Brakes: just let me play devils advocate here for a second

With the profit sharing we had last year we had industry leading retirement compensation. OK...profit sharing isn't guaranteed. I said I'm playing devils advocate here

I don't know that our current health care costs/benefits are a major player in the conversation. Sure, they could be better, but I don't know anyone who's vote is contingent on this issue. I think our current care is pretty good(?)

Reserve could be improved, and IS being improved in this TA. But one thing I always liked about SWA is how FEW reserves we have; probably the lowest %-age in the industry. My opinion has always been that any improvements that require the company to increase the number of reserve lines isn't really an improvement.

Not sure what you mean about the "work less" category. Never heard this discussion before.

As far as your numbered items go:
1. Good question! Hopefully this is going away soon.
2. Good question! Hopefully this is going away soon
3. Not really sure, but it's only one trip a year so I never really thought of it as onerous.

 

I'm over the denial and anger stages. Selling lances, codeshare/interline, subsets and a few other things for slightly more than cola is just NOt the way to go here. This TA is going to fail, the question is how much leverage are we giving the new NC.

 

Is this TD?

 

TD had one 1Seat 2Engines

 

I find it unfathomable that ANY FO on the property could vote yes for this, especially the junior guys. Senior guys and 20+ military guys are usually yes, so that leaves the other 50% of captains who hopefully who can see this for what it is. And that is concessionary in every area, including pay! Don't believe me, look at the COLA calculator that is floating around on the SWAPA forum (but you have to me a member.)

Junior FOs will be trailing Delta by up to 36% when DAL comes back with their ratified TA next year. Do we really want to rush this?

 

There's some huge differences between what people think inflation has been in the last couple of years. That's an argument in itself. However, the CPI is WAY below what some guys are saying. If you get to cherry pick your source it's hard to negotiate.

I don't think a non-existent DAL TA carries much weight. Remember, we're in federal mediation.

The next TA doesn't always have more money in it. Look at the last SWA TA. So we saved the LC program? We lost money in the rest of the contract.

The irony I find is that some of the biggest LC whiners from the last TA are all capts now. Where do they stand on the LC issue? Strangely silent. They got theirs and now they don't care.

Go back and search, you'll see who I'm talking about. Some of the most active agitators suddenly don't care about Lance.

 

I agree that you can't cherry pick and that the delta TA is symbolic at best. I will say, however, that I am disappointed in this TA and I think we can do a lot better for ALL of our members. Things we all share in like retirement....any way you spin .7 percent it is a joke.
Also subsets need to be better defined. A lot of pilots here take it for granted that they can bid and fly any flight in the system. That will change with subsets.
I am not expecting a blockbuster TA2, but I certainly hope they tweak some of the language and put the money where it matters.

 

If you are an FO and vote yes on this gargantuan TURD, well then there's no hope for you. You better enjoy the view from the right seat for a long time. And you will get no sympathy from me when reality sinks in at how bad you effed yourself. Spend that less than one month's take home 'bone us' wisely. Cry yourselves to sleep at 9am when your done flying red eyes for a whopping 3% which you may or may not get. And weren't able to trade or ELITT out of. Six months in, your ASSociation will drop the PBS steamer in your lap. 1 tfp for counseling after you have called in sick twice in a row and no fatigue pay because your report was submitted 'incorrectly'. Nervously watch our flying shrink as acquired codes share partners pick it up and we become a narrow body feed for 40+ international carriers. Look back at your airline career from the Home Depot hammer aisle in retirement and contemplate why .7% 401k didn't put you in a Monte Carlo condo.
Or you could just vote NO.

 

Forget about the money. Four years from now your W-2 will be the same under this contract anyway after they sneak PBS on property. There's so much more to this contract than money. And if the next contract has less monetary value we vote it down as well.

 

The times I've lost my a$$ in Vegas have been when I've stayed at the table after getting up a little and kept at it trying to get up a bunch. With the handcuffs placed on us by the RLA and being in Federal Mediation we are playing against the house which given time will eventually come out ahead. I don't trust the monkey-$hit tossing zoo that SWAPA has become to squeeze any more money out of this deal. Plan B seems to be tossing out the President and Negotiating Committee and starting over from scratch. Until SWAPA starts being run like a billion-dollar business instead of an after-school club we will only keep getting the same results.