Of course money and retirement are important. Look at why B6 voted in ALPA - it started because management kept worsening their healthcare and making it more expensive. I don't know whether we will change when benefits kick in here, but insurance, both disability and health, is extremely important to me.

 

We need both but the majority of guys I know that medical out are extremely overweight and do nothing but drink beer and live a horrible lifestyle. I'm not forgoing huge pay increases to ensure they have a solid retirement plan.

Of course I'm not referring to the unexpected health issue or disease etc, but like I said, the majority of health problems in this country are self inflicted. Healthcare in this country would be a lot less expensive if people didn't eat like animals, smoke like the Marlboro man, and sit on their fat arses all day.

We need 16%DC plan without having to put 16% in. I'd rather invest and plan my retirement on my own via Vangaurd with much less in fees etc.......

 

I seriously doubt we'll get a 16 percent contribution. Do I want that? Hell yes. But do I think we'll get it? I seriously doubt it.

I would bet that we'll land shy of legacy pay as well but still achieve a vast improvement over what we currently have

 

I agree. It is a lot easier for the legacies to swallow 16% coming from pensions. We need to work towards the 16%. Our F/O rates are horrendous, and for the guys who rave about the 3 year upgrades, that won't last forever. I'd also rather be a senior F/O at $150/hr than a super junior CA @ 200/hr

 

Absolutely, people who aren't concerned about this are the ones who have never needed it.

 

There is no major airline that had a 90 wait on insurance. ONLY CAL had that and its gone now. Delta, United, American, FedEx, UPS, Alaska, JetBlue. All have insurance before 90 days. NOT industry standard. Most regionals don't have a 90 wait.

 

It's good to see some optimism from us about the contract. Who else thinks that we can get increases in all sections?

 

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Joey, you can do that in our 401k. It's called a PCRA; it's a brokerage account inside your 401k. It makes outlr fairly mediocre 401k into a pretty powerful one.

Schwab offers a list of some 200 commission-free ETF's (including Vanguard) as well as a pretty extensive list of no-load mutual funds from a multitude of different companies. You can also buy individual stocks in this account.

I agree with the 16% DC, but you already have the unlimited options offered by a traditional IRA; you just need to set up your account accordingly.

This is the information I was looking for earlier. The lack of responses from other pilots coupled with information given to me from a friend with 10+ years in the private sector health insurance industry led me to believe that 90 days is norm. Lets fix that this next round.

As part of the most profitable airline in North America, I don't see why we can't get increases in each and every single category.

Should we make as much as a comparable Delta A320 pilot? Please explain to me why we shouldn't.

Show us the money.

 

Exactly. And bad things do happen to people who take good care of themselves. That's why it's called insurance after all: preparation for an unknown risk. We could be paid $1000/hr but it's meaningless if you lose your medical or if treatment for your ailment costs $1,000,000 out of pocket. These things should matter.

Reading these emails from the union regarding guys falling ill should be a cautionary tale to us all.