jetflier
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2003
- Posts
- 718
"Thanks for the information. I thought the Roar was very well written, and I was impressed that a dissenting opinion was included. Both sides of the argument have good points, if were included in the voting it seems that it might boil down to the equity stake. In other words, �a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush�. Who knows what the airline business will look like in two or three years. I would �take the money�. If I was given to wagering I would give high percentage odds that the Delta pilots will ratify LOA 19. It would be nice to have all the Northwest pilots voting for this same contract but so far that is not to be.
Negotiations are scheduled for mid May to work out an agreement with the Northwest pilots. Our negotiators are on record that the joint pilot contract had been worked out prior to the announcement of the merger, the only sticking point was the new NWA/DAL pilot seniority list. The Northwest side is also on record as being willing to accept arbitration of the seniority list to get the new contract signed, a contract that was a bit better than that represented by LOA 19. Your Chairman, Moak, said he would never submit to arbitration, hence the better pre merger announcement contract was not consummated. Our union leaders were more than a little frustrated when your Master Chairman agreed to LOA 19 and also simultaneously agreed to arbitration of the pilot seniority list. We all could have had the better contract had he been willing to accept arbitration several weeks earlier. I was disappointed to not see any discussion of this in either of the Delta pilot communications you had sent to me.
Several other points in the Roar need to be made clear. Pay rates; compared to the pre announcement contract several hourly rates were changed. The A-330 hourly rate was reduced by $6.00 per hour to place it below the 767-400 ER in the pay rate table. I have been informed that by every standard measure the Air Line Pilots Association uses to determine aircraft hourly pay rates the A-330 is superior to the 767-400 ER, namely range, payload and speed. In addition the 737-700 was increased to match the 737-800, placing our A-320 and A-319 aircraft lower on the pay table. Our negotiators claim this was a change from the pre announcement contract that both sides had agreed to. Ultimately there will be a mix of pilots from both Northwest and Delta flying these aircraft, what is a Northwest pilot to think about these subtle changes?
Lastly regarding wide body flying; we understand Delta has more wide body aircraft than Northwest does. However most of that number are the 767 that earn no premium pay for its pilots, in fact they pay the same as the 757. Northwest operates, 16, 757-300�s and I believe hold nearly the same number of passengers that many of your wide body 767 hold, and in fact with a joint contract will pay the same . Our 757-300 have a capacity of 224 passengers in a two class configuration and are all ETOPS. It is my view that Northwest pilots bring a majority of the premium wide body flying,(32) A-330�s, (16) 747-400�s, (12) 747-200�s, firm orders for (18) 787�s, I will not count the additional (50) 787 options that exist with the original 787 order. Our contract states that Northwest pilots will fly any aircraft on order in the event of a merger, until a new joint contract is agreed to. Given our explicit contract I do not expect that Delta pilots will be flying a percentage of new aircraft that Delta does not presently fly without a joint contract, i.e., the 787. Northwest has 68 premium pay long range aircraft. It is my understanding Delta has 14 777�s and about 25 767-400 ER�s, my count is that Delta has 37 premium wide body aircraft. I am sure you had other firm orders prior to the merger announcement that I am not aware of. I am not trying to belittle the premium pay wide body pilot jobs Delta brings to the joint airline, however it is clear to me that Northwest brings nearly double these premium jobs.
It is my hope that a combined joint contract is agreed to in the next several weeks. A contract for the Northwest pilots that �harmonizes� pay rates over several years is not going to play with our group. Without a joint contract Delta management cannot take full advantage of the re-fleeting of the airline to generate more revenue and to save on the expense side. Think of re-fleeting as matching each market with the right size aircraft so you don�t have to sell any discounted seats. For example, MSP-NRT on certain days of the week we have to discount 50-100 seats on the 747-400, other days of the week we fly two flights within minutes of each other to Tokyo. The slower days would be a perfect fit for the 777 that has a few less seats. I am told that Delta has flights out of ATL on certain days that the 747-400 would better serve. Apparently that is how Richard Anderson and company arrived at the merger savings and revenue gains. The point is these savings and revenue gains cannot be fully realized without the Northwest pilots agreeing to a new contract. The contract we want is exactly the contract the Delta guys are going to get with possibly a few modifications. The Northwest pilots will refuse to be treated and paid differently than Delta pilots.
Our combined companies have almost 7 billion in cash. It seems the bankers are not interested in loaning money to anyone presently. This merger has to work, and it has to work well. No close calls. We have to have a joint contract from the beginning, so the combined carrier can have the maximum cost savings and generate the maximum revenue. Once we have a joint contract the Northwest pilots will fully support this merger, until then we will actively oppose it. We will know within several weeks if we are going to be treated fairly, or if we will be expected to work for substantially less than or brothers at Delta. Having said all that I continue to be very optimistic about this new company and I do hope this turns out well."
