Wow, Delta's Earnings

[General Lee]

A friend of mine did some number crunching and the rate in which Delta has announced for its hiring and classes. The first few classes of 50 will be mostly returning Delta pilots and then those are all done there will be some Compass, a small number of XJ grandfathered flows and a very small trickle of "Endeavor" pilots under the Bridge Agreement. Then, just as the gates could open up for Pinnacle (Endeavor) pilots, Delta is forecasting hiring 20 a month through the rest of 2014. At that rate, I will be mostly Compass pilots joining Delta taking another year away for Pinnacle pilots to have an opportunity to leave the crap hole we are working in. On top of that, Delta has seemed to given us more flying and I and many other reserves are crediting 90 hours a month at 11 days off because we are short. Endeavor is junior manning constantly and losing FO's so fast (See FO pay scales to see why) we will always be understaffed. So why would Delta hire any Pinnacle pilot if it means canceled Delta flights? All it takes is to interview and say.....No thanks, you do not meet our standards and not hire any of us.

I am working at Pinnacle to use it as a means to pay for my family and stay current until I can leave. For some idiot to tell me this crap-shows they are idiots-Delta pilot or not. The fact that he is a Delta pilot makes it worse as they should not be as ignorant of the situation especially if they are profiting off Pinnacle pilots situation.

XJ,

I have also heard a bunch of furlough bypass people will be returning, even a current SWA pilot I talked to who told me he was "bored." Anyway, the 300-400 projected number for hiring next year MIGHT be on the low side, according to rumors in the training department (sim guys). I think it might be a lot more, and it will go on for years. The other Majors haven't really started in earnest either, besides CAL taking UAL furloughees. Eventually all 3 Majors will be hiring huge numbers at the same time, and that will affect staffing at Regionals and LCCs.


Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[scoreboardII]

Thanks for the comments Red.

Let us know when you fly to over 400 domestic destinations and if you can do it with just a fluff....doubtful

Bill, give us a recommendation, should SWA outsource to an RJ or turboprop outfit so we can get to 400 destinations?

Seriously, this country needs to deal that there really isn't 400 cities deserving jet type service.

 

[waveflyer]

You're so transparent GL

 

[PuffDriver]

Okay so maybe I am mistaken about the Delta pilot union, ALPA National (who is at the head of that union? oh, a Delta pilot), and Delta airlines were all involved in our bankruptcy contract negotiations but I think not since I think they all signed the agreement knowing that Delta was stepping in to take over Pinnacle once we emerged from bankruptcy with that sham of a bankruptcy contract. I think it was the chairman of our own MEC at Pinnacle said they were all involved in the contract "bridge to know where" agreements and he told us that Delta would shut us down if we did not sign. This is just a legal coercion by corporate america and the reps of the Delta pilot were there to make sure they got a say in our future. There is where my bitterness comes from. If you try and say like so many other uninformed Delta pilots that I am every other pinnacle pilot has a way into Delta you are wrong. The wording and time frame of the Bridge agreement is so weak, it is not even a glimmer of hope for 75% of the pilot group. Do you really think any of us want to stick around for 4+ years to get an interview for Delta when they can change the requirements at anytime when its time to interview a pinnacle pilot? Was it the Delta pilots that allowed Delta to add 70 more large regional Jets to use as carrots for screwing Pinnacle? Or the parking of hundreds of CRJ 200's to save Delta hundreds of millions in maintenance costs? Delta corporation did the dirty work here in orchestrating this move but the Delta pilots helped lay out the tools and saw the profits from Pinnacle, the parking of the 200's, to fund their pay raises and profit sharing checks. You Delta pilots have rates for the CRJ 900 but still allowed more outsourcing and the purchasing of another ALPA carrier to fly an airplane which you have rates for. You do not see why I would be bitter?

But let me be clear on something here. As a regional pilot I am bitter and see the big picture as I am on the crappy end of this system our mainline pilots have given us. But as someone who wants to be a future mainline pilot, I would love to get hired on at any of the majors including Delta but would voice my concern over what is right and wrong to my unions leaders to change the system.

