GunshipGuy

It hit so close to home it was either laugh or cry. After reading the letter about "say yes" the day prior from MD I chose the former.

BigGuns

Where is the seniority calculator on the ALPA website?

NERD

Fixed it for you!

Leroy Smith

As usual, when I come out of lurker mode, I get verbal diahrrea. So be advised: probably TL;DR.



Exactly! In general, we need to look up from our own rice bowls and see what is going on with this "career". There is some real Lord of the Flies stuff going on in the regional sector now. While the demise of regionals as we know them may be imminent, and I know many of you will celebrate the day, the regional pilots will be making up a larger percentage of your list in the future. And the attitudes and behaviors they have learned/ developed will come with them. I know you (DL especially), believe that your vetting process is really great, but the system in general is rewarding some of the worst behavior. Pilots have always eaten their young, ie- Wilber vs Orvil, CA vs FO, WB vs NB, INT vs DOM, mainline vs regional, but a whole generation is coming up with a need for instant gratification and a mercenary mindset. And if there is one thing they can do, it is work the system, check the boxes, work the gouge, and get coached through an interview. And the way things are going is proving to them, that throwing your co-workers under the bus is the way to get ahead. You guys (mainline pilots/DALPA) are the adults in the room. And if you do not use your wisdom and the little bit of power you have (compared to the complete lack at the regional level) to guide/mentor or even discipline the kids to point them in the right direction, a lot of the issues y'ins are discussing, ie. C2015 are going to be a lot harder to deal with in the future.

And I absolutely sympathize with the early aughts furloughs. If only scope had been locked down and those RJs had been piloted by DL pilots- problem solved. But that wasn't how it went down, and remember that plenty of regional pilots have been furloughed also. ASA took a number of the Delta furloughs temporarily, without any fuss, but not many years later we were furloughing. Imagine going into a that with the resources of a minimum wage worker, right at the 2008 downturn. And a lot of them are the same ones who after recall, put in 5ish years on reserve as regional FOs, are looking at 10+ year upgrades and may never get a shot at being a 88FO for Delta.

I still have hope that DL will get far enough down into the stack to reach my very mediocre application, and that I might get to join you in the promised land- before they shut the doors here. And if I do, I am sure my perspective will change, and whether or not my ox is the one getting gored will inform my opinions. But right now, things are looking pretty bleak.

iaflyer

There is a better one at https://www.ezopenboard.com/

It lets you plot your seniority in your category, as well as other categories.

nwaf16dude

I used to be like that...absolutely miserable for 3 months every year, until I got a prescription for Flonase. Literally changed my life. The key is you have to use it everyday this time of year, not just when you have symptoms.

OldFlyGuy

There is nothing logical about your post. If MD was speaking to anyone it was probably you. Tons of folks voted against C2k. Now they hail it as the Holy Grail. Everything DALPA has put out this time seems focused. Pilot Input-MEC Direction-Neogtiating Committee-Follow the Process. RLA/NMB we are stuck with. Dec 31 2012 was our last amendable date. We are now 28 months past that amendable. That is about how long industry contracts have typically taken to negotiate during my career. We are BACK in negotiations with a vastly different company and I expect us to do set the industry bar...AGAIN. If anything our problem is that C12 has held up pretty well vs our industry comparisons. I was expecting a little more help from AMR/UAL/SWA. This is business. Vote as you wish, but when when I get a vote I'll make a "business" decision. OFG

Sink r8

I don't know what this is yet. I read the e-mail after reading APC, and I was expecting a disaster. To be sure, it's entirely possible we'll end up with a weak deal that will pass, so I share your concerns.

The piece I didn't like was the suggestion that an election means we must rush. It's amazing how willing we are to anticipate and magnify threats.

That being said, the way I interpreted the discussion is Donatelli requesting the MEC to behave like honorable men, and a functional body. If we demonstrate the same divisions that we showed during/after C2012, and the modified TA that included the CDO's, we're going to cost ourselves a lot of money. Like it or not, the leverage of the guy(s) negotiating the deal increases when he/they have a legitimate claim to represent the group. The less certainty in the outcome of a TA, the less value it will have. I know this isn't an easy concept to acknowledge, but it's the way it works.

MEC develops clear position that respects group, members back consensus > NC speaks for a unified body > all parties have confidence in outcome > parties can commit to a deal = maximum leverage.

A divided MEC + members that leak selectively > crippled NC that can only offer a TA that will be subject to an uncertain outcome at MEC = marginal results.

So I don't just scrutinize Donatelli's words, but I also look at the contents of the leaks. When I see words like "good men" and "weak links", I know I'm being manipulated. Now, we might assign more weight to one group or another, but the fact that we're manipulated at all just about guarantees we'll be poorer. The fact that this MEC leaks, and selectively, really bothers me. The people doing the leaking are doing serious damage, and probably doing the company's job by resetting expectations lower.

All that being said, there seems to be an extraordinary enthusiasm to move forward and get to a deal that frankly, I don't understand. I have the uneasy feeling of watching a new airplane that may not be quite ready, being placed on a very aggressive testing schedule. AND now the test crew is fighting among themselves. I don't know if this thing will fly, but the infighting is a bad sign, a real bad sign.

Big E 757

I used Flonase for a while...they sell it over the counter now. It does work if you use it every day. I would forget to use it when I got home from a trip for a couple of days and then be back to square one so I started using Claritin and I start taking it a couple days before a trip.

My problem isn't so much seasonal allergies, but I swear I'm allergic to the dust, dead skin, and mold in the 75/76 ducts. I'm fine at home but after a couple legs on a trip and I start getting the symptoms...throw in a FL layover and I'm really stuffed up. A day or two after coming home and I'm fine again. I had the same problem on the 88. If I start taking Claritin a day or two before a trip, it really helps, but not 100%.

gloopy

Calling anyone that makes more than you "rich" also has its way of circling back to you in a way you won't like. As we dive headfirst into centralized world government and mob rule democracy, the real proletariat will be coming after you just the same.

We are the 1%: You need $34k income to be in the global elite... and half the world's richest live in the U.S. | Daily Mail Online

Tread lightly with that populist garbage.