You tell me to research it and then make this statement? Look at the European up-gauge angle PCL. The JV partners can move to larger equipment as needed with no downside for them. Swap a A340 out for a A380? Sure, this TA will allow it. I guess as a former ALPA Exec you don't mind the synthetic outsourcing on the top for a few E190's on the bottom....oh yea, and more 76 seaters!
What you describe is the only scenario in which EASKs is a better metric than block-hours. What you fail to acknowledge is that when the transatlantic market contracts (and it will), DAL pilots are better off using block-hours instead of EASKs. So which model is better is nothing but a gamble. And either way, the difference is miniscule.
You also ignore the problems of tracking and enforceability (much easier with block-hours), and the fact that pilot jobs are directly tied to block-hours, not seat-kilometers.
Whichever way you go, there are upsides and downsides. Overall, though, block-hours makes a lot more sense than EASKs.
Why ALPA would be giving any concessions during this unbelievably profit time period is beyond me.
Again, not a concession. But a negotiation is a process of give and take, and while labor will get more than it gives in good times like now. you still have to address some of management's issues, otherwise the NMB turns against you and you're toast.
Ask yourself this...Why would RA want to reduce the Profit Sharing if it wasn't a good deal for him? The answer is because it's going to be a GREAT deal for him over the next 2-3 years. Yet another concession.
RA wants to swap profit sharing for pay rates because pay rates are predictable and something he can tell the shareholders with certainty. Businesses, especially publicly traded ones, like predictable costs. But it's also better for pilots, because profit sharing disappears immediately in bad times, while pay rates have to be negotiated. Why any pilot would prefer variable compensation over hard compensation is absolutely beyond me.
This goes back to ALPA needing to make the best deal they can first and NOT biting off on something mediocre. When they do this, then Bill is exactly right.
I would say that the highest total compensation package in the history of the profession is far from "mediocre."
That said, someone emailed me a copy of the language in tracked changes, and I haven't had a chance to look at it yet, so maybe my opinion will change after I have a chance to look. But since I'm a little busy on weekdays nowadays, it will take a while.