A friend of mine did some number crunching and the rate in which Delta has announced for its hiring and classes. The first few classes of 50 will be mostly returning Delta pilots and then those are all done there will be some Compass, a small number of XJ grandfathered flows and a very small trickle of "Endeavor" pilots under the Bridge Agreement. Then, just as the gates could open up for Pinnacle (Endeavor) pilots, Delta is forecasting hiring 20 a month through the rest of 2014. At that rate, I will be mostly Compass pilots joining Delta taking another year away for Pinnacle pilots to have an opportunity to leave the crap hole we are working in. On top of that, Delta has seemed to given us more flying and I and many other reserves are crediting 90 hours a month at 11 days off because we are short. Endeavor is junior manning constantly and losing FO's so fast (See FO pay scales to see why) we will always be understaffed. So why would Delta hire any Pinnacle pilot if it means canceled Delta flights? All it takes is to interview and say.....No thanks, you do not meet our standards and not hire any of us.

I am working at Pinnacle to use it as a means to pay for my family and stay current until I can leave. For some idiot to tell me this crap-shows they are idiots-Delta pilot or not. The fact that he is a Delta pilot makes it worse as they should not be as ignorant of the situation especially if they are profiting off Pinnacle pilots situation.

So other than that, how are things?

You are worse than wave with the complaining. You'll last about 5 minutes in new hire school with the attitude that the world owes you and you have it sooooo much worse than anyone else. Pilots have been doing what you are going through for ages. Like wave, you are unique-just like everybody else.

All I can say about the next gen of pilots is: wow

 

[General Lee]

Bill, give us a recommendation, should SWA outsource to an RJ or turboprop outfit so we can get to 400 destinations?

Seriously, this country needs to deal that there really isn't 400 cities deserving jet type service.

You are still outsourcing to cheaper labor flying most of your "INTL" routes to Mexico and the Caribbean. Oh wait, they are flying the same sized planes (737) and you are paying them less? Whhhhhaaaaaatttt? Who HAD to agree to that deal? Outsourcing can come in different forms, and you guys are doing it to your own "brothers and sisters." Shame on you!


Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[DTW320]

So other than that, how are things?

You are worse than wave with the complaining. You'll last about 5 minutes in new hire school with the attitude that the world owes you and you have it sooooo much worse than anyone else. Pilots have been doing what you are going through for ages. Like wave, you are unique-just like everybody else.

All I can say about the next gen of pilots is: wow

+1

No kidding. The whining is unbelievable.

At the risk of sounding like some old fart "back in my day" kind of guy, I came up through the regionals before the RJ era. Flew 19 seat turboprops 8 or 10 legs a day, never got above 12,000 ft.,in the weather, non precision approaches to uncontrolled fields at night, in marginally maintained a/c day in and day out. If you were "senior" you flew the 30 seat turboprops 5 - 6 legs a day. No FMS, heck, no autopilot on the 19 seaters. Captains topped out around 40k, about 65k in today's dollars.

And guess what. NO ONE bitched or whined about it.

Guys without college degrees setup their lifestyle for the 40K or had a side business. Guys with degrees went home after a trip and typed resumes or updates to go in the mail the next day. Kept your ear to the ground, networked, called HR people at any airline better than yours. Never whined or claimed that your mainline affiliate's pilots were screwing you over in some way. You recognized how the system worked and you played the game and kept increasing your quals in the hopes of getting a shot.

Puff is right. With only minor variations, this is what folks have gone through for years in an effort to get where they wanted to be. There is such a long history of this that no one can seriously claim that they didn't think it would be this way when they got into this career.

He's also right about another thing. I've seen whiners in several new hires classes I've been in over the years. With only very few exceptions, those guys never made it to the line.

 

[GogglesPisano]

+1

No kidding. The whining is unbelievable.

At the risk of sounding like some old fart "back in my day" kind of guy, I came up through the regionals before the RJ era. Flew 19 seat turboprops 8 or 10 legs a day, never got above 12,000 ft.,in the weather, non precision approaches to uncontrolled fields at night, in marginally maintained a/c day in and day out. If you were "senior" you flew the 30 seat turboprops 5 - 6 legs a day. No FMS, heck, no autopilot on the 19 seaters. Captains topped out around 40k, about 65k in today's dollars.

