Comair MEC burning bridges with Delta?

[General Lee]

YAK,

We at Delta are trying to help our furloughees by atleast paying for their Cobra payments. A lot of us have tried to do more and regardless have not forgotten about them. We are trying to get them back as soon as possible, and believe that Delta will be in relatively good shape to do so soon.

DAL737FO,

It is good you got a temporary job so quickly, and soon you will be back as DAL767FO or DAL777FO. I know you will not forget the Comair MEC's remarks. Good luck.

Metrosherrif,

Thank you for your continued support.

Bye Bye----General Lee

 

[9rj9]

how are you helping ?

I hear you say you're helping, but resetting the scope to 44%/49% ? What did the Delta Mec really get for that ? Some back room deal with the senior guys not to take pay cuts ? What was it ? Now you jump up and down about a few low paying jobs few would take. So tell us, what did Delta get for the scope reset ?

 

[skydiverdriver]

Yak, General and Metro,
I'm very appreciative of all the money you sent us. However, compared to what other airlines gave, the Delta pilots assistance was minimal. I'm still appreciative, but please think about what impact this money had on our management. Do you think they said, "oh, look, Delta pilots are giving money to Comair's fund, we better give them what they want." Probably not. What we needed was real help, not support. We should have been all in this together, ASA, Delta and Comair.

Again, I'm appreciative of all the money you sent, but since you say our strike was unsuccessful, then I really can't afford to help your guys as much as you could help ours.

On another matter, nobody still wants to try to answer my question. Are you afraid to try?

 

[General Lee]

9rj9,

How do you know few pilots would take "low paying jobs" at Comair? IF I were in that situation, I would take it. I enjoy flying and I made a lot less than your first year guys make now when I started out in the regionals. You haven't even given them a chance to interview. ASA has only hired 13 Delta guys, but they are limited now due to the retirement of their Brasilias, and we are pleased they offered it atleast. Comair on the otherhand has slapped us in the face.

What did our MEC really get from Delta? I don't really know. I think he realized that his negotiators screwed up when they put in the contract that Delta could renegotiate the block hour limits after only 2 losing quarters in a row---something that could happen easily. I think he wanted to do something to stop the increase, and by setting a new number (44%), he did that. The 49% is a drastic fallback that all of us DON'T want to see---you included. If that happens, we may all be out of a job. Don't you guys like the increase? You went from 36% to 44% of the total of our flying. That is pretty good. The one thing we got was the hope that our eventual codeshare with NW/CO will bring back a certain number of pilots---according to Delta's own numbers concerning manning--- which should be about 1100 by 2005. Ofcourse the arbitrator hopefully will bring them back sooner.

Skydiverdriver,

Minimal assistance, huh? We gave money along with not flying struck work. What else could we have done? Tell me. Should we have stopped flying all together? I think a judge would have seen that and fined us and the President would have done something also. He didn't let us strike for our contract. So, we gave you money---which according to you was minimal. Do you think our furloughed guys wish they could get some money? We do pay for their Cobra, which is the least we could do. We have almost as many furloughed guys out as you have pilots total. How about helping them out? Oh, that's right---you said you can't afford to help them. I guess allowing them to sit at the bottom of your list would really hurt you financially, especially when you are hiring 45-50 a month. What a joke. And you said we are afraid to try? Try what? I didn't complain about writing a check out each month to help you guys because I wanted you to win. I flew for a regional too. Now we have over 1000 guys out of work, and your MEC doesn't care. This is another example of how the top 100 guys in senority hurt the chances of the bottom 1300. That is too bad.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[9rj9]

I haven't stopped them...

Just like the DAL MEC caving and raising the block hour limit without a vote, Comair MEC said no to support DAL hiring. I didn't get to vote either. I along with a majority of Comair pilots would support the DAL guys coming here. You know the drill, the top 10% rules the roost. It's a political posturing, RJDC, scope, strike, ect. from both sides.

 

[General Lee]

9rj9,

Well atleast you believe that our furloughed guys/girls should have a chance to go to the bottom of your list. That is a step in the right direction. A lot of people don't think that way. Just remember that your MEC and his views could possibly affect you later on. Yes, I also know that our MEC also is making some big decisions without our votes, but he actually helped you guys by giving in to the increase of flying, a substantial one I might add. If you want to help guys out of work, then say something to your MEC. Opposition to his thinking is the only thing that can change his mind. I beleive he would never want to go to Delta, and that is dangerous for anyone among you who might want to go someday. He doesn't care who he pisses off, and maybe you do. I flew for a regional for 5 years, and I am a lot happier here, even though this is a bad time for a lot of our people. It will get better and I hope everyone gets a chance to fly for a major if they want to.

Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[100LL... Again!]

___________________________
Minimal assistance, huh? We gave money along with not flying struck work.
___________________________


I didn't realize that not flying struck work was 'assisting'.

If you are referring to the assessment, I don't think Delta was the only pilot group paying that.

Was the assessment optional? At my airline, I was told it was not. (Not that I would have withheld my contribution.)

I'm not taking sides, but this does sound iffy.

 

[FlyingSig]

However, compared to what other airlines gave, the Delta pilots assistance was minimal.

You always ask questions so here's one for you to answer. (All others, please let SDD answer this one as I'm mainly interested in his opinion)

What did any other airline do above and beyond the Delta pilot group?

Please don't mention the jumpseat because that has been discussed already.

 

[General Lee]

100LL...again,

What else were we supposed to do? You're right, we weren't the only ones to contribute, but we did try to help. We advised management that we were not going to fly struck work, which was in a way telling them to settle. Management did not, and we eventually lost $250 million and the Comair pilots eventually came back. We could not do anything else because President Bush had already forbid us from striking on the earlier contract. So, we ALL gave money in hopes that Comair would prevail. Is that still Iffy? Now, in our time of need, Comair's MEC has stated that he will not allow our furloughed pilots to go to the bottom of their list while they are hiring 45-50 a month? Hmmmmm, Sounds iffy to me now. Comair is owned by Delta, and so is ASA. ASA is allowing our guys to join their list without giving up their senority rights. Why won't Comair? Still sound IFFY?

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[skydiverdriver]

I havn't read all the responses yet, so this is for Sig's question only.

Again, I appreciate all the support sent in by individual Delta pilots. However, the other airlines, especially UPS and American had pages and pages in our logbook of people who sent checks in, and the Delta page was pretty short. In other words, the amount of pilots who helped us from other airlines (most notably non-ALPA) was much greater than the help we recieved from Delta pilots.

Now, I realize you guys were going through your own negotiations, and perhaps a strike could have been in your future. But I keep hearing how much "help" you sent us, and compared to other airlines, it was pretty small. I hope that answers your question Sig.

Now that I've answered your question, why don't you take a stab at mine.