nw320driver

I agree with you 100% Bucking Bar. This mine is better war is starting to get old. Thanks for you kind comments.

Bucking Bar

NW320 Driver,

Thank you. As a fellow FO, flying around adapting to the preferences of Captains, my concerns began drifting away from money in absolute terms, to thoughts of how pleasant it would be to fly with folks that were happy to be there, versus the alternative.

While there are earnest disagreements and differences in positions, the bottom line is that our management teams will decide if we are going to work together, it is up to us how we work together.

According to sources on both sides (confirmation just recieved) the merger is off at $110 a barrell. Management will continue to evaluate options.

If our teams come back to the table a little time to see if Delta's growth comes true, or if NWA pilots retire, or if MD88's and DC9's are retired, or replaced... as this plays out things should, hopefully, be more clear.

Congratulations in advance on your upgrade. Yours will be sooner than mine.

sailingfun

NWA320pilot, You have said it all very well. In the end I still think its best we stay apart. I have been through two mergers. I am not ready at this stage to go through another. I am a bit confused about one thing. You mentioned you would only be getting a 8 to 10 percent raise. What is that based on? The rate on the 737-800/A320 in 36 months was going to be right at 190 per hour. The rate at signing was going to be 166 per hour. I addition the B fund would go to 14%. The current rate is 137 an hour unless I have it wrong. Those are raises way beyond 8 to 10 percent. The initial raise would be 20% and after 3 years the raise would be in excess of 35% not counting the increase in the DB plan which is also cash. Even Delta pilots would see a 7& improvement at signing and a 22 percent improvement with compounding after 3 years.

nw320driver

Thanks, Bypassed the DC9 Capt upgrade last spring for quality of life. I start B747 school next month and I am looking forward to getting back to international flying.

Even though most of us don't want admit it, luck and timing has a lot to due with how our careers turn out. Good Luck to you and your fellow pilots. Oil is down 7% this morning and that is good for all of us.

NWA320pilot

I am a FO so my current payrate is $94 per hour and DAL's rate for comparable equipment is $103. I am currently getting more than 14% contribution into my retirement plan due to our current contract. In fact my current contribution level is closer to 21% due to my years of service and what my frozen DC plan is. Without seeing the exact payrates that would have materialized I can't comment on where we would have ended up.

Deez340

Well enjoy that "premium" widebody flying. It's the best! What I'm kidding... It's me kidding. Good luck.

sailingfun

The Delta rate is 104.79 currently. That is a 11 percent pay raise on top of 7 more percent for a total of 18 plus at signing with compounding. NWA B fund I believe pays 0 to 9 percent depending on a matrix. I don't know where you are getting 21 from. Your retirement plan stays under the new contract so you don't losing anything there. Every NWA pilots B fund contribution will go up under the new contract. In most cases substantially.

NWA320pilot

Actually my rate is $84.82 so the difference is right at 9%. As for the signing and raises as mentioned I haven't seen anything official that actually showed where we aould all end up. Now for my NWA contribution level I get that right from my paperwork here at the house and I didn't include the the matrix you speak of...... This is what my contribution level for the MPP plan we have. I also get contributions to my 401K as per our contract. So based on the known amounts not the talked about ones the difference is not great.

This isn't meant as a ****ing contest I would have liked to see us all get raises and bonuses from a joint venture. It's just for me the raises don't appear to be as great as described.

staplegun

Wednesday March 19, 2008
Delta Air Lines and United Airlines yesterday announced a domestic downsizing to help negotiate rising fuel costs and a slowing US economy, with each carrier planning to ground 15-20 mainline aircraft this year and DL also aiming to slash its workforce by approximately 2,000.

UA plans to reduce domestic capacity by an unspecified amount later this year as it grounds 15-20 737-500s, while DL said it will cut domestic capacity by 10% year-over-year in the second half of 2008.

UA already has committed to lowering domestic capacity by 3.5%-4.5% for the full year and yesterday said it will offer new guidance next month. DL, which also plans to ground 20-25 regional jets this year, said its full-year domestic capacity will be cut 7% with most of the reduction coming from point-to-point flying as it seeks to focus domestic operations on feeding its international services, which will see capacity growth of 15% in 2008.

"Jet fuel prices are up 85% since the beginning of 2007," DL President and CFO Edward Bastian said yesterday at the JP Morgan Aviation and Transportation Conference in New York, available via webcast. "What's going on with fuel is certainly unprecedented, if not a crisis for the industry." He explained that 1,300 front-line DL workers will be cut by "voluntary" means and 700 administrative employees will be cut by "involuntary" means if necessary.

He added that international demand remains strong but said decisive action is required domestically. "We're in uncharted territory in terms of fuel prices and the slowness of the domestic market," he said. "We believe the [10% second-half] domestic capacity reduction is the right tonic, but if we have to go deeper, we will."

Northwest Airlines Executive VP and CFO Dave Davis, also speaking at the conference, said the carrier is undertaking "a thorough review of capacity with a particular view on the domestic market" but has not made any decisions. He predicted that cuts could come "beginning with the fall schedule" and noted that NWA could decide to increase the number of DC-9s it plans to retire over the 40 already scheduled to be grounded. Its DC-9 fleet is slated to stand at 68 at year end, but "there's an opportunity to get even smaller from a DC-9 perspective later in 2008 if we need to," he revealed.


by Aaron Karp




Kevin

capncrunch

NWA is lean and ready to handle a tough economy. They are not even worried about this until Fall when things usually slows down. With pockets full of cash on hand, going alone might just be the way to survive.