gloopy

Exactly. What a time wasting resolution that would be. I hope we don't pursue it. We already have a "domestic lite" category in the ER categories. Its called bidding domestic trips, which typically go more junior anyway.

Of course if I was the company I'd be all like "uh, yeah, sure! what are y'all willing to give up to pay for that though?"

gloopy

Seniority shouldn't force multiply everything though. There are limits. Take vacation for example. Seniority affords the senior more total weeks, a higher rate per hour of credit and the best choice of weeks. All that is fine, and as it should be.

But relative to a single week of vacation, per week, the benefits should be the same. IOW, the same number of extra days off and the same hourly credit in terms of number of hours credit per week for all pilots. Its rediculous that the net effect of "senior" vacation can be a week or two long (a month or more with some of the touch drop fantasies some are advocating) while a week of "junior" vacation nets 3 or maybe 4 additional days off.

A single week of vacation should net the same number of additional days off regardless of seniority. We need better vacation for all pilots, not more vacation for some pilots.

Bucking Bar

Note for customers concerned about sequestration from today's Q&A ... avoid small RJ's which will be the first flights cancelled as sequestration delays effect hubs. Business re-booked on mainline. Mainline completion factor... 100%

gloopy

Duly noted, and I like it!

However, this isn't about any reality relating to anything in the real world. This is political grandstanding to "make it hurt" to cause pain because someone dared to slightly trim the rate of growth of the machine and that is simply not allowed.

No anti-RJ action will be taken by the company as a result of this shameful display because of the timeline required to impliment it would place us in a different political reality anyway. They will park whatever RJ's they want, at whatever speed they want to park them, and we will go to market with the fleet that we have.

Bucking Bar

Q&A on growth. Margin expansion can come through alliances and current growth using our current fleet and modest changes in capacity.

Ed Bastian then interrupted and said that there would be "occasional growth" but at less than G.D.P. growth rates (very modest).

Future fleet / capital deployment will be discussed in May. Sounds like May will be a good month news wise (and thus around here on APC).

PinnacleFO

For what it's worth, before all of this happened, pinnacle used to be the best. Under the nwa system pinnacle went 100 cf all the time.

Bucking Bar

I thought Mesaba, no GoJets, no Mesa, was the best of the best.

At least at ASA our management was realistic. Former DAL and former Regional Airline President of the year Skip Barnette explained to me that "ASA does not want to be the best, that would cost money. We just don't want to be embarrassing."

The distressing thing, from an airline labor standpoint, was hearing management crow about the Pinnacle deal and the restructuring of costs on the regional side of our business. Pinnacle will not only put pressure on other subcontractors, but since we (our union) allow them to negotiate directly with Delta management, they put pressure on our own small jet operations. Their Next Gen jets probably have better numbers than most of our narrow body fleet on a CASM & per departure numbers while also enjoying the advantage of a more flexible platform.

Don't get me wrong, our MEC did an overall good job with C2012. I truly suspect there was a quid pro quo arrangement as we really went out of our way to keep the Delta MEC out of the Pinnacle negotiations in an effort to make outsourcing more profitable.

Tactically smart, maybe, but I remain very concerned about our strategic direction. Now we have Pinnacle sitting at the table with Delta management and there is no reason why other carriers can't pull up a chair as well if we accept that pilots are simply subcontractors.

We are Delta pilots. Not vendors.

DeadHead

I could careless that this story will probably not get picked up and go nationwide, but nice to see stories like this.

Delta Airlines Goes Above and Beyond for Boy

GBU-24

War Damm Eagle...Lots of great memories under those oaks...miss ya.

Roadkill

*sniff*
That's some beautiful prose, man. Brings a tear to my eye. Hijacked by prostitutes lol... this is right up there with High Flight IMO.