Delta VS Continental ?

[737 Pylt]

I'll bite too...

Interviewed with Delta and got turned down... Interviewed with CAL and got on...

Just got done with training and have to say I've enjoyed it. Got the 756, so anyone who says you can't get the 767 out of the gate is lying.

The interview process was night and day between the two. I know of people who got on at CAL and turned down by Delta (just like me) and vice a vers. No rime or reason (sp?).

I will say the culture at the Delta interview seemed very cold compared to CAL.

I live in NYC so both of them were on my short list and as someone said before, both have their + and -'s.
In the end, I guess we'll only know if we choose correctly in 20 or so years. I'm definitely glad to be at CAL, looking forward to getting a few friends on here, and more importantly.. an industry leading contract in the future.

Good Luck!
Motch

I'd like to tag on what Motch said. There's no rhyme or reason why someone did or didn't get hired.
My advice, (for what its worth)......Take the job that's offered to you FIRST!
Both are good companies....Both in hiring mode, for now. The only difference I can see is being ATL vs. IAH based, since both have NYC bases

737

 

[737 Pylt]

You sit around and get pissed when people flame you? I think you have a pretty bad "panty wad" situation. You can't possibly think you are going to get a serious analysis around here when you start out by insulting flamers-DUH!

As for the "jarhead" joke. WTF? Was that some Chinese joke translated to French by a Russian, Spanish by a Vietnamese dude, and then English by a Portugese guy? That joke makes no sense whatsoever! I guess the bright side is that you have totally failed to insult anyone.

And yet every time you type you show just how much of a complete dumbass you are!
Keep up the good work, you're not letting anyone down tanker clown/jmoney!

737

 

[BID]

Delta wants to win awards in 2008, CAL has won them many times over. Cal is a great run airline, but the pilot contract is a mess and needs to get fixed. I truly believe CAL would be more of an option if we had a west coast base. Delta is a bigger company with more options and a unified pilot group.

We have some great new aircraft arriving at CAL and a fleet plan that can be adjusted. With Delta's stock trading at 13 bucks or so I think they will seriously look at mergers.

CAL has a pension (frozen) so I think retirements will not play out the same as other airlines?

Just my thoughts. I agree with most of what has been posted here, I just do not agree that Delta has a "better" operation.

 

[CAL EWR B737]

If I didn't have over 1000 (out of 3800 or so) below me already, I'd think about bailing for DAL, as well. I have enough seniority to warrant staying, I think/hope.

Where do you get your numbers? CAL has just over 5000 now.

 

[Patriot328]

Where do you get your numbers? CAL has just over 5000 now.

Apparently out of my ass... I'm 3990 out of 4990... 80% or so....

 

[General Lee]

U won't fly 767 at CAL. 757 yes, and it doesn't seem nowhere near like at DL. It's mostly low end trips to England, Scotland where you spend lots of $ on overnights (you won't fly anywhere else for another year)...

Sure CAL is getting 60 737-9s next two years, and 25 787s in 2009, but MOST are replacements for 737-3-5 and 767s (maybe total of 10 are pure additions) No new 777s at all at CAL (and that comes from management)...

Delta - a merger in a few years is definite they way they are run (too much cash flows wasted there between fuel, older planes, crew pay efficiency, 1st class seats given to crews instead of revenue). Seems like they're thinking about now (blowing up int'l), but not about future. I don't see today's Delta 10 years from now, it's just impossible

... and that's what scares me about Delta

Where do you get your Delta info? If Delta merges, then CAL will try it too, since nobody wants to be left behind. Our older planes now have lower lease payments since BK--down $200,000 a month for each MD88. We are getting 10 737-700s this year (20-25 total), 17 ex TWA 757-200ERs with winglets (built in late 90s, so fairly new for a 757), and 8 new 777LRs in the next two years--with rumors for a lot more.

When you talk about crew members getting first class seats, that is after all upgrades have been done for medallion members. If there are any seats open, a Delta employee gets it. That is better than CAL charging for it. Yes, we pay $50 a year for passes, but it is nice to get a comfortable seat if it is open and not have to pay for it right then and there.

Crew pay efficiency? Huh? Do you mean duty rigs? How about minimum pay per day?

Delta is expanding a lot Internationally. That is where the money is right now--since the weak dollar allows foreigners to fly here for cheap. We do well on those flights. At the same time, we are getting rid of smaller RJs (that can't produce revenue with high gas), and we are about to sign for used MD90s, which are more efficient than MD88s--and add them to the fleet. But, Anderson, our new CEO, is very conservative, and too much expansion is probably not in the cards. He is being cautious, which is something other leaders here may not have done.

I hope this clears up some Delta notions you have.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[BID]

I would rather pay 50 bucks and non-rev with no charge for the rest of the year, but at CAL we do get a decent number of vacation passes so the travel is no charge, this includes first class. You also get better priority on the standby list. I have about 20 or so of these passes this year and have been here over two years.


we also have the option to have a spouse, domestic partner, or travel companion added to our travel benefits.

 

[General Lee]

Delta wants to win awards in 2008, CAL has won them many times over. Cal is a great run airline, but the pilot contract is a mess and needs to get fixed. I truly believe CAL would be more of an option if we had a west coast base. Delta is a bigger company with more options and a unified pilot group.

