Flogger

Proctal viewing problems.

That is funneeeeeee!!!

Avroman

Then please explain the GoJet/Spirit and Transtates/Frontier deals. Last I checked neither had any flying relationship with each other. And I never signed up to have anything to do with Delta from the day I applied for this job. As for my career plans, they are in motion already, thanks. And yes, I suppose you are right, I have an open invitation to go back to corporate flying, but overall it doesn't make sense for me to take right now, just as going to Envoy to wait 8+ years for AA would at this point.
I guess my point is more that not every pilot here wants to go to Delta and as such that shouldn't be our sole focus. And it's a way to point out the tremendous conflict of interest that ALPA is. There is no way that ALPA can properly represent us while also representing Delta pilots. Same with United and any UEX ALPA airlines, or Air Canada and Jazz or whomever has ALPA for both major and regional.

msprj2

Avro, you are free to apply anywhere you wish. If you think
It’s best for OUR union to stop working with Delta mgt and try to secure a pref hiring to a LCC you are in a very small minority.

Funk

So you want to compare low cost regionals’ relationship with two ULCCs and somehow imply that ALPA 9E would be better off spurning the #1 major (in terms of profitability), that OWNS the regional airline that employs ALPA 9E pilots, in favor of some TBD relationship? I’m just trying to see if I fully understand what you’re advocating, because it sounds batguano crazy to suggest that you’d have much of a following within the 9E pilot group for that suggestion. A cynical person might think you’ve interviewed and been told no by DAL, or that you don’t hold a 4 year degree and therefore cannot matriculate to DAL. There’s really no shame in either of those. I know some very good pilots from both my mil and my 9E time that didn’t get CJOs at DAL, and I know some very good pilots that lack 4 year degrees. But the suggestion that the ALPA 9E should abandon efforts to improve follow-on success of its pilots to the parent company in favor of some yet to be determined, but somehow better airline just doesn’t make much sense. It can’t do both, and your suggestions otherwise sound less than exemplary. My suggestion would be to put more effort into squaring away your own follow-on plan. Again, best of luck.

FODhopper

Just call him Colonel:

Avroman

I'm simply saying there is no reason to put all you eggs in the