The current MEC was put in place in large part because the previous MEC would roll over at nearly any request from Comair/Delta. The pilot group suffered as a result...and if it weren't for the Flight Attendants taking the company to court, the pilot group - First Officers in particular, would have gotten screwed even worse through the first bankruptcy L.O.A. that passed because eight pilots voted yes instead of no.
Because our Flight Attendants union leadership had enough guts to call b.s. on the company mandated concessionary package, I am $35,000 wealthier today. Thankfully their union leadership had more guts than A.L.P.A.'s.
Interfering with Delta's intentions during a merger is not necessarily a bad thing...particularly when those intentions are not clear, and Delta has acted in such bad faith over the last five years or so when it comes to their Comair division. They have broken agreement after agreement, taken a company whose president, under oath, admitted Comair was projecting a fifty million dollar profit for the same year it had filed bankruptcy for, and not followed through on their claim that once bankruptcy concessions were agreed to, Comair would grow.
Comair is smaller today than it was when it exited bankruptcy. Comair is 2/3 the size it was prior to entering bankruptcy. What part of cooperating with Delta in that equation led to a positive result? Why should we expect anything different than Delta's historical behavior if we acquiesce to their every whim in the future?
Has the current MEC performed acceptably? Probably not in every case. Is that justification enough to vote in a bunch of sheep who will return to the "Yes Delta, we can bend over even more so you can send additional growth to contract carriers and preferred wholly owned divisions." mentality we've had before?
It's always something with these people in Atlanta. First it was our pay rates are too high. Now it is we have too much experience to do the job economically...though they've made no attempts at creating a realistic buyout program to solve the problem...and Delta wouldn't have been able to find enough pilots to fly all their regional schedule at the money they were willing to pay had Age 65 not been signed into law a year ago.
The doom and gloom is so thick around here, but I don't understand why. This is a regional airline that pays wages just slightly above Mesa, with no clear future, no advancement opportunity, no leadership, no ability to honor labor agreements, and no ability to succeed without Delta's permission. Would someone explain to me why we should be upset about losing our jobs here? Is it just because we're not educated, experienced, and intelligent enough to do better with other activities?
I strongly suspect no one who has been furloughed yet has averaged more than $35,000/yr. in wages from Comair during their time here. Those furloughed here are looking at $35k - $40k as a maximum earning potential for the next seven to ten years once recalled if they don't find something more productive to do with their time.
Perhaps that future is acceptable to many, and if it is it might explain why there is such angst about the current condition of Comair...which Comair and Delta have worked very hard to paint as a union problem.
Perhaps the reason why I find it so difficult to understand the angst is because I've grown beyond the point where I'm willing to share a crashpad with twelve other dudes while trying to figure out how to maintain a marriage, family, mortgage payment, student loan payments, retirement contributions, and day to day living expenses on $35k - $40k/yr. while friends who chose other career paths that required less sacrifice are earning $60k - $90k/yr.
Please forgive my level of ambition, Delta/Comair. I am not willing to live in a cardboard box just so you can earn even more and run your business even less effectively.
Even in our present economic condition, there are so many opportunities to do better financially in other activities.
05-04-2017
AIRLINE
Unless you have been pre-notified of your RR, you tell those SOBs when they call that you need 2 hrs. to get to the airport! Don't show before 8 pm!
