Free Bird

You're right, I've never had to swallow that sandwich, at least for 5 years. Hundreds of other Delta pilots and I had the cake walk of a 5 year furlough. The last 5 years I've been so insanely senior that I've had the privilege of only working about 85% of weekends and holidays, all on the mighty maddog.

I guess I've never really reflected on smooth my career has been to this point. More to the point, the last 5 years have been hard on most of this seniority list. We all knew what we were getting into by coming to Delta. Roughly 1,000 folks were furloughed following 9-11, I don't blame anyone, it's what comes along with this job. you guys volunteered to work here, sorry it hasn't worked out for you like you planned.

georgetg

I think you missed the point when you talk about blame...
This isn't about blame, but about making it right.

Your experience being furloughed should have at the very least made you intimately familiar with the fact that seniority is our currency and it determines everything...

• Equipment
• Base
• Pay
• Days Off
• Vacation
• Quality of Life
• Employment Status

Personally I have no problem with our seniority based system because as they always say "son, you'll be senior some day"

But there is a problem. While Delta has indeed hired a few pilots in the last few years, the number of pilots at Delta isn't rising but on the decline. There are fewer captain positions now than just a few years ago. That means the absolute seniority number while it might be going up is not "worth as much as it once was."

In essence what we have is seniority inflation, that is the same or better seniority you had a few years back is worth less today.

If we are going to run a seniority based system then there has to be a commitment to seniority growth. I don't want growth for growth's sake, but I do have trouble with the attitude of some reps and committee members that don't think seniority growth should be their concern at all...

In my opinion there are few pilots that haven't progressed to where they are all on their own accord. Most of us are where we are because of others lending a hand. To me, this industry comes with an implied responsibility to pay it forward and to leave the profession a better place than what we found.

But maybe I have it all wrong ;-)

Cheers
George

johnso29

Hey, you and my wife agree I'm wise! Of course she's always calling me a wise ass!

buzzpat

^^^^^^ Eggggsssxactly! Spot on. I remember when I came back in 2008 and DAL asked me to monitor a few Indoc classes to get the drill down again. You should have seen the palpable angst in the room when the new hires realized there were other guys sitting there (3 of us to be exact) who were coming back and assuming our seniority on top of them. We'd killed their cat. sheesh. This industry.

80ktsClamp

Please tell me you walked into class with your flight kit handcuffed to your wrist!

Carl Spackler

Well they wouldn't have had that reaction if you'd stop wearing that Southwest Airlines lanyard.

It can be very confusing.

Carl

buzzpat

I recall walking in grabbing my crotch and moon-walking.....

buzzpat

It could have been the cat skin cap I was rakishly sporting, perhaps?

RockyBoy

And this is what the company wants, the steady flow of massive retirements to be as far away as possible. By offering early outs they pull some of the guys now rather than later when they won't have the capacity to replace them.

However, for this to be good for us the next three years or so, they need to hire also or we just see higher paying jobs disappear and not be backfilled like we've seen on the 777 and 747 the last couple of years. So it's good, but not good at the same time.

georgetg

That's funny, because one of my good buddies was a furlough returnee who was in my new-hire class. I was very humbled when getting back to LAX he checked his V-file and received his 1-year and 5-year pin...

I have been mostly fortunate in this career and respect that there are those who have endured hardships I hope to never know.

Its exactly because of those experiences, not despite them that seniority progression is something to actively pursue istead of just "hoping things work out ok"

Cheers
George