Yes, Mr. Kane has recommended to the board(NMB) that we be released. This would be why the company and union have been meeting this week.

 

I've also heard from a union rep that we have until the end of this month to get the deal done.

 

Im headed to the stop over store to buy some nice comfortable walking shoes as we speak.

 

you are wrong sir. this doesn't disrupt the process. this lets both sides know there is an end coming. remember a release isn't just for the pilots. its also for the company. we can go on strike and they can lock us out. the company doesn't want us to strike, and we dont want them to lock us out. but if both sides know that the choice is going to have to be made then they dont have to wait till the end of the 30 day cooling period to work extra hard to get the deal done. plus it might save some money and face for the company if this annoucement were not made. if everyone knew that their pinnacle flight might not operate next month it would cause a lot of headaches for daddy delta. headaches they dont need right now. we are down to the last thing in our contract to get resolved. that is what we and the company have been looking for. No one gets released with 50 things still left on the table. you get released when you are down to nearly nothing left. that way you can finish it up quickly with little left to discuss.

 

If they were going to release us, why wouldn't they just do it and say "you've got 30 days to get dual qual done." Why would they give us 30 days til release, then 30 more days til strike...doesn't make much sense...so we're basically in a "cooling off for the cooling off" period???

 

I have no idea where you got this rumor from.

 

Directly from the horses mouth. All I know is what Mr. Kane has recommended to his superiors. We are waiting on them.......

 

it for the reasons i said in my post. to finally drop the hammer and say you are in a cooling off period is no light matter. it will have an effect on stocks, passengers willingness to purchase tickets, and a handfull of other things that will eventually come when they give the go. its like when mesaba went on strike several years back. nwa and mesaba just started cancelling all their flights ahead of time to avoid it. the pilots still showed up to work but there were no flights for them to do because of all the pre-cancellations. just the threat of the strike caused that side of the red tail to come to a stop.

 

If you guys dont want these rumors flying around could you ask the powers that be to give a weekly update or something rather than 2 times a month. I didnt even know we were meeting with the company this week until i heard the company conference call.

 

There we all just got an email saying that there will be a full recap delivered this weekend. Thats what i am talking about. When there was no end in sight its ok to give bi-monthly updates but when its end game, i believe constant communication is key to stop preventing rumors. I will now sit back and wait for the email this weekend and i know i will get the info i am looking for.