Delta TA Overview
 

From the Delta MEC:

Our amendable date in the current agreement is December 31, 2012. Just one day later, on January 1, 2013, pay rates will be 12.8 percent greater than they are today. Four percent of that increase will take place once the agreement is ratified with an additional increase of 8.5 percent on January 1, 2013. This will be followed by pay increases of three percent at the beginning of 2014 and 2015. Just two years after the amendable date of our current agreement, pay rates will be almost 20 percent above where they are today. Pilots will also receive an additional one percent contribution to their defined contribution plans effective January 1, 2014. Importantly, we have eliminated the pay differential that exists between the MD-88 and the MD-90; MD-88 pay rates will now match those of the MD-90.

Some will argue these increases are not enough and that we should hold out for more, but this ignores the time-value of consistent year-over-year increases. Southwest pilots, for example, are where they are today because they work for a consistently profitable company and have received a series of modest pay increases. On the other hand, some pilot groups have stagnated with no increases for years waiting for the elusive home-run payout. Since the merger, and through the end-rate gains of this agreement, same-seat compensation (pay and defined contribution increases) at Delta will, on average, increase over 53 percent. A 737 captain, for example, earned $153.42 per hour in 2008 and received an 11 percent DC contribution. On January 1, 2015, he will be paid $216.92 per hour and receive a 15 percent DC contribution.

In terms of scope, we were able to achieve important improvements, from the smallest jets through international joint venture protections. Scope is the most complex section of the contract. At its core, it is about who flies Delta’s passengers and ultimately, about Delta pilot jobs.

Importantly, we will have a block hour ratio, which establishes a minimum amount of mainline flying relative to DCI flying and a cap on the total number of 50 to 76 seat DCI aircraft. Delta will be permitted accelerated access to 76-seat jets, but this access can only occur if Delta first acquires small narrow-body jets flown by Delta mainline pilots and if there is a significant reduction in the number of 50-seat aircraft. Without the acquisition of these new mainline aircraft, Delta will be capped at the current level for 70/76-seat jets. Ultimately, under this agreement, Delta’s access to 76-seat jets will be capped at 32 less than what is allowed in the current PWA. Additionally, Delta will no longer be permitted to convert 70-seat jets to 76-seat jets going forward, regardless of the size of the mainline fleet.

Delta management decides which aircraft it operates, but we have every reason to believe that Delta will soon announce the purchase of aircraft contingent on the ratification of this agreement. This will represent a major opportunity for many of our pilots to upgrade from the right seat to the left seat and will also create a need for additional hiring for the right seat. While the details are complex and best left for a dedicated Negotiators’ Notepad, let me summarize by saying that if Delta executes its plan for the small narrow-body jet flying, the result will be a major shift of block hours to Delta mainline. The share of mainline domestic flying will increase by 21 percent and the ratio of mainline domestic to DCI flying will increase by 57 percent over the life of this agreement.

We achieved a number of improvements in the scheduling arena, and one of the most significant is in the area of reserve flying. The reserve guarantee will be established as two hours below the average line value (ALV) with a floor of 72 and a ceiling of 80. This improvement alone will result in a monthly pay increase for reserves of between 2.9 - 14.3 percent depending on the monthly ALV, before the pay table increases are applied. Combined with the other improvements to reserve, it is my view that when viewed in aggregate, we will have the best reserve system in the industry.

The complicated and often punitive 75 percent sick leave bank has been eliminated. All sick leave up to a pilot’s yearly accrued maximum will be paid at 100 percent, and for pilots with over 20 years of service, the sick leave accrual will increase from 240 to 270 hours per year.

The agreement also includes an early retirement program similar in scope to the program offered to other Delta employees earlier this year, and this program will also be the subject of a standalone communication.

There are many other improvements in the tentative agreement such as “vacation any,” average daily guarantee (ADG), elimination of the sick leave monitoring program and others too numerous to cover here. In addition to the communications I’ve already discussed, the MEC administration and the Negotiating Committee will begin a series of system-wide road shows commencing after the Memorial Day weekend. We will also produce a streaming video for those unable to make it to a road show. In short, we will do everything in our power to provide you with all the information you need to cast an informed vote once the ratification window opens next month.

This tentative agreement provides for an amendable date of December 31, 2015, three years after our current amendable date. Under the current PWA, we would not enter mediation until March 2013. In mediation, the average time spent to reach an agreement is 29 months. Our time in mediation could be more; it could be less. But if we take the average, that means we might not reach an agreement until the fall of 2015, just months ahead of the amendable date of the recently achieved tentative agreement. Put another way, we’ll be deep into negotiations for our follow-on agreement (Contract 2015) even before we might have reached an agreement on Contract 2012.

