Not exactly. DALPA & management jointly filed for mediation before that 90-day requirement, because Delta’s management had only agreed to a whopping $27 Million in contract improvements, and was not moving one inch on anything meaningful. They saw the huge ask from DALPA (who based their table positions on multiple years of $6 BILLION+ annual profits), so Mgmt dug in their heels hard. They indicated they would not negotiate further and would file for mediation. DALPA saw the writing on the wall and determined it was in their best interest there to jointly file a little early.

Listen the the Engage podcast where the Negotiating Chairman lays this all out Here, and hear it from the horse’s mouth.

Buck Rogers was essentially correct in his post, in that COVID paused mediation for 2 full years when we did not want to be negotiating anyway. So saying Delta spent 3 years in mediation is, frankly, ignorant at best and grossly misleading at worst.

 

Yeah, this is the problem. Pilots perceive the goodwill of the pilot group to be incredibly important, but it’s not really that important to anyone outside the pilot group. It should be, for the intangibles mentioned above, but it isn’t. The pax couldn’t care less, they find a lot of the “above and beyond” customer service stuff from pilots annoying anyway (until we divert and then they care very much).

 

Pilot goodwill would be worth more if pilots had the ability to move to greener pastures. Seniority means so much in this industry, but instead of minimizing it, we always make it more and more important. If pilots had the ability to move to another company without decimating one's career, we'd have a lot more leverage when it comes to negotiation time.

Unfortunately, we are in an industry that has "done things this way" for so long, we can't imagine things being done differently. In addition, most people at the top seniority have had to go through this really ****ty system, so to change courses now would require an insurmountable task.

 

Where’s that guy that suggested a guild?

 

United business cards DO NOT have an employee’s personal address on them. They only have the address of their work location (base CPO in the case of pilots) and it can’t be changed. This is a pre-filled line on the business card form.

 

If that’s true there was an option until pretty recently to add personal info to them. I have some with my cell number that I use only for very specific purposes.

 

Mediation is the only way to get to the next steps in the process. It takes a minimum of 2 years and then the gloves can come off. Until well into mediation, there's no real threat of self help which is the only leverage that matters. Public opinion manipulation is a weak lever. They don't sign the agreement and they have no say in negotiations. Shareholder concern is what makes the managers nervous.

 

i JS’d a few months back on UA. The captain made the FO stand in the aisle while the CA introduced the FO as “new” (1 yr on property, 5 yrs + flying 121). Then the CA gave a 5 min speech covering several topics and tangents.

 

Solution is an ALPA National Seniority List with one HUGE caveat - it begins TODAY. In other words, whoever is hired today begins the list. Everyone prior to today remains as is. That give those hired today and beyond the ability that you speak of. Yes, the senior guys and gals won’t get that benefit, but it’s got to start somewhere.