jerk reaction then realizing you screwed up are over. If we ever furlough I'm sure the last guy furloughed will be out for close to two years which is where the ROI of furloughing breaks even.

Not to say we won't furlough more than a few hundred, but it will have to be an event other than economic reasons that causes it. They have the staffing down to +/- 300 depending on the economy and won't hire or furlough unless something more drastic happens. It's cheaper to stay fat 300 guys for two years than to furlough and it's cheaper to pay greenslip pay than it is to hire a few hundred guys. They are running a good operation in crew resources these days.