Originally Posted by The Cavalier

A wise old boss once told me that if you want to be treated like a professional you have to look and act like one first. I'm old fashioned, leave the uniform and policy alone.

Originally Posted by sailingfun

I am a realist, I think much of what I posted is possible. I have not posted why the above is not achievable. What I have posted that is not achievable is the upfront 40 to 70 percent raise many state is their minimum. A true restoration contract would require around a 65 percent upfront raise followed by Delta having to hire at least 4000 additional pilots to staff the old work rules. Costs would be well north of 1.5 billion. What I am asking for is half that.
I have also posted that even what I want may not be doable without a strike. Getting to a strike however is at least a 6 year project and even then may be ended with a PEB followed by congressional action.
That brings up what many on here refuse to acknowledge. There is a time value to a contract. Management does not care what they pay us. They only care what they pay us relative to the competition. What would put more money in your pocket overall. A quick somewhat modest contract done at the amendable date followed in 3 to 4 years by openers on the next contract or a long drawn out fight with no resolution for 5 or 6 years. If we get a quick contract we set a bar for the other airlines to follow. That makes the next contract much easier to negotiate.
If I were the CEO I would make us a quick offer now. I would get us up to SW hourly rates with some improvements in other areas. I would offer this because virtually all the important airline passenger contracts are in negotiation or up for negotiation. He quickly sets a bar that UAL has to follow and improves AMR's chances before the court. SWA contract is amendable in 2012. They have made no move in the last 11 years to improve their current contract but we will at least insure they don't take cuts that their management team is laying groundwork for. While the above is what Iu would do if I were management I have no illusions it is what will happen. I suspect in the end a long fight is where we are headed. Its a fight that will be won or lost in Washington DC on a political basis. That is why our current good relationship with the NMB is important to maintain.
There is a wild card to the entire contract issue. Things are happening in the industry and happening fast. It appears both the CEO, VP Flight ops and sleepy ED Bastion are all going to show this week for the MEC meeting. This is highly unusual. There is a distinct possibility we may not get to section 6 negotiations at all. I will leave that statement hanging out there. The next 6 months will be very interesting.

Originally Posted by CVG767A

I'm with you. I don't want to dress like a bus driver, because I ultimately don't want to be paid like one.

I would like to ditch the double-breasted jacket, though, and go to a regular jacket that would be worn all year. I feel like I'm in a Dilbert cartoon with the summer uniform. Short sleeves and a tie looks idiotic. At least we don't have to wear a name tag. Oh, wait...

Originally Posted by sailingfun

There is a distinct possibility we may not get to section 6 negotiations at all. I will leave that statement hanging out there. The next 6 months will be very interesting.

Originally Posted by newKnow

Some of you guys are starting to appear to be so pro DPA that you are also becoming anti Delta pilot. Maybe I'm wrong, but I get the feeling that some of you are rooting for DALPA to totally screw things up even more just so you can say, "See, I was right."

I get the fact that you are ticked off at DALPA. Most pilots around here have some serious gripes with them. But, let the record show for me that even though I think DALPA has dropped the ball on many issues, it's contract time. Meaning, it's time to get paid. Like paid what we should have been getting paid 5-7 years ago.

Right now, DALPA is up to bat, and if they strike out by bringing home a crappy TA, then it's time for them to go. But, until then, because I'm wearing the same uniform as them, I sincerely hope they hit a home run.

Let's not root to have our noses cut off, so in 18 months we can spite Sailing, Slow, Alpha, or Ts. That's just dumb, and personally I feel I've been underpaid long enough.

I hope I'm wrong and hope everyone feels the same.....

Originally Posted by Jughead

OK...forum foul. You can't throw that out without more detail. I'll be waiting here all day.

Originally Posted by Jughead

My point was, there are many, many things which should take priority over changing a uniform which has served the pilot group just fine for the last 70 years.

Originally Posted by sailingfun

There is a wild card to the entire contract issue. Things are happening in the industry and happening fast. It appears both the CEO, VP Flight ops and sleepy ED Bastion are all going to show this week for the MEC meeting. This is highly unusual. There is a distinct possibility we may not get to section 6 negotiations at all. I will leave that statement hanging out there. The next 6 months will be very interesting.

Originally Posted by CVG767A

I've been told by a couple of people that max pickup limits don't apply to military charters, yet I can't find that in the contract. Can anyone point me to where that clause is located? Thanks.