I have a couple questions about 9E for anyone who is in the know:

1) Did the union ever come to terms on the -900 payrates or is that something still "TBA" under the stalled negotiations?

2) Do you still have the same travel benefits from NWA as you did when 9E was 100%-owned, or do you have different standby/jumpseat priority on mainline now?

3) If the Delta flying increases, who gets what travel benefits? Do 900 drivers get Delta standby priority but not NWA and vice versa with the 200 drivers?

Thanks for any info.

 

1. The union and the company now have nothing to do with the 900 rates. an arbitrator will decide the pay rates, and of course arbitrators and mediators dont work anytime close to the holidays (we haven't had negotiations with our mediator since the end of october i believe.)

2. I believe so. if you work at pinnacle nwa benefits are the same. free travel on any nwa flight, including their regionals for you and your family.

3. Delta was very firm on this. Only the people based in altanta flying the 900 will be in the delta system. what sucks is delta has the worst travel benefits for its regionals. you have to pay 50 dollars to get into their system (and that is even if you want to jumpseat on delta ) and then it is a per mile fee. A buddy of mine flying over their said it is almost cheapier for us to use our delta benefits on the nwa side as it is for him on the delta side. oh yeah, and did i mention if you havne't paid the 50 dollars you aren't allowed to jumpseat on delta??

 

That is not correct at all. Yes we pay $50 per year surcharge. But that gives myself, my parents, and spouse and kids free domestic travel. International flights just charge the standard customs/immigration fees/taxes. If I were to jumpseat on Delta, there is no charge. It would be the same as if a United or JetBlue wanted to j/s. They don't have to pay any $50 or per mile fee.

Buddy passes and travel companions pay a per mile fee, but that's industry standard.

 

you work at comair i presume. he asked about pinnacle. and yes everything i said is correct. i think you would be suprised that we probably have the same pass benefits as all dal connections except for you (comair is owned by delta). ASA had those same benefits till just recently, now they have the same crappy dal benefits we do.

 

We had the same benefits as Comair here at Skywest until December. Now we pay the per mile fee. It is $5.00 per segment and 1 cent per mile. Not that bad but not as good as free was.

 

Do you still have to pay if you JS on Delta?

 

Thanks for the info as always guys. I was just wondering what the situation was, since the ACP news profile said the arbitrator was supposed to deliver the rates in Dec.. Of course I understand when an arbitrator is supposed to deliver anything, it's never on the date they "planned" on doing it.

I'm crossing my fingers you guys will get a better deal within this new year, especially with all the growth...I think ASA got a great deal on the 50 seat side, while sacrificing on the 700 a little...at least it's good that your 900 rates are with the arbitrator, and that the 900 flying is still a small operation, so mgmt won't be able to divide the house between the delta and nwa sides...

Who offers your prescription coverage? United Healthcare? Do you guys have Rx coverage, or just office visits/major medical?

 

I know at first we did because they use your ppr number to list you for the JS. I know our jumpseat coordinator and Delta were working on a resolution so we wouldn't but I don't know if it has been resolved yet. it wasn't anything Delta was requiring but rather how Delta listed you for the jumpseat if you have Delta bennies. You had to have paid the $50 to show in the system.

 

yes we have united health care and rx coverage is 5/10 dollars. 10 dollar copay for office visits also.
we also have dental included. its 70 bucks a check for families, and like 15 for single.

we also have vision.

it looks like it is here to stay. we just did our agreement with them and our union guys said they weren't going to give an inch on that. our guys on the delta side thought it was ridiculous that if they wanted to jumpseat on delta they had to pay the 50 bucks while i could just hope on there with no problems.

 

Well I guess that sucks if that's what you heard. $50 is $50 even if it is per year. They obviously havn't told our jumpseat guy cause I talked to him last week and he said he talked to Delta the week before and they were working on it. Guess this is a recent development. Sucks for all the guys who only us Delta toj umpseat.