tsquare

I absolutely get what you are saying. I don't like it either when I'm in the middle of Mad Money and the PA starts and he drones on about altitude and ride and route of flight and all that. ESPECIALLY if we have TVs back there. (Although I still like looking out the window now and again). What I am primarily referring to is right before takeoff, and we have that "sterile" PA:"flight Attendants prepare for departure". I just think it is important to engage those that pay our salaries just a tiny little bit and let them know we are human too. I absolutely DESPISE that robo PA that NWA bought on the 757s that automatically, and within a nanosecond of turning on the seatbelt light, makes a PA to return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts. I think it is cheap sounding.

Bottom line is that guys are gonna do what they are gonna do. As a passenger, I prefer a little personality and engagement from the guys flying the airplane. The guys that don't want to do that, are not gonna do it no matter the pro/con argument and vice versa. But all this fear mongering about sterile cockpit comes across as paranoia, imho.

casual observer

tsquare. We are on the same page. One of the reasons I wanted to be a pilot is because I thought pilots were cool. Additionally, I love the people that fill the seats on Delta aircraft, because they make aviation possible for me. It warms my heart when I exit an airplane and I watch the reunion of love ones that we made possible, in part, because we are aviators.

Delta Airlines hired you because you have a clue. So, I say, forgot the advice of people that want to generalize situations and do what you think is right based on the conditions as you see them. That will be more appropriate and appreciated than canned anything.

Bucking Bar

Buzz,

My father spent 9 out his first 16 years in our profession on furlough. He had two airlines go bust out from under him, or rather I should say, flew for two airlines that had their assets transferred. He worked as a mechanic when he could not find work flying. Sometimes he worked three jobs, not only to support us, but also as the sole provider for his mother and help with a couple of nearly destitute relatives. Can not recall that he ever complained, but he was tired and never really happy unless he was flying.


The second asset transfer happened when I was 16. I took my first full time job two weeks after my 16th birthday and have worked at least one job every day of my life since then. My schedule for the six years it took me to get my undergrad done was 07:40 am at work ... a few of my classes let out at 00:20. My parents never asked for money, but I did save up some cash so we could take a family vacation. Dad found work flying in Saudi. I do not recall seeing him much until I was 24. I will leave the details of our family life out of this, but yeah, I get it. He is a great guy. He really appreciated his later career with FedEx.


This thorough understanding of what furlough and career instability is the exact reason why I've worked to try to improve our profession's perspective on unity.

Rather than focus on the emotive question of how anyone feels about furlough it would better if folks like CGHerk would refocus on the structures their association has created which caused our pilots to be furloughed. It frustrates me that his posts criticize pilots for their feelings when these emotions impede the objective changes that we need to get done to unify our profession, thus avoiding asset transfers, furloughs and job losses out of seniority.

In other words; you probably took a furlough that should have been mine. Why did you (and the Delta pilots) allow that to happen? Was disunity with ASA and Comair worth it? (not picking on you, it is a rhetorical question and I think we agree on the answer)

I've heard a couple of pilots who are in the know state considerations for what would amount to a one way flow up to Delta. Management wants to avoid flow down because it makes it more cumbersome to administer furloughs and a lot of men with ALPA lapel pins seem to have no problem with that idea.

How can it be that we are so against Norweigen, Emirates, Etihad et. al. taking "our" flying when we still happily outsource 40% of our domestic flying to alter ego versions of our own airlines? We have no moral authority to ask for restrictions when we build half of our Section 1 on permitted arrangements to outsource flying within our own brand.

We can change these structures. I do not ever want a pilot on this list to be furloughed.

Bucking Bar

Just because it's too good not to share ....



Dad's airline was the first to do quite a few long distance routes across the Pacific. They had worked up a doppler radar drift sensor, which apparently did not work (at all) as well as hoped since calm seas gave the thing nothing to obtain a return from. They were intercepted, fired on and forced down.

Roadkill

LOL... ok, I have to admit, this is likely spot on. I've watched this PA thread go with amusement, and don't really care one way or the other for minor deviations. HOWEVER...
1. Everyone has a smart phone, just about. Anyone who CARES about having updated accurate info, like WX and landing time, HAS A SMARTPHONE.
2. The FlyDelta App has an exact land time on it updated from your ACARS every time you send a pos report. PAX know when we're landing!!
3. Everyone DOES know the WX at landing site.
4. The seatback entertainment shows our exact location and landing time, if the plane has it.
5. They've already been welcomed aboard Delta and thanked for spending their hard-earned flying dollars with us, probably 10 times, by B4takeoff, and usually by someone with an approved script. They're sick of hearing it, after the 3rd time it gets cloyingly annoying.
6. Every PA IS an interruption, usually of their paid movie/entertainment time.
7. My relatives are gazillion miler Diamond Platinum GoldUnderwear Medallion Uber Status execs... and when we talk about my job, they always say one thing:

TELL US ABOUT UNUSUAL EVENTS LIKE HOLDING, OTHERWISE ****!!!

Sorry, but it's true. Less is more when making PAs, and thinking about all the other folks who have already told them various info will help keep it on-target and succinct. You're going for Succinct Steely Eyed Commander, not Chatty Susan Hourly Cafeteria Worker


And for heaven's sake, never announce any scores, or you'll have 20 guys who TIVO'd the game wanting to kill you...

casual observer

Succinct Steely Eyed Commander, not Chatty Susan Hourly Cafeteria Worker

Well said.

The Cavalier

New line holder here...what are the risks with asterisk rotations that spill into the next bid period? I understand that they can alter the rotation and even extend it no more than one calendar day. Anything else? How frequently do they make changes to them?

DeadHead

Holy crud!
First time getting sidelined by DPA members today on the employ bus. I find it particularly ironic that DPA members seem to enjoy talking down and disrespecting pilots who aren't on board with their beliefs. If they are trying to convince people of your own beliefs they may want to refrain from using condescending sarcasm. I shouldn't if engaged, but I did. I blame myself.

dalad

How long were they in custody? I think I remember that incident. Never mind, I found it.

Mesabah

At NWA, that was done to fund the multi-billion dollar hole in the pension fund. Hell, the Pinnacle IPO shares went right into the NWA pilot pension fund.