Noseeums

Assuming there isn't a drastic reduction in marketing hours soon I don't see how they're coming up with any legitimate need for a displacement. Doesn't our air service agreement with NWA guarantee the operation of a certain number of airplanes? Anyone remember that number? If they were reducing our marketing hours enough to cause an overstaffed situation then I would also assume the fleet would shrink, but per the ASA can it?

Windsor

I'm guessing that this is strictly being done by the bean counters. It will save the company more money to downgrade 30 CA's than to furlough 30 FO's which we are short on anyway. This way the company saves money and helps cure a staffing shortage. They are essentially killing 2 birds with one stone.

The big problem with this approach is that should our marketing hours increase, there will again be a shortage of CA's and we will be back to canceling flights because of a lack of crews. This in turn will cause fines and see mis-managements bonus's disappear. In the short term the displacement might sound like a good idea to them, but it will eventually backfire on them and cost them much more money in the long run.

norskman2

Our capacity purchase agreement with NWA/Delta guarantees the current number of airframes, but not the total number of marketing hours.

Noseeums

Sure, but that would mean more airframes sitting on the ground more time and being less efficient. I just don't see it happening.

I'm really feeling like this displacement is smoke and mirrors.

higney85

We have a min number of airframes in the NWA deal (now having to be honored by DL). We could (in theory) fly 1 turn a day with 124 airplanes the way I read it. That doesn't mean they WOULD do that, just that they can. Remember we don't pay the lease on these planes. Also, I have been told (by the best source you can find in the PCL MEC) that the utilization is where the marketing numbers are changing. Across the board (all the DCI's) the numbers are changing with this new DL setup. 9E had hours up around 9 hours a day (airframe utilization) during peak summer flying, with the typical drop to 7-8 during the winter. Most DCI carriers are only at 6-7 hours marketing due to the fact that the schedules are "Load schedules" vs. "Operational schedules". DL schedules the flight when they can make the most $$, NW operated on the push system and served each city operationally.

EX. You want to fly to Chicago from MEM.

Your choices are 8:45am, 1:00pm, and 5:00pm. Pick one.

You want to fly to Chicago from ATL

Your choices are 6:00am, noon, and 7:00pm because they can make more money by going at those times.

Obviously this is a made up scenario but our decrease of marketing hours can be attributed to the DCI shuffle from what I have been told. It doesn't help that there have been many cutbacks due to the economy even though the flights were already full!

wings2202

I try so hard to accomplish our goals and yet sometimes I fear that we're looking out for ourselves more than we're looking out for our company. We lose the fact that in most cases work is over half of our lives. So we should committ ourselves as much as we can to our work so we can enrich our lives as well.

When you fight against our company you are fighting against making yourself a better person. You fight against everyone in this company that is trying to help you. You fight against all the passengers who rely on our airline to see loved ones and accomplish their own goals.

Ops is not "out to get you." It's not us vs. them. We're in this together and we rely so much on one another.

If we notice any shortcomings, we much use our strengths to fill those gaps. That's why we work here. This is not a stepping stone; it's an avenue to build experience and character.

We became pilots because we love to fly. What happened to that?

If you don't believe in this company, stop hurting those that do--- LEAVE!!

ebl14

Hey wings, any chance of us getting a contract anytime soon? As much as I love to fly, I love to make a fair and honest wage even more. I suppose its selfish for me to care about providing for my loved ones (my goal) rather than flying nice big shiny jet for 10 year old rates. Maybe if there was in incentive to do a good job rather than punishment for not going the extra mile you might have better results with an already disgruntled workforce.

Spooled

I guess we just found out who the 1% was...

cencal83406

I know. And I love telling the passengers that I love my job, my 10$ I just got for the 3 hours of work I did, and that one of the guys up front might have only been flying ever, in his life, for 6 months and it started, 6 months ago. Everyone deserves the truth. I want to enrich the passenger's life by making sure they know that they're flying with the least experienced least paid people - but hey, at least they love to do it and they're committed to being ontime 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 99th, and safe 100th on the list of things.

I hope you appreciate my sarcasm.

By the way, thanks for underpaying us. We really appreciate having to live paycheck to paycheck like Walmart greeters though it only takes a tiny mistake to kill 54 people.

Oh and since I think on the fly here, one more thing about "fighting" the company because we don't like it. Usually, those who like their company and their jobs fight the HARDEST for improvements to their positions for themselves and those who follow in their footsteps. It's the American way. So we're not hatin' on you, we just don't want to see a 2010 newhire make $10 hour on an RJ (and yes, let's be realistic, compared to your pencil pushing, he's making 10 an hour because he puts in at least double the guarantee into time spent working).

Thanks for peeing in my coffee its as bitter as you wanted it to be.

higney85

I think we could go down the list and figure out who this could be....