forgot to bid

The 7ER Domestic Only and no Raw Score resolutions are

Rogue24

Well understand that this was the will of the 30-40 pilots in the room. A friend of mine went there and said the Reps kept out of speaking "for" or "against" a resolution except one comment on the 7ER category one. In fact, the most junior Rep kept his mouth totally shut on the RAW Bucket resolution which surprised my buddy. It was the ATL pilots meeting and this is what they brought forth. Don't like it, make sure you write your reps detailing why. You may even want to offer suggestions, but not going to the meeting and complaining on here do nothing.

flyallnite

What you have now is a lot of senior guys bidding reserve and a lot of junior guys holding lines in a category where they'd otherwise be deep reserve. If you take away the seniority on reserve then many will lose that line holding ability.

Scoop

FTB,

We are overmanned now and so some guys are getting a good deal - just like when guys would complete training on the ER and then wait months for IOE. I don't begrudge the good deals for those who get them but I agree with you that they should not be getting the good deals on the backs of the junior guys. However I do not see that in my (LAX 73) category. I do see very junior commuters getting lines - which is good.

Once we get down to the manning levels that the company wants the discussion will probably turn to how all the reserves flying their butts off.

Scoop

forgot to bid

I agree.

........................................

Sink r8

Offhand, I can't think of a better fix, to a more hated part of Section 23, than going to the bucket system vs. straight RAW scores. Along with other minor improvements, such as being able to high yellow only specific trips, it's actually made Reserve livable again.

If there is flying, the senior guy can't sit out the whole month at the "expense" of junior guys, not for long anyway, because the bucket system eventually catches up. The only exception occurs when we are very fat, and other pilots are very hungry, at which point there is a difference between guys that hold week-ends off, and those who don't. The difference isn't about the bucket system, since the senior guy in the lower bucket IS first to go. The difference is that the guys poach-swapping the open time don't have as great an appetite for week-end flying. Fix the cap, fix the PCS/SB/SWF issues, and the Reserve system works as intended. Hell, progression works as intended, hiring works as intended, the US government probably starts running a surplus, and SW pilots even stop butchering kittens.

If you're on Reserve, and you don't have week-ends off, you're the plug. It's the actions of the hungriest pilots that dry up ALL the open time during the week that help the guys above you, and make you feel, comparatively speaking, like the butt-plug. Just don't hate the senior half of Reserves for it. We're all first to go, in that lower bucket, with our shirts ironed, our bags neatly organized, and our lunchboxes packed. We anxiously check every day, but alas, we are not needed. We're like children lining up for schoolbuses that have been hijacked M-F by a bunch of prostitutes. We don't know what they need our buses for, and we're not allowed to ask. We just get shooed back inside every morning.

forgot to bid

I guess we went from raw only to buckets and nobody said it'd increase staffing, but to go back from bucks to raw only would decrease staffing?

forgot to bid

The biggest thing that needed work was SC. We improved. Then added more SC. I'm not sure if that's a one step forward and one back.

I know flying and staffing levels will eventually catch up and nobody will get the celebrated month off, but, when it comes to domestic categories I also believe the company will catch up.

But the more I think about it the more I'm okay with senior only but if we're going back to "the way it was" then I want the bow wave back at the same time or no dice.

Sink r8

I don't think you're going to be able to change the bucket system as a precondition to a change in the Cap, because I think you're in a small minority WRT buckets. Nonetheless, I agree with you that the Cap issue would improve many things, and probably negate your concerns on the bucket system.

Elvis90

Delta reports first-quarter profit on higher revenue

April 23, 2013

Delta today reported a profit for the first quarter of 2013, its strongest financial and operational performance for that period in more than a decade.

Delta’s net profit for the quarter, excluding special items, was $85 million, an improvement of $124 million over last year’s results. The results included $20 million of Profit Sharing in recognition of Delta employees’ contributions to the company’s financial performance.

“Our results represent Delta’s strongest March quarter financial and operational performance in over a decade and I want to thank Delta people worldwide for all the hard work that went into producing these results for our company,” Richard said in a press release.

“This performance is proof that we are on the right path to making Delta the airline of choice for our shareholders, employees, and customers,” he continued. “With a solid financial foundation and building momentum from initiatives like our LaGuardia expansion, Virgin Atlantic investment and new Terminal 4 at New York-JFK, we are well positioned to generate significant improvements in Delta’s profitability going forward.”

Delta’s operating revenue grew $87 million, or 1 percent, during the quarter compared with a year earlier, while load factors increased to 81.2 percent. Passenger unit revenue increased 4.1 percent despite a slight decline, about 0.6 percent, in traffic with a 2.5 percent decrease in capacity.

Delta continued its focus on reducing debt during the quarter, and ended the period with adjusted net debt of $11 billion.

Unit costs during the quarter rose about 5 percent excluding fuel, profit-sharing and special items. That was less than expected, due to the benefits of cost-saving initiatives.

And fuel expenses declined $80 million during the quarter compared with a year earlier as a result of lower prices and a reduction in consumption.*