The Delta vote

[OState597]

Not fueling the fire, but I'm curious how current this figure is. I'd bet this is a bit exadurated in today's market. My Fiance' has an MBA, a law degree, and makes 52k as a practicing attourney. After seeing how much she works, there's no way I'd subject myself to that way of life. I'll take my airplane, thank you : )

I don't have an MBA...Hell, I'm not even a Delta pilot, but want to be. I grew up in a Delta family and then put in several years in the right seat of a United Express RJ. I quit that to drive a Hawker from the left seat for a family, a filthy rich family of whom I still work for. With this job has come many flashy experiences: Limo's and red carpets, rented mansions on vacations, Cabo to Costa Rica, floor seats, champagne in hotels and lobster. What also has come with this job is an office, a fax machine, a work cell phone, file cabinets with flight logs, expenses, mx reports, receipts for catering and invoices for carpet cleaning, emails, confirmation #'s for said limo's, fuel bills, emails, and more emails.
Point being...I can't stand any part of my current job that happens outside of the beacon light flashing. The rest is an office. Offices suck. Filing cabinets suck, as does paying for plane tickets, losing CASS, losing the crew line, and riding the elevator up to the 17th floor of our main office where I see people staring at the clock that hangs just above their framed MBA.

I realize this thread was about voting, one of which I have no stake in nor this company. I hope I didn't push anyone's buttons and every guys' situation is different from the next...I just urge us to breathe, sip your coffee, fly, set the brake, go home. Offices suck.

 

[waveflyer]

Offices suck if you don't have a passion for what you're doing. But theyre pretty nice if you do. there's no reason pilots can't have two passions. The airplane certainly is more inviting if it's not your whole life.

And I will never, feel trapped by this profession. I'll never feel, as many of us do, that flying is the ONLY thing I can do. It's not, and we do all of us a disservice when we think this- esp come negotiations.

 

[Scoot 11]

You're the sell out for even flying an RJ in the first place. Can you say HYPOCRITE. You have absolutely no credibility, PERIOD........

Thank you SIR!!!! Ask him how much he paid to work at SW? Ask him how much lower paid SW was than anyone else in the industry? Retirement?
Hypocrite is an understatement!

 

[bmpilot2003]

Waveflyer if this passes and delta remains profitable can't DALPA try to tighten scope even more during the next negotiations? Simply waiting for 200s to retire will take much loner than capping it now and then reducing the cap in the next negotiotition. I'm trying to understand your reason to vote no. I work at Skywest and capping the RJ seems like a better option to hold jobs at a mainline. Is Delta able to replace 200s with a 50 seat variant if they choose to?

 

[waveflyer]

Thank you SIR!!!! Ask him how much he paid to work at SW? Ask him how much lower paid SW was than anyone else in the industry? Retirement?
Hypocrite is an understatement!

You're talking to a pilot who got his legacy job outsourced. And I went to swa when they'd earned the highest pay in their category. What airline should I support? The one heading in the right direction, the one who doesn't outsource, or the ones heading in the wrong direction? Who left me jobless once, and left my classmates jobless twice- always pulling the rug out. How many thousands of experienced pilots have found themselves as an FO for a 26 year olds, in big jets after legacies outsourced their old job?
I'm not going to forget that. Ever. Or be baited into a SW is evil conversation because you guys can't defend what you're about to do again.

 

[waveflyer]

Waveflyer if this passes and delta remains profitable can't DALPA try to tighten scope even more during the next negotiations? Simply waiting for 200s to retire will take much loner than capping it now and then reducing the cap in the next negotiotition. I'm trying to understand your reason to vote no. I work at Skywest and capping the RJ seems like a better option to hold jobs at a mainline. Is Delta able to replace 200s with a 50 seat variant if they choose to?

Good question, and I believe that's the plan. My only beef is about new -900's going to DCI. Please understand- I'm not asking DALPA to strike to get all -900's at mainline. I do think it's reasonable to get all NEW -900's (70 aircraft! ) back at mainline.
-900's were only allowed under bankruptcy.
Signing off on even more 70's and 90's going to dci during profitable times legitimizes that move.
Look to the past. RJs were capped before. Tight limits and ratios were normal at every network airline. They all went away in bad times. Do you guys see encouraging signs of a lasting bull market? I don't.
What has been the most impact full is the size of aircraft in scope. Once an aircraft is outsourced, it is very hard to get it back on the property. But now is a chance to get OUR camel's nose in THEIR tent. Once new -900's are established as a mainline aircraft, how much easier will it be to get the outsourced -900's into the fold. Then, maybe the -700's- same type.
And that is the battle being waged across the industry.
This TA wins battles that mgmt is essentially given up on. -200's. 50 seaters. Name a fuel efficient 50 seat variant? Is there one on the horizon that can compete at $4 gas?
Name one that is efficient at doing mainline routes. Two leg hops across the continent at 41,000'. That's an "RJ"?? If that's an RJ, so are 320's, 737's and 717's.
50 seat jets are such big money losers, they just can't be sustained regardless of contracts.
Big "RJs" are where the battles are. This allows mgmt to keep on with their blatant plan to outsource ALL domestic flights, to outsource as much of deltas flying as possible.

In 10 years, when everyone is used to the new normal of -900's, management will ask for 100 seats in the next big recession- and USE THE EXACT SAME ARGUMENTS USED TODAY.

This TA reduces 50's by 150 airframes and claims victory, then gives away 70 -900's - it's damn near a wash as far as seats go, and does nothing to "take the flying back"

The goal should be to get all Jets back on the property- this doesn't accomplish anything toward that goal- it gives mgmt exactly what it wants and pays off pilots just enough to get them to go along.