and get paid a respectable wage to fly them. that would be a great world.

It is real difficult from a negotiating perspective to get those wages when there is always a group willing to do it for less.

Do not get me started on places like VA and Skybus.

I know I am opening myself up to a pile-on but.....for arguments sake, how about if your airline has no res, marketing or sales department you aren't "mainline". I believe "regional" and "mainline" are terms that have carried over from an earlier time and will continue no matter how much more this industry morphs. THere you go, now....Zeus, Apollo ATTACK!!
Burn Notice

Let’s say your bring the 100 seat or less flying back to mainline at B scale. How do you know that management will not park larger airplanes and start buying a full load of 76 to 100 seat jets and displace 25% of the pilot group. How is this good for the Delta pilots? You will have to put a limit on the number of B scale airplane for this to work for the pilots and I don’t think management will go for it.

That is a thought, but it goes against a few lines of thinking. I have always stated what you have posted. Limiting the number of jets is the same as telling them what to fly where in some people's minds.
I think that is a legitimate fear of some. Good points and it needs to be explored.

OTOH, a 100 seat jet is a great 76 seat jet replacement as much as it is a good 88 replacement......

I know that it hasn't actually been proposed yet, but the very thought of a "B-scale" is alarming to anyone who flew while we had one. The rationale was similar: accept it or we don't get the flying at all, but the result was a long-lasting split in the pilot group.

Here's support again if IBT747 needs examples...


ALPA Supports Amerijet Pilots
As many of you know, Amerijet crewmembers have been on strike for six days. This unfortunate turn of events is a result of being locked in a bitter dispute with management. These men and women are looking for basic improvements in their first contract while dealing with a company that has shown no respect for them or the negotiating process. Although Amerijet is not an ALPA carrier, it is imperative that we support all airline pilots in the fight for fair and equitable contracts. To that end, if any of you are in the Miami area and are willing to support the pilots and flight engineers of Amerijet, they will be picketing the offices of the airline 24/7. The offices are located next to the ATC tower in Cargo City at Miami International Airport.

The address is:
Amerijet International
6185 NW 18 ST BLG 716-B
Miami, FL 33142

The pilots and flight engineers of Amerijet, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 769, have not yet contacted ALPA for support in the strike. However, we want to make it clear that ALPA fully supports the Amerijet crewmembers in this dispute. A delegation from ALPA’s national Strategic Preparedness and Strike Committee will travel to Miami to offer its assistance to the crewmembers of Amerijet.
Nothing displays our solidarity more than showing support through e-mails or letters of support, or better yet, walking the picket line.

Legitimate question, not flame-baiting or defending the B-scale as it existed in the 80s or at any point in the future:

Does it make a great deal of difference whether the split between "A-scale" and "B-scale" is on-property as in the 80s/90s or off-property as it is now? At least when it was on property it was something that could be eliminated in future contracts, whereas the apartheid system that exists today will be a very, very difficult beast to slay. I think the best argument for keeping it off-property is that it keeps the pilots at mainline more unified, as your post alluded to, but I think the ongoing argument between ACL65/BuckingBar/Superpilot and Slowplay/sailingfun/alfaromeo demonstrates that the junior pilots still find the existence of the B-scale very offensive even when it no longer applies to them.

But would it be a true B scale? The pay rate for the recaptured jets would be lower than our current small nb rates, but they are still starting at across the board 1st year pay. Also when one bids off the e/c/r jets would they not get the published pay rates for the larger equipment?

My memory of the b scale was people being payed less for the same seat for years.

My desires are to shore up the bargning base for the Delta Pilots. Continual outsourcing of the bottom jobs will wipe away a lot of bargaining power. It already has and will continue to do so. In effect, I want Delta pilots performing more than 38% of our flying. More departures for Delta pilots means more job, increased job security, and a better bargaining position.
In the end it is about getting as much as we can for the Delta Pilots. It will help DCI, and their pilots. That is a good thing.