alfaromeo

Not getting involved in this never ending rehash, but the former MEC Chairman's name is John Malone.

acl65pilot

To be honest, because it was IMO fairly benign. Some do not like the fact that the MAC flying can be assigned now.

The reserve proratta is huge. It is about 3500 extra days off for reserve pilots a year. HUGE!

The effects of extra manning for not following the scheduled duty day circadian schedule are huge. It all adds about 60-70 jobs to the list.

The other improvements are real improvements for having the MAC flying assigned and posted in the Open Time pot.

I was very impressed with the LOA. I do not think many understand it. The company came to the Association for some improvements in MAC flying so they could bid for and be awarded more. We have a the "list" of items that we want improvements in. These improvements came from that list.


I am sure there are many that see this or that wrong with it. Nothing is perfect. Overall it is net positive and that is the direction we are all striving for.

KC10 FATboy

I think the first major airline that announces they'll no longer use subcontractors (regional carriers) to farm out feed under shady contracts ... and publicizes it in a huge fancy campaign blitz will be a big winner in this industry.

tag line ... "At XYZ Airlines, we don't believe in farming out your safety to the subcontractor with the lowest bid, who pays the cheapest wages, and hires the least qualified aircrew and mechanics. Instead, we've taken a new approach. We've decided to bring all of the flying back in house under our control, applying the same stringent rules and requirements for any XYZ flight. blah blah blah

I think it would cause the other majors to react accordingly.

Am I nuts?

georgetg

That was an interesting point on the PBS Frontline Flying Cheap program.
The Contract of carriage indemnifies mainline from liability.
That legal exclusion is what really allowed the outsourcing on a massive scale to take place...

The easiest way to "fix" scope is to close that liability exclusion.
-Mainline would start doing safety audits on regionals.
-Mainline would start looking hard at training programs.
-Regionals with histories of incident would have a harder time getting or maintaining contracts.

Best of all this is a legal fix to scope that is unrelated to using negotiating capital for a new PWA...

Cheers
George

Superpilot92

is it normal to have training scheduling screw up your conversion months? since the first conversion list came out its shown me converting in march and een on the latest update it still shows a march conversion. I called them twice about this to make sure and they keep saying that i'm converting in early april. I asked why it keeps saying march on the conversion list if they know i'm going in april but they dont know either. Everytime they've posted and update its made me question whats going on. I dont like this method of scheduling training as we dont really know Exactly when we go to class.

anyway, is it normal to see your name on the conversion list converting the following month only to not really be converting?

acl65pilot

Yep, you are nuts.

If the airlines had the coffers to give them time to change the public's expectations and buying habits, then yes, but right now no single airline is that financially secure.

We need total deregulation or total re-regualtion. One way or the other, the half baked world we live in now is bleeding most to death.

Superpilot92

I agree with you, it would cause the others to go get nervous

Bucking Bar

Respectfully, your heart is in the right place, but we have not been provided with the numbers, which ALPA resists talking about more than a Florida Senator resists talking about cuts to entitlement programs.

By anecdote, CRJ 200 LCA are making MUCH more than Delta's MD88 LCA's. I would have made 20K more at ASA last year than I did on the 767. Maybe right seat / left seat is an apples and oranges comparison, but, wide body right seats have gone senior to narrow body left seats in some instances here at mainline. Our costs for under wing support, fuel, dispatch, maintenance and financing are in many cases identical (and are in many cases the same people).

Although a couple of months old, a credible calculation put the remaining value of DCI contracts at around $26 Billion dollars. Mesa (which was supposed to have the weakest contract and is in bankruptcy ) was able to enforce their contract to the point that Delta lacked the ability to cancel a Mesa flight to manage slots without being in breach.

This loss of Delta's life blood restricts the Company's ability to manage its network, pay down debt and invest in the future.

I wish ALPA would come clean in its rhetoric about outsourcing. Go ahead and go on record with "outsourcing is good" or "we don't want B scale on the property" something other than this gray "we don't feel it is economically vaible" or "Comair pilots will get date of hire" garbage.

If the outsourcing/widebody/everything for me contingent is confident of their position, let us do a study and see their numbers. Let objective data settle the dispute.

Of course the issue of unity should rise above the financial incentive of outsourcing a junior Delta pilot's job. We should recapture our flying anyway, not just because it is the smart thing to do, but also because it is the right thing to do.

We are holding the line (and I'm thankful for that). But my concern is that when the C Series, or some other paradigm shifting jet comes along Delta will honestly say "we can't afford that, but Skywest can."

acl65pilot

The ATA does not want that. It makes sense but I do not see that happening. The airlines contract with third part operators and assume safety.

Like I posted 30 pages ago, if a civil case can link liability to the mainline carrier though foreknowledge of safety issues prior to signing of a Air Service contract, you may see change, but not until that happens.

Bucking Bar

George,

Already covered in detail a few pages ago. Main points:

• Comair 5191 and Colgan 3407 were already addressed under Delta's underwriting program.
• In many venues claims can be made directly against the Major carrier under current law
• Airlines tend to pool risks to negotiate more favorable rates for coverage - like other commodities, cheaper to buy in bulk
• The FAA is not going to allow Majors to pay fines for inferior contractors' Certificate violations. This would ruin the deterrent effect of the fines and be against public policy.

The ability to hold majors responsible for regional screw ups is not the answer to our scope problems. We sit at the table, we negotiate the deals that facilitate outsourcing. It is up to us to fix our problem.