Originally Posted by ITSALLGOOD

AS: Execs are very unhappy with AS. "They are code share Wh@*&s willing to hook up with anyone who can fill their A/C" (his words). They are helping our competitors while claiming to be our partner.

Originally Posted by Check Essential

I've heard the same about the motors. They perform very well on the runway and at cruise.

When the Trannies first took delivery of the 717s they had huge BMW stickers on the side of the engines. They have since removed them. Don't know why. I think we should put those things back on them.
Add a little German engineering prestige to the livery.





And Delta used to have the old "Dependable Engines" logo on most of our nacelles.
I liked those stickers. Anybody know why we don't do that anymore?

Originally Posted by ITSALLGOOD

Had a chance to talk today with someone "in the know." Not a lot of new info but he reinforced some things many already believe and offered some fresh insight. Here is what he had to say on key topics...

Background: The primary objective this year is a $2Bn profit and debt below $10Bn. FltOps asked for new pilots in Jan but were told to wait until finance could run the numbers. In March, Finance calculated there was a better than 50% chance the costs of hiring would exceed any costs associated with tight manning. It is now generally accepted among management they calculated WRONG! Expect a summer full of GS, IAs and Rolling Thunder like never before. That leads to the AE...

AE: By the time the right people figured out the extent of the staffing problem (SD had been telling RA since Jan) it was too late to fix it with hiring. My source does not know the specifics of this AE other than it is partly a desperate attempt to curtail at least some of the scheduling carnage currently foreseen. It will also serve to get as many people in place as possible in order to put most of the new hires into the 717. The last big hiring cycle saw a lot of new hires going straight to the 7er. That created a seniority imbalance with wide ranging implications. They want to avoid this in the future. So what about hiring...

Hiring: Barring an economic catastrophe, We MUST begin hiring no later than Jan 14. Hiring folks were told today that if 3rd Qtr numbers are solid and RA feels the profit and debt goals are assured, they should be prepared to start recalls/flows this fall. Contrary to some other info that has been out there, the hiring will be relatively slow (recalls plus 20-30 flows per month with minimal off-the-street) to start and won't pick up until the second half of 14. The massive hiring will be well under way by Jan 15 and continue for many years.

AS: Execs are very unhappy with AS. "They are code share Wh@*&s willing to hook up with anyone who can fill their A/C" (his words). They are helping our competitors while claiming to be our partner. The DAL capacity being dropped on their core routes is both a statement of protest and a real effort to begin to wean off AS feed. In his opinion, we can only continue 3-4 more years in the current arrangement. We will have to be in a position to buy AS or go toe-to-toe with them by then. So what about SEA and LAX...

We will continue to see slow but steady growth in SEA. There are numerous routes we would like to serve in LAX, but we are running into dead ends trying to get gates. The most preferred option now is a swap with UAL - our underutilized ORD gates for their T6 gates. Unfortunately, those negotiations are moving very slowly.

Now you know all I know...that and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee...maybe.

Originally Posted by tsquare

There is no furniture being burned at this point.

Originally Posted by Sink r8

1) Thank you very much for posting this. Adds context to the conversation.

2) It's good info, and it's a little more red-meat for all. There's enough for the mad dogs, and even the mini-dogs can chomp down on a few morsels... but I'm not sure it's good news. If I read correctly, we've miscalculated on some critical issues that are essential to the business (staffing and code-sharing), and we're finding that something else / someone else is once again to blame for our dissatisfaction with the lack of hiring/excessive reliance on Alaska.

The problem is that UAL isn't playing nice with gate swaps in LA? Really? Who ever thought they would?

I've been reading vague but encouraging statements online for years. Based on those, I'm a mid-seniority Captain. Once in a while, I have to deadhead to Guam to cover a trip. Sometimes I have to do long layovers at Sal Island, between "African Hub" flights. Sometimes I get called out to LGA to cover one of our many new large NB flights. I do all this with grace, because I'm making some serious coin, and soon I'll be able to bid a left seat in those AMR 777's, and move to Miami. I always have a smile on my face, online.

Meanwhile, in the real world, I'm much farther up the SL, and finally creeping lower on the category list, but strangely i'm staying put in terms of % in category, and completely unable to get any useful AE award. How bizarre.

Originally Posted by ITSALLGOOD

Background: The primary objective this year is a $2Bn profit and debt below $10Bn. FltOps asked for new pilots in Jan but were told to wait until finance could run the numbers. In March, Finance calculated there was a better than 50% chance the costs of hiring would exceed any costs associated with tight manning. It is now generally accepted among management they calculated WRONG! Expect a summer full of GS, IAs and Rolling Thunder like never before. That leads to the AE...

AE: By the time the right people figured out the extent of the staffing problem (SD had been telling RA since Jan) it was too late to fix it with hiring. My source does not know the specifics of this AE other than it is partly a desperate attempt to curtail at least some of the scheduling carnage currently foreseen. It will also serve to get as many people in place as possible in order to put most of the new hires into the 717. The last big hiring cycle saw a lot of new hires going straight to the 7er. That created a seniority imbalance with wide ranging implications. They want to avoid this in the future. So what about hiring...

Originally Posted by sailingfun

Not bizarre at all. We have had the mainline block hours shrinking a fairly steady 2 percent per year as capacity constraint became the management mania. This will be the first year in a long time where capacity is flat to a slight increase. As we move into next year the month over month increases become substantial in the second half of the year.

Originally Posted by sailingfun

They canceled all winglet installations. They will resume next year however we lose the fuel savings and could pay more for the installs.

Originally Posted by p3flteng

I think that is a big mistake if true. Like cutting your nose off to spite your face, especially with the profits this company is making, And the raise we didn't get and RA did.
Do you have a source?

Originally Posted by sailingfun

They canceled all winglet installations. They will resume next year however we lose the fuel savings and could pay more for the installs.