We have some great new aircraft arriving at CAL and a fleet plan that can be adjusted. With Delta's stock trading at 13 bucks or so I think they will seriously look at mergers.

CAL has a pension (frozen) so I think retirements will not play out the same as other airlines?

Just my thoughts. I agree with most of what has been posted here, I just do not agree that Delta has a "better" operation.

Delta's stock started at $18 out of BK, and every airlines' stock has fallen due to high gas. Does that mean we will merge or acquire someone? I don't know. If gas goes down ten or fifteen bucks, maybe we will be back up towards $20.

As far as operations wise, Delta has the best hub in the world in ATL (we have 70% of the flights and it is the busiest airport and has the most pax--along with a drought that has brought very few weather delays this year), two other East Coast hubs (CVG as a reliever for ATL or JFK, and JFK), and two West Coast hubs (SLC and a smaller one at LAX). JFK is a tough spot for us, but so is EWR for CAL. We also have a profitable Shuttle operation at LGA with our own special terminal (the MAT--Marine Air Terminal) that is very popular with business people who want to go to DC or BOS.

Our Asian presence is not as big as CAL's, but we are starting to grow it. We add ATL--PVG (Shanghai) nonstop in March, and we recently added Seoul, along with our current service to Tokyo from ATL. Our LAX base could be used eventually again (we had Tokyo and Hong Kong service awhile back under previous management). We have recently been awarded rights to the South Pacific (New Zeland, Singapore, Samoa) and there will be new talks with Australia for open skies in the near future. More South America routes from LAX could also be around the corner soon (think Lima, Sao Paulo, etc).

Regardless, I do think CAL is a good airline and is well run. I think they have a great fleet and they do provide good competition to Delta. Their ads in NYC on cabs are a little bit dumb, but that's another story.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[General Lee]

I would rather pay 50 bucks and non-rev with no charge for the rest of the year, but at CAL we do get a decent number of vacation passes so the travel is no charge, this includes first class. You also get better priority on the standby list. I have about 20 or so of these passes this year and have been here over two years.


we also have the option to have a spouse, domestic partner, or travel companion added to our travel benefits.

We pay $50 for our whole immediate family. If you have kids, then that includes them too. We get a certan amount of S-2 passes (higher priority--I think 6 per year each person) per year, and then unlimited S-3s, which are higher priority than retired employees or buddy passes.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[jumppilot]

Hasn't anyone realized this thread is about chosing a blonde versus a brunette?

Both are great companies! Notice how you don't see a UAL vs. USAir thread?

Lets keep it relative, people!

We'd all have taken both!

 

[Jmoney]

Well.....

I'll bet truth be told, many people would have accepted an offer from either airline, but not our friend General Lee. He gets so much free Kool Aid over at DAL, he could start a freaking distributorship! Plus, the free lap dances every time he shows up at work-awesome! Hell, that's enough to make any sociopathic freakshow post @12,000 times under two identities. A match made in heaven....

Just Checked-People STILL Don't Care, General.......
-Tough noobs...

 

[General Lee]

I'll bet truth be told, many people would have accepted an offer from either airline, but not our friend General Lee. He gets so much free Kool Aid over at DAL, he could start a freaking distributorship! Plus, the free lap dances every time he shows up at work-awesome! Hell, that's enough to make any sociopathic freakshow post @12,000 times under two identities. A match made in heaven....

Just Checked-People STILL Don't Care, General.......
-Tough noobs...

Jmoney, I never even applied to CAL, only Delta. You on the otherhand, are stuck at ASA and most airlines have stopped hiring thanks to Age 65. You will be stuck at that regional forever, and Valdosta turns are in your immediate and long term future. Heck, at least you will know the ATC freq's by heart. And, people do care, I have already had 2 PMs tonight from people asking me other questions about Delta. I have a question for you though....Which is a better layover for you? Flint or Valdosta?


Bye Bye--General 737 heavy lumberg Lee

 

[flygirlqt]

Seriously who cares about this? Let's all make our companies the best we possibly can and start getting the pay and benefits we all deserve.

Some of you all talk like mine is bigger than yours syndrome which in reality they are usually to small anyway

 

[tubelo]

We pay $50 for our whole immediate family. If you have kids, then that includes them too. We get a certan amount of S-2 passes (higher priority--I think 6 per year each person) per year, and then unlimited S-3s, which are higher priority than retired employees or buddy passes.

Bye Bye--General Lee

Having been on Delta's pass privileges at Comair and now having CAL, privileges, I can attest that DAL's is better than CAL. The vacation passes basically amount to S2s. Also, Delta's first class always seemed to have more seats available for non-revving. In terms of the business, it is better that CAL has full first class, but sucks when you are non-revving.

Not that I would base where I work on non-revving.

Cheers

 

[Bluto]

Seriously who cares about this? Let's all make our companies the best we possibly can and start getting the pay and benefits we all deserve.

Some of you all talk like mine is bigger than yours syndrome which in reality they are usually to small anyway

True, but because of the current (possibly ending?) hiring trends, there are very likely a number of people out there with offers from both companies in-hand. While no one should make a decision based on the information shared here, it's always good to get a new perspective when making such an important, far-reaching, decision.

Oh, and I thought size didn't matter?