Delta Pilots

[Deacon]

bottom line DAL's management has run this company into the ground and are saking the pilots to pick up the mess.........I could list several examples just as an outsider but there isn't enough bandwidth(ie Simplifares,Song, horrible route structure, sitting idle for 4 years, RECORD losses in the BILLIONS/qtr..........................................need more?)

 

[Pan1900]

Frank Lorenzo? Overpaid bus drivers I say. We need to get pilots salaries in line with city bus drivers (or trash collectors if you are a JBLU pilot.)

You would'nt be saying that if your & your families life was on the line with an inflight emergency! You think airplanes get to point A to B by plain luck. It take years of experience, just like a good doctor at a good hosiptal has a better chance of saving your life then a bad hosiptal with an inexperience doctor. Cheapness has a price. Many pilots starting out had to pay their dues spending thousands of dollars in flight school alone never mind college. I still have $60,000 flight school & college debt. Plus, I worked 10 years paying dues by making low income(meaning 30,000$ or less) building up my flying experience, flying for dangerous companies so I could get a $18,000 a year job at a commuter, so I could get a Major airline job 15 yrs later( minus forlough,down economy) & only have 15 years to work before force retirement. At least the Delta pilots are trying to protect whats left in this industry.

 

[Saabslime]

I really feel for what you guys at Delta and NWA are going through and wish you the best possible outcome but the simple fact is there will be no strike(s)
where the outcome would mean liquidation of the company, although I can appreciate the need for publicly taking such a hard-line stance. Deadlines will be extended (look at Delphi), negotiations will continue, and eventually some form of concessions will be accepted. I simply don't believe any one of you would throw away an entire career knowing there will come a day when this firestorm will pass and we can all start working to get back some of the things that make this a great profession. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you should roll over and give up. Just don't throw it all away on emotion.

 

[IXLR8]

Do yourself a favor and get informed, know the facts. Life is tough ... it is tougher when you are stuck on stupid.

Great line!

 

[IronCityBlue]

He gets high Marx for style!

I don't want to tick anyone off, Delta pilots are the cause of my vent but I really need to express how I feel.

I do not blame you guys for what you all are doing but do you guys and gals think you are the only people at Delta? Okay, I’d be upset too if I was a 19yr Pilot on the brink of retirement but what about all the people who are above and below the wing (CS and Ramp), Dispatchers (Everyone in OCC), Maintenance people and Admin? They all have families they have to support like the rest of us, we all had to adjust our life styles due to pay cuts, some people who had to be furloaded as well. WE HAVE SUFFERED MORE than you pilots will ever know or can begin to think! You guys are upset because you have to take a pay cut and won't be able to buy that bigger and faster boat or maybe that new Hummer or BMW that you have been test driving?? But you know what! You still will be making the very least of 80k a year, right?? Gee must be nice to make that much!! You see that you are the only ones who are suffering, every one is and right now you guys are the stupidest pilot group right now, have hear it from TSA pilots, ASA pilots, SkyWest pilot and United guys as well. You see how much of a joke you guys are? I am sorry I do not mean to bash but come on, you guys are not the only ones who run the company, yeah I may be a gate agent but I have a family and kids to support just like you guys. Stop acting like a bunch of grade school kids and forget the strike and take in the butt like everyone else is doing at Delta!!

I also read on the company message board that some said the government will not step in… funny, I think you guys are crazy to think they won't but because you will not only shut down the worlds busiest airport and cause economical havoc but hey okay, strike and be like a bunch of babies and watch what happens to you! Yeah, you can not be forced to work but hey I much rather be flying and adjusting my life style than spend some time in a comfy jail wouldn't you?

OH BTW for people who do not know this, 48% of the Delta pilots are active duty in the military, if they strike, the will lose the pension from the Government too.

So go ahead and bash me and I am sorry you guys hate you’re job so much but you should of quit a long time ago I am sure there are guys at SkyWest, ASA, Mesa, ect who would love to fly a B757, 737 or even a 767 for half the cost of what you guys make but that is the difference between a Delta Pilot and a Regional Pilot (some), a regional loves what they do, a Delta pilots are just greedy!

