You boys afraid of something?

[canadflyau]

" That statement is not entirely correct. While fuel is usually slightly higher than pilot salaries, total labor costs (wages and benefits) are by far an airline's largest expense."

Actually I am correct, but you are correct that neither make up the largest percentage of CASM.... I should have been more clear when I say "total labor costs" I mean frontline labor, the ones you can actually see and/or have contact with at the airport (the so called "little guy") that does the physical work that generates the revenue... not the labor that sits at the G.O. and makes no contact of anyform with the customer or directly with the product (i.e. HR, Marketing, Standards and Compliance, Safety, Quality Assurance, and the gobs of other suits and sweaters behind the scenes)

Its this simple, take a look at an hour.. a 50 seat SJ... lets say in 1 hr they can utilize 300NM.. in 1hr they pay the FO and Capt a combined $150/hr (including bennies) a cost of =.01 to CASM

Lets say the SJ burns about 2,000 lbs during 1hr with a cost of anywhere from (hedged or unhedged) $300-600/hr making up anywhere from .02-.04 to CASM, so fuel costs by my calcs are more expensive than a generous $150 the crew costs towards CASM.

I don't fly an SJ so my numbers are estimates, but that shows that if I am ballpark even with a super senior ASA crew, they are not a commanding part of the CASM.

As for the RASM lets say you operate at 65% load factor, thus 32.5 Seats are filled @ $60 per segment you have .13 RASM. FYI the CASM at JBLU-SWA is anywhere from 6.5-8.5, DAL casm is approx 8.8 and AMR is approx 8.7

 

[rjcap]

fdj,

The 70-seater? That's a whole different story. If Delta wants more than 57 of them, they know who has to fly them!

If AA files for chap 11 which it apparently will, then Leo will simply steer towards chap 11 and let the bankruptcy judge throw out any and all scope restrictions as well as a good portion of your compensation.

Delta pilots have very little say in what is about to transpire.

 

[DAL737FO]

RJCap,

Do you actually research this stuff or just overhear it and spout it off as the truth? Just because a company enters into Chapter 11 doesn't mean the contracts go out the window. I don't know if you are a Comair RJ Captain but since you have the industry leading pay on the Small jet side of the fence I wouldn't want the company to run to file chapter 11. You see CHQ flies the aircraft at a much reduced rate compared to you guys and if you don't think the Delta bean counters would go after that difference in chapter 11 then you are sadly mistaken.

Furloughed DAL737FO

 

[captainv]

By far the biggest adjustment coming from a corporate background has been getting used to every pilot from every pilot group walking around with an enormous chip on his shoulder, almost itching for a fight. Well, online that is. I guess that's the one place we can release all the frustrations caused by the uncertainty in the industry right now.

Perhaps I have an oversimplified view of the current situation. I'm sure i'll hear about it if i'm wrong. but let me take a stab at it...

Who decides what routes Comair/ASA/DCI contract carriers fly?
Delta...

Who decides how many RJs we buy, how many pilots we hire?
Delta...

Who decides how many DAL pilots to furlough?
Delta...

Who decides when to pull mainline off a route in favor of RJs?
Delta...

I mean, we are wholly-owned, right? Do the DAL guys really think they're sitting at home because of the actions of Comair/ASA management or its pilot group? Sometimes I just can't see why the real culprit doesn't get more of the blame....

 

[FlyDeltasJets]

CaptainV,

You are entirely correct that mgt deserves most of the blame for our situation, along with our short-sighted pilot group for allowing such outsourcing. Also, let's not forget the real culprits: some dead or soon to be dead muslims!

Believe me, there is MAJOR outcry from our pilot group about what mgt is doing. As a matter of fact, I don't ever remember hearing any of our pilots blame the pilots of DCI for any of this.

However, the rjdc is attempting to allow mgt to give away all of our flying to lower wage carriers, and we are understandably upset about that. Also, the cmr mec is actively trying to prevent the hiring of our furloughees (at the bottom of their list), and we are angry about that as well.

I think, despite what some say, that we have very legitamate reasons to be upset at the rjdc and the cmr pilot group, and it has nothing to do with misplaced blame or our egos. It has everything to do with their actions.

I hope this clears up some misconceptions re: the attitudes and motivations of our pilots. You may be happy to know that on the DALPA forums, the focus of 99% of the conversations is our mgt.