And guess what. NO ONE bitched or whined about it.

Guys without college degrees setup their lifestyle for the 40K or had a side business. Guys with degrees went home after a trip and typed resumes or updates to go in the mail the next day. Kept your ear to the ground, networked, called HR people at any airline better than yours. Never whined or claimed that your mainline affiliate's pilots were screwing you over in some way. You recognized how the system worked and you played the game and kept increasing your quals in the hopes of getting a shot.

Puff is right. With only minor variations, this is what folks have gone through for years in an effort to get where they wanted to be. There is such a long history of this that no one can seriously claim that they didn't think it would be this way when they got into this career.

He's also right about another thing. I've seen whiners in several new hires classes I've been in over the years. With only very few exceptions, those guys never made it to the line.

Agreed 100%. Throws a wrench in the whole, "Everyone with an ATP is equal, it's all luck," argument.

We're not all equal. It's not all luck. There's a lot of blood, sweat, tears, networking, hard work and door-knocking involved. Camping out at a regional and waiting for your mainline job to be handed to you because, "You're entitled," is not a good career strategy.

The flow-through and preferential hiring schemes make me sick.

 

[waveflyer]

So other than that, how are things?

You are worse than wave with the complaining. You'll last about 5 minutes in new hire school with the attitude that the world owes you and you have it sooooo much worse than anyone else. Pilots have been doing what you are going through for ages. Like wave, you are unique-just like everybody else.

All I can say about the next gen of pilots is: wow

You can't see how things have changed in the commuter/regional world in the last 10 years??

 

[waveflyer]

+1

No kidding. The whining is unbelievable.

At the risk of sounding like some old fart "back in my day" kind of guy, I came up through the regionals before the RJ era. Flew 19 seat turboprops 8 or 10 legs a day, never got above 12,000 ft.,in the weather, non precision approaches to uncontrolled fields at night, in marginally maintained a/c day in and day out. If you were "senior" you flew the 30 seat turboprops 5 - 6 legs a day. No FMS, heck, no autopilot on the 19 seaters. Captains topped out around 40k, about 65k in today's dollars.

And guess what. NO ONE bitched or whined about it.

Guys without college degrees setup their lifestyle for the 40K or had a side business. Guys with degrees went home after a trip and typed resumes or updates to go in the mail the next day. Kept your ear to the ground, networked, called HR people at any airline better than yours. Never whined or claimed that your mainline affiliate's pilots were screwing you over in some way. You recognized how the system worked and you played the game and kept increasing your quals in the hopes of getting a shot.

Puff is right. With only minor variations, this is what folks have gone through for years in an effort to get where they wanted to be. There is such a long history of this that no one can seriously claim that they didn't think it would be this way when they got into this career.

He's also right about another thing. I've seen whiners in several new hires classes I've been in over the years. With only very few exceptions, those guys never made it to the line.

Wow, you did?? ???

8 legs, no autopilots????? How did you manage?
None of my generation EVER had to do any of that...

Right.

So now imagine doing everything that you just said, legacy for 2+ years, 9/11, furloughed, then outsourcing RJs triples.

You don't see the difference?

 

[General Lee]

Wow, you did?? ???

8 legs, no autopilots????? How did you manage?
None of my generation EVER had to do any of that...

Right.

So now imagine doing everything that you just said, legacy for 2+ years, 9/11, furloughed, then outsourcing RJs triples.

You don't see the difference?

Wave, sometimes you probably feel like you are back at the "Commuters" too...6 leg days intra Texas, flying that old 733. Yeah, you do. No thanks. The current SWA guy I just talked to who was a DL furloughee back in 2002 (year 2000 hire) can't wait to get back to a NOV recall class, said SWA was really boring and a possible upgrade in OAK or LAS doesn't help when he lives in ORF. He was excited to get back and have options when it comes to flying, and not stagnation in his current situation. Good for him.

So Wavey, fix your own lower priced, same plane outsourcing while you're at it, you hypocrite.



Bye Bye---General Lee