Oh my....too cool.

 

Actually, Delta's rates were industry-leading through 2004 until they gave $1 Billion in concessions...so go back 7 years.

Delta Pilots Begin Contract Vote - Los Angeles Times

I enjoy the environment, people & work rules at DAL...I just think our compensation needs to be improved, and it will be beginning Jan. 1st, 2013.

 

Ok, Delta has been eroding pay and benefits for 7 years. Better?

 

Keep in mind that the Southwest compensation package came only because of the Delta and United contracts. In fact the SW pay rate that resulted from those two contracts was still 45 dollars an hour lower then those contracts paid on like equipment. That rate was around 190 an hour at SW and 235 an hour at others. In the last 10 years at SW that rate has only improved about a bit over 10 percent or less then 1 percent a year. Considering SW fuel hedging and overall profit margin being industry leading I am not sure that is a huge accomplishment. Lets hope now that most airlines are no longer under the treat of Chapter 11 or liquidation we can see much greater gains in the next 10 years.

 

I certainly wish you all the best. It is in all of our best interests.

 

Once again WM, since you believe you will not have your way in this situation you and others will pitch a hissy by engaging in destructive behavior. Just as the SWA guys will if they don't get their way. Still a hissy in both cases and neither is attractive.

Ponder this thought. If you and those that are bent on extracting their pound of flesh come to SWA and urinate/leave excrement in the pool water....fine. Eventually some of it will wind up in your mouth (and your family's) because you are swimming in the same pool water.

The Oscar

 

I keep hearing this argument over and over about "well we were industry leading." It isn't about what you used to make, it is about what you can sustain. Raise your own bar and if you want to say you are doing it for everyone....go for it. After having GK on my jumpseat a few years back I can tell you that he doesn't care what the other airlines compensation is. He cares about what level of compensation he can provide and sustain for his pilot group.

The Oscar

P. S. I used to have a porsche and then I got married. It is kind of like Chapter 11 BK.

 

But Oscar,

Aren't you guys telling them that they aren't part of the family and that you don't really care about them if they don't do as you want? It seems as though most SWA guys on here would have no problem with management selling off AT in pieces, putting thousands of people on the street. But, you want them to take care of the place when they get there?

That's probably a hard pill to swallow.

 

Did it occur to you that he was telling you what you wanted to hear?
And now that costs are rising and unique fuel hedges gone, you better believe he cares what competitive costs are. He's an accountant and as such doesn't operate in a vacuum.

 

I've been looking at past mergers of Delta & Northwest as a baseline for understanding the situation between SWA and AirTran. Here are the past mergers:

1953 - Chicago & Southern
1972 - Northeast Airlines
1986 - Western Airlines
1991 - Pan Am (Not really a merger; DAL purchased 45% of the company and financed it for several months, but ceased financing in Dec 1991 as Pan Am was inevitably headed toward a second bankruptcy; thousands lost jobs)
2008 - Northwest Airlines (who merged with Republic back in 1986)

In almost all these cases, Delta & Northwest kept the pilots & planes without furloughs or liquidation. Pan Am was a special case because it was almost dead from the start of DAL's financial help.

I guess my point here is that AirTran has been a very profitable company and it would certainly not be in GK's best interest, nor the shareholders, to "liquidate" the acquired company, despite the threat of "all options" being on the table. There's simply too much investment at stake.

http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/a...airtran-1.html

I would suggest to pilots on both sides to be civil to one another because you will be flying together in the 'family' in the future.