In a recent Chairman’s Letter to you, I wrote somewhat cryptically about fleeting opportunities, and earlier in this letter, I wrote about Delta’s fleet plan. The value the Delta pilots receive in conjunction with this TA is a result of Delta’s desire to execute its business plan in a timely fashion. It is in large part due to this leverage that we were able to seize the opportunity to reach this agreement over seven months ahead of the amendable date. Delta can execute a portion of its fleet plan without an agreement with ALPA, but this is a rare opportunity to accelerate and enhance that plan to the benefit of both Delta and the Delta pilots.

Finally, I would like to thank the MEC Negotiating Committee and their expanded team for the incredible work they have done over the past 18 months and in particular, during the last two months. The Delta pilots have once again set the bar for pattern bargaining, and shattered the paradigm of drawn-out negotiations. Importantly, if this agreement is ratified, we don’t intend to stop there. Your MEC will continue to make incremental but significant improvements at every opportunity, just as we have for the past several years.
The Delta MEC Negotiating Committee wholeheartedly endorses this agreement, and the Delta MEC has approved and endorsed this agreement. It is my recommendation that when the time comes to cast your vote, you vote to ratify the agreement.

Wow
 

"Note one: Upon the delivery of a 223rd 76-seat aircraft, the number of 38 permitted 50-seat aircraft will be 125 regardless of the number...." p. 1-6

If you can remember back a few years and ask "why did UA park all the B-737's?

The answer was relaxation of scope.

That cost 1400 mainline pilot jobs.

If we relax scope further that will have a similar affect.

If CO pilots give up on scope that is an immediate 800 pilots that will be gone, or be let go through attrition and those jobs will be replaced by RJ pilots working for one quarter of what we earn in total cockpit compensation.

If the UA and CO pilots give it up that will be about 1200 pilot jobs gone forever.

If we give up more international flying to Aer Lingus......well, you get the point.

A 30 percent pay raise don't do you any good if you aren't employed to earn it. Voting yes to relaxing scope is voting yes to management outsourcing your job.

Just an old retired guy but, the market determines everything. You aren't going to stop it if the rest of the industry is already there.

Otto: Excellent post - should be required reading.

Old ucal: Go enjoy your retirement.

Unfriendly skies
 

After the opening of the unfriendly skies campaign, any giveback on scope will cause long term credibilty damage to our union and pilot group. We have exposed the facts that outsourcing causes lost jobs, we have turned this into an argument for public safety. Giving in would be selling out.

Why is it we aren't outsourcing our management jobs? The CEO's in Europe and other countries aren't the greedy bastards we have in this country.................. At least they'd let us keep more of OUR money instead of keeping it for themselves......... Funny how Kramer on CNBC said it's become a joke in this country how if an employee screws up they're fired, but if a CEO screws up, they give him a couple million more in his paycheck.

Pretty much this is a zero sum contract, in fact we loose in many areas...... I really hope this is voted down by a wide margin and our negotiators go back and get the contract we deserve!

If you are saying RJs are what the Market is dictating then I have to disagree. If you are saying that most people that fly what the lowest cost airline ticket then I agree up to a point. While most customers want the best deal they still want a good product. In the airline business that is not flying on a RJ. The RJ issue is more about greed and not about giving the customers what they want. Southwest has and will continue to thrive because they give the customer what they want. When I say, Southwest, I mean the employees of SW give the customer what they want. The management at SW takes care of their employees. They count on the employees to take care of the customer. Here at UCH it is about management taking care of themselves. They have the attitude of screw the customer and screw the employee as long as they can line their pockets with cash. These temporary airline CEOs and their underlings are a plague on the industry. They are a like a STD. We will never be cured of them.

If you are saying RJs are what the Market is dictating then I have to disagree. If you are saying that most people that fly what the lowest cost airline ticket then I agree up to a point. While most customers want the best deal they still want a good product. In the airline business that is not flying on a RJ. The RJ issue is more about greed and not about giving the customers what they want. Southwest has and will continue to thrive because they give the customer what they want. When I say, Southwest, I mean the employees of SW give the customer what they want. The management at SW takes care of their employees. They count on the employees to take care of the customer. Here at UCH it is about management taking care of themselves. They have the attitude of screw the customer and screw the employee as long as they can line their pockets with cash. These temporary airline CEOs and their underlings are a plague on the industry. They are a like a STD. We will never be cured of them.