Delta MEC Chairman Letter

[xjhawk]

now i might as well declare i am not a NWA pilot, but I am a XJ pilot (redtail family) with a future of a possible flow through if something better does not present itself.... I was away for military training when this all broke, so I am behind on the situation. Let me ask this. When was the last time a merger of this sort worked out well for everyone? I am at a regional and suspect that the flow agreement would have been thrown out? right? I also suspect a lot of jobs in minneapolis would have been trashed? right? Oh and all the support that went with a headquarters being there a well? right? That there would have been job losses for both parties? right. That ticket fairs would have gone up in sellected markets? right? can we think of any more good this "merger" would have given us? I would think that Mesaba and compass would be treated like comair when the dust all settled. But who am i kidding, who cares about regional pilots anyways?

 

[xjhawk]

I must add, i have the upmost respect for XJ's MEC and that of NWA's MEC. Since I have been a part of XJ and have seen what they have to do and put up with, the two groups have done an excellent job. keep up the good work

 

[jke406]

there are dozens of threads on this subject if you'd like to get yourself caught up. right?

 

[FDJ2]

Met in the middle? I thought DALPA came into the room the first time with their last best offer. This was not a negotiation right? That's all I seem to hear from the Deltoids here. Which was it?

The DALPA position shifted in order to accomodate the boresight focus of the NWA pilots on their attrition. Orginally just a relative seniority list, it morphed into a dynamic list with fences. It satisfied the NWA pilots needs to look a decade or more into the future for their attrition and the DAL pilots needs, since we're into looking down the road now, to count aircraft orders.

The final proposal contained the dynamic seniority list the NWA pilots wanted and the aircraft orders the DAL pilots would require if we're going down that road. The problem came when the NWA pilots realized that their attrition wasn't as much of a factor as they had hoped for and that aircraft orders played a much larger factor then they had anticipated.

Like I said before, it would have helped if the NWA Merger Committee ( I guess all 14 of them) had done its homework and realized from the beginning that this wasn't about posturing and bluster, but about getting to the middle ground early. There was no time for creating fantasy lists based on desires and not a methodolgy that was fair to all and then letting the numbers fall where they may.

No big deal, it's all water under the bridge. No one is holding a gun to anyones head. A mutually acceptable agreement was not arrived at in time to capture the contractual gains and equity offered. It's time to move on.

Good luck to the NWA pilots, and like I said before, I hope you guys hit a home run 4-5 years from now when you arrive at tentative agreement on your new contract.

 

[jetflier]

Ah, I guess it was a good try. Those guys really didn't want higher pay, better rules, better bases, 100K in cash, their own CEO gone, all the while keeping their pension.... Nah. They will probably get that in 2011, or 2013? Wait, they will get that when their 787s finally come, in 2012? Whatever.


Bye Bye--General Lee

General, With all do respect, we keep our seniority in an airline that is in better financial shape than DAL.

I'll hang my hat on that!

 

[FDJ2]

NWA runs a lean ship and that hopefully has us in a better position through this mess but this just goes to show me that the NWA guys did a fine job not giving into the DAL high and mighty stance. Hopefully everything turns out ok for us all but i am sure this brought the reality level back down for Some of the DAL guys that needed it. Just an observation.

The last I checked NWA's CASM was higher than DAL's, not to say you aren't running a lean ship, but it's not the only lean ship in the water.

There was no high and mighty stance. How can you say the DAL pilots were high and mighty when they wanted to give your seniority number equal weight with theirs. The high and mighty tone comes from those who think their number has more value. Enough said about that.

We'll see how this all plays out. Good luck to you.

 

[FDJ2]

General, With all do respect, we keep our seniority in an airline that is in better financial shape than DAL.

I'll hang my hat on that!

The same could have been said in the fall of 2005. The rest is history. Good luck.

 

[Noserider76]

There was no high and mighty stance. How can you say the DAL pilots were high and mighty when they wanted to give your seniority number equal weight with theirs. The high and mighty tone comes from those who think their number has more value. Enough said about that.

You are right there. It seemed like many on this board would never be satisfied unless they steamrolled the DL guys. They want credit for every little thing they perceive as of value for their side and to give no credit to anything we might perceive as of value.

More high paying airplanes? - "who cares, we have more retirements."

Better contract? - "who cares, we have more retirements."

You get a large pay raise, keep your retirement, much better DC plan, better work rules, etc. - "who cares, we have more retirements."

More airplanes on order? - "who cares, we have more retirements."

More crews per airplane? - "who cares, we have more retirements."

But our projected growth plus retirements more than cancels out your projected retirements - "who cares, we have more -what?"

It appears some have a pie in the sky idea of what their career has in store and the strength of their company. Others want to make up for what may not have gone as planned so far. Sorry, not at our expense. Adios.

 

[FDJ2]

Sorry, not at our expense. Adios.

Exactly. I can assure you that your MEC understands that completely. Nothing I heard in New Orleans last week leads me to believe we will pursue this deal, or as Lee Moak likes to say chase this deal. There are alternatives, a merger is not necessarily required at this time and frankly may not be in our best interests either.

While you can never fully shut the door, it's about as closed as it can get.