Delta to ask pilots for $1B in cuts to halve labor costs

[SpeedBird]

AAflyer:

I sincerely share your same concerns about where this is all heading. Perhaps you're the optimist and I'm the pessimist when it comes to looking at the big picture. I believe there is very little that we as pilots can do to stop this other than to perform a mass industry-wide walkout. That is the drastic action I was alluding to but I am old enough to know that would never happen and it probably wouldn't create the desired effect in the end anyway. I have therefore resigned myself to the fact that I'll have to change my long-held belief that an airline pilot career was somthing more than a job and accept it for what it now is and plan accordingly. Good luck to you and everyone else who has slog forward with what lies ahead, and may we accept the fact that this problem is much bigger than anything the professional community of pilots can fully control...IMHO of course.

 

[AAflyer]

It is bad, and a walk out could never be formed that large. We as group do not have the UNITY we all brag about to pull it off. I will agree with you on one thing, the results may not be what we like.

I am still too young to have enough F%$# You money saved up. Hope I can put enough way so when the sh!t hits the fan I can eject.

See Ya,

AA

 

[FlyFlyFly]

I guess it would be too much to ask pilots and management to act like they are in the same boat. I have lost any desire to fly Part 121 due to the contentious relationships between pilots and their employers and the fact that the airline goes under, you start at the bottom of the heap all over again. I would rather go where I can compete on the basis of my skills and knowledge than on longevity and union negotiating prowess.

 

[Draginass]

A wise choice FlyFlyFly.

 

[FlyingSig]

BTW, there is alot more to flying for the majors than pay rates. A Fund, 11% B-Fund Contributions etc, etc

Giving up that much money, that many workrules...which led to that many jobs... all for the promise of an A fund (that's all an A fund is, is a promise to pay) which still may or may not be around in 20-30 years after the next several rounds of ups and downs in the industry.... if it wasn't caving then it was one heck of a gamble.

 

[Publishers]

Great pay

You still need income to pay regardless of whether or not you want to. You want exceptional pay, then there needs to be exceptional yields and profits through income.

 

[FDJ2]

Atlanta Journal and Constitution

Opinion/Editorial – Delta Pilots’ Viewpoint
July 7, 2004

Over one year ago, the Delta pilots offered to give up pay, benefits and work rules to help our company survive through the massive losses of the airline after terrorist attacks and years of the worst economy in recent memory. Our efforts to help, unfortunately, bore no fruit. Even as managers lined their pockets with bonuses and left Delta for greener pastures, and even as our company continued to hemorrhage cash, management showed little interest in engaging in negotiations.

Now, many months and hundreds of millions in losses later, pilots’ paychecks alone continue to be singled out as the crux of Delta’s crisis. Management’s statements regarding the increasing urgency for pilot givebacks are contrasted with the almost glacial pace of a nine-month “strategic review,” which, to date, has not yielded even a hint of what the airline will look like once restructuring has occurred. As the airline continues to bleed and the possibility of bankruptcy looms larger, the only obvious element of management’s strategy has been to focus on pilot costs. We’ve said this before: simply slashing workers’ pay and benefits will not solve this company’s problems. A broader solution is necessary.

It is with this broader view in mind that the Delta pilots’ union is attempting to reengage in negotiations with Delta management to agree on a restructured pilot contract. However, the pilots cannot turn Delta around on our own. Management must be successful in gaining cost reductions from all of Delta’s stakeholders. Only then will Delta be able to return to profitability. We are participating on an ad hoc committee of Delta’s creditors with the hope of making this possible.

The Delta pilots stand ready to participate in Delta’s recovery contingent upon a comprehensive restructuring plan in which all of the company’s costs are addressed. Management’s task is formidable, and our collective futures as employees are in their hands. We will hold them to a high standard. For now, we’ll keep flying the record numbers of Delta customers safely around the world everyday, delivering the service that made Delta great.

Capt. John J. Malone
Chairman, Delta Master Executive Council
Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l.

 

[AAflyer]

Flying Sig,

You are so right, and that is one thing I have been worried about from the start.

Taking a huge paycut, to keep the A fund. . That is the first thing that will go next, UAL is after their pilots' A fund as we speak.

Kinda like SS, I have to pay for it now, but will never get it. Raise my payrates, keep the B fund and let me self direct. Let me take the difference in a higher pay rate and invest. Let me control my own retirement.

AA