However, what makes it even more crushing is the fact that it isn't really as nefarious as your post, although I feel every bit as much of the pain as you do. To Delta, it is just business and we are a node in their business model that has to be optimized for efficiency, profit and cost reduction. I would rather just have them tell me that "we hate you pitiful regional pilots, and you should consider yourself lucky to occupy the same airspace let alone breath the same air". Ironically, I used to have a lot of respect for Delta as an organization and felt that they have a very professional group of front-line employees.
Now, you all can take this with a grain of salt, but while commuting to STL for my last Q400 PC, I jumpseated on PSA and the Captain asked me about what was going on here, and after giving him a brief synopsis. He told me that earlier in the day, he had an FAA inspector riding along doing an "observation" (commute...another abuse of taxpayer funds for another rant...). This particular "fed" works in the Cincinnati FSDO which just happens to be COMAIR's certificate holding office. The long and the short is that he said COMAIR is D.I.W. ("dead in the water" to you landlubbers) and will be shutting it's doors within the next 6-12 months once Delta's pilots either ratify OR reject their TA.
If one were to make an observation based on previous history... I see a "trojan horse" coming our way in the form of the 75ish 76-seat aircraft being dangled in front of our noses as a "carrot" to being more amenable to amending our current JCBA. "Sign this or else these airplanes are going to G****s" kind of an ultimatum. And, their justification is that Delta is only going to pay this amount to fly these block hours, and there are other operators cheaper than you are...
So, perhaps I am stupid, crazy, don't know what I am talking about or all the above. This is just my observations and speculation of a scenario that could be playing out right as you are reading this.
It is becoming more and more obvious to me that the current regional airline business model is broken, and until more leverage is placed within the joint collective bargaining scheme things are going to continue in this tail chase to bottom. That is not just a metaphor any longer, it is the truth. Look at the history of how this sector of the airline business has spiraled downward since code-sharing began; pay-for job, pay for training, J4J, ASA, CPA, Flow-up/Flow-down,etc...Everyone is pinning their hopes to the date Dec. 31, 2012 when the 65-year olds at the legacies finally retire. I don't think that this is a very good idea to pin one's hopes on.
The time is finally come I believe for ALPA to do what the airlines seem to be so adept at (not always successfully) in changing their business model. ALPA isn't privy to all the company plans, or strategy nor does it have a right to be. Although, it would make sense that a successful business would enjoy a positive partnership with it's employees. If this were the case we'd never need to have a collective bargaining agent or an advocate in government. ALPA now has more pilots in the regional side of the business than it does the legacy (something about that word legacy in describing an airline kind of annoys me) pilots. We need to have a NATIONAL SENIORITY LIST NOW...This is what "collective" means if you define it, we are not acting collectively within our own union. I am not trying to sound harsh or critical of ALPA. ALPA has accomplished many things in the area of safety, regulation and pilot advocacy. However, let's call a spade a spade here...ALPA has not done so great when it comes to collective bargaining, and ESPECIALLY at the regional airline level. I think that we have good people trying to the right thing in our MECs, LECs, committees, etc...But, we are not really going to be speaking with one voice for ALL pilots until we get this national seniority list protocol worked out...It simply has to be done...
The time now is to be bold and to look back at the history of the hard work, sacrifices of the past ALPA members that brought the association thru it's genesis. They too faced daunting problems, yet they prevailed. I think that it is still possible. Pilots are leaders by default generally speaking, and also very task/goal oriented. These are positive things that we can use to gain some traction on this issue, and really make some positive change. Change is often traumatic and difficult for many to absorb, but change we must or this career, this avocation as some of us want to see it will continue to degrade.
Rant complete...
repost
Now, you all can take this with a grain of salt, but while commuting to STL for my last Q400 PC, I jumpseated on PSA and the Captain asked me about what was going on here, and after giving him a brief synopsis. He told me that earlier in the day, he had an FAA inspector riding along doing an "observation" (commute...another abuse of taxpayer funds for another rant...). This particular "fed" works in the Cincinnati FSDO which just happens to be COMAIR's certificate holding office. The long and the short is that he said COMAIR is D.I.W. ("dead in the water" to you landlubbers) and will be shutting it's doors within the next 6-12 months once Delta's pilots either ratify OR reject their TA.
If one were to make an observation based on previous history... I see a "trojan horse" coming our way in the form of the 75ish 76-seat aircraft being dangled in front of our noses as a "carrot" to being more amenable to amending our current JCBA. "Sign this or else these airplanes are going to G****s" kind of an ultimatum. And, their justification is that Delta is only going to pay this amount to fly these block hours, and there are other operators cheaper than you are...
So, perhaps I am stupid, crazy, don't know what I am talking about or all the above. This is just my observations and speculation of a scenario that could be playing out right as you are reading this.
It is becoming more and more obvious to me that the current regional airline business model is broken, and until more leverage is placed within the joint collective bargaining scheme things are going to continue in this tail chase to bottom. That is not just a metaphor any longer, it is the truth. Look at the history of how this sector of the airline business has spiraled downward since code-sharing began; pay-for job, pay for training, J4J, ASA, CPA, Flow-up/Flow-down,etc...Everyone is pinning their hopes to the date Dec. 31, 2012 when the 65-year olds at the legacies finally retire. I don't think that this is a very good idea to pin one's hopes on.
The time is finally come I believe for ALPA to do what the airlines seem to be so adept at (not always successfully) in changing their business model. ALPA isn't privy to all the company plans, or strategy nor does it have a right to be. Although, it would make sense that a successful business would enjoy a positive partnership with it's employees. If this were the case we'd never need to have a collective bargaining agent or an advocate in government. ALPA now has more pilots in the regional side of the business than it does the legacy (something about that word legacy in describing an airline kind of annoys me) pilots. We need to have a NATIONAL SENIORITY LIST NOW...This is what "collective" means if you define it, we are not acting collectively within our own union. I am not trying to sound harsh or critical of ALPA. ALPA has accomplished many things in the area of safety, regulation and pilot advocacy. However, let's call a spade a spade here...ALPA has not done so great when it comes to collective bargaining, and ESPECIALLY at the regional airline level. I think that we have good people trying to the right thing in our MECs, LECs, committees, etc...But, we are not really going to be speaking with one voice for ALL pilots until we get this national seniority list protocol worked out...It simply has to be done...
The time now is to be bold and to look back at the history of the hard work, sacrifices of the past ALPA members that brought the association thru it's genesis. They too faced daunting problems, yet they prevailed. I think that it is still possible. Pilots are leaders by default generally speaking, and also very task/goal oriented. These are positive things that we can use to gain some traction on this issue, and really make some positive change. Change is often traumatic and difficult for many to absorb, but change we must or this career, this avocation as some of us want to see it will continue to degrade.
Rant complete...
repost