Funny thing….I do not remember hearing “Strike” at United when they were in Chapter 11th, but that is because they have a Brain, common sense and love there jobs! If they did, I sure missed it.

Again, sorry to bash or hurt feeling. This is what many of US think about you pilots

Hey flyguy, the Communist Party called. They want their rhetoric back.

Nice try Pinko.

 

[Frank Lorenzo]

I still have $60,000 flight school & college debt. Plus, I worked 10 years paying dues by making low income(meaning 30,000$ or less) building up my flying experience, flying for dangerous companies so I could get a $18,000 a year job at a commuter, so I could get a Major airline job 15 yrs later( minus forlough,down economy) & only have 15 years to work before force retirement.

Hey Pan1900, you are quite the investor! You ever heard of the term "ROI?"

Guys like you make uncle Frank sleep well at night. You willing to go tens of thousands of dollars into hock to get on at a job that pays poverty wages, and keeps you away from home 20 days out of the month.

I LOVE YOU MAN!

It's guys like you that give me hope that my lifetime ban from running an airline will be lifted by my buddy George Bush. When I am back in the saddle, I will be specifically targeting guys like YOU for my airline.

Tell ya what. I'll even create a "bridge program" where you pay me $10,000 for "training" and you will get a guaranteed interview with my airline.

You guys crack me up!

 

[hammer2]

Well at least somebody gets the big picture here. Pilots are WAY overpaid. In an era where the planes basically fly themselves, pilots are basically taking up useful load that could be used for lucrative air cargo. Overpaid bus drivers I say. We need to get pilots salaries in line with city bus drivers (or trash collectors if you are a JBLU pilot.)

Additional profits generated by getting rid of the pilots outrageous salaries could end up where they belong - in the executive suite. Face it, the golden age of the overpaid, partying, philandering pilots is over.

I have a few friends I used to work with from ol' Texas Air I'l give a call to. I'll get a team together and we'll get DAL straightened out!

!@#$% you, you !@#$%$!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[COOPERVANE]

this guy needs to keep his mouth shut

I am a regional pilot. You do not speak for me!!!

No one I know at ASA feels the way you speak of. We support the Delta pilots in this fight not ONLY because they are right, but because they are making a stand against Mgmt and that affects ALL pilots.

If everyone rolls over time after time, then our saleries WILL be below the bus drivers or down to your gate agent level.

But then again, I guess that would make you all too happy!!

I am sooo sick of the "I only make 30K a year so everyone else should too" communist argument. Go tell your doctor that your insurance costs too much and he needs a 30% pay cut, sorry about the student loans, this country has changed blah, blah, blah

 

[Flopgut]

I have been playing with a metric. Food for thought:

1 in 4 employees at Airtran is a pilot. 1 in 5 at SWA, and about 1 in 6 at Jetblue.

DAL is about 1 in 6.2, CAL 1 in 7.7, UAL 1 in 7.9.

In light of this data, it is interesting to compare pilot pay/benefits and overall company fundamentals. Airtran and SWA are profitable and offer pilots better pay/benefits than UAL and CAL (or basically, better than any legacy will likely pay if mgts get their way!) Consider as well, legacy pilots work in a much more complicated scope of operations and (arguably) do a harder job.

DAL has come a long way, but they still have too many non-pilot employees. The other legacies are still way off. This is the flying business. Plane and simple.

Flyguy801: There are still too many of your employee type for the pilots to drag along and be profitable. And you still make too much money. If you were being forcefed a 50%+ overall pay/benefitcut, you would be ready to quit as well. Frankly, you don't do your job well either! That could be said for almost all legacy CS workgroups. No legacy has the truly inspired and friendly CS staff of SWA or JB. They make a lesser product look better somehow. If you weren't so listless, disconnected, and arguementative with our customers maybe things would be going better.

Yes, this business has changed. SWA, Airtran and others have found a way to make money. If DAL wants to pattern the success of these companies it would invlove two things: Raise pilot pay, and eliminate your job.

 

[kingairyahoo]

second vote for great line...

Life is tough ... it is tougher when you are stuck on stupid.