Negotiations are scheduled for mid May to work out an agreement with the Northwest pilots. Our negotiators are on record that the joint pilot contract had been worked out prior to the announcement of the merger, the only sticking point was the new NWA/DAL pilot seniority list. The Northwest side is also on record as being willing to accept arbitration of the seniority list to get the new contract signed, a contract that was a bit better than that represented by LOA 19. Your Chairman, Moak, said he would never submit to arbitration, hence the better pre merger announcement contract was not consummated. Our union leaders were more than a little frustrated when your Master Chairman agreed to LOA 19 and also simultaneously agreed to arbitration of the pilot seniority list. We all could have had the better contract had he been willing to accept arbitration several weeks earlier. I was disappointed to not see any discussion of this in either of the Delta pilot communications you had sent to me.
Several other points in the Roar need to be made clear. Pay rates; compared to the pre announcement contract several hourly rates were changed. The A-330 hourly rate was reduced by $6.00 per hour to place it below the 767-400 ER in the pay rate table. I have been informed that by every standard measure the Air Line Pilots Association uses to determine aircraft hourly pay rates the A-330 is superior to the 767-400 ER, namely range, payload and speed. In addition the 737-700 was increased to match the 737-800, placing our A-320 and A-319 aircraft lower on the pay table. Our negotiators claim this was a change from the pre announcement contract that both sides had agreed to. Ultimately there will be a mix of pilots from both Northwest and Delta flying these aircraft, what is a Northwest pilot to think about these subtle changes?
Lastly regarding wide body flying; we understand Delta has more wide body aircraft than Northwest does. However most of that number are the 767 that earn no premium pay for its pilots, in fact they pay the same as the 757. Northwest operates, 16, 757-300�s and I believe hold nearly the same number of passengers that many of your wide body 767 hold, and in fact with a joint contract will pay the same . Our 757-300 have a capacity of 224 passengers in a two class configuration and are all ETOPS. It is my view that Northwest pilots bring a majority of the premium wide body flying,(32) A-330�s, (16) 747-400�s, (12) 747-200�s, firm orders for (18) 787�s, I will not count the additional (50) 787 options that exist with the original 787 order. Our contract states that Northwest pilots will fly any aircraft on order in the event of a merger, until a new joint contract is agreed to. Given our explicit contract I do not expect that Delta pilots will be flying a percentage of new aircraft that Delta does not presently fly without a joint contract, i.e., the 787. Northwest has 68 premium pay long range aircraft. It is my understanding Delta has 14 777�s and about 25 767-400 ER�s, my count is that Delta has 37 premium wide body aircraft. I am sure you had other firm orders prior to the merger announcement that I am not aware of. I am not trying to belittle the premium pay wide body pilot jobs Delta brings to the joint airline, however it is clear to me that Northwest brings nearly double these premium jobs.
It is my hope that a combined joint contract is agreed to in the next several weeks. A contract for the Northwest pilots that �harmonizes� pay rates over several years is not going to play with our group. Without a joint contract Delta management cannot take full advantage of the re-fleeting of the airline to generate more revenue and to save on the expense side. Think of re-fleeting as matching each market with the right size aircraft so you don�t have to sell any discounted seats. For example, MSP-NRT on certain days of the week we have to discount 50-100 seats on the 747-400, other days of the week we fly two flights within minutes of each other to Tokyo. The slower days would be a perfect fit for the 777 that has a few less seats. I am told that Delta has flights out of ATL on certain days that the 747-400 would better serve. Apparently that is how Richard Anderson and company arrived at the merger savings and revenue gains. The point is these savings and revenue gains cannot be fully realized without the Northwest pilots agreeing to a new contract. The contract we want is exactly the contract the Delta guys are going to get with possibly a few modifications. The Northwest pilots will refuse to be treated and paid differently than Delta pilots.
Our combined companies have almost 7 billion in cash. It seems the bankers are not interested in loaning money to anyone presently. This merger has to work, and it has to work well. No close calls. We have to have a joint contract from the beginning, so the combined carrier can have the maximum cost savings and generate the maximum revenue. Once we have a joint contract the Northwest pilots will fully support this merger, until then we will actively oppose it. We will know within several weeks if we are going to be treated fairly, or if we will be expected to work for substantially less than or brothers at Delta. Having said all that I continue to be very optimistic about this new company and I do hope this turns out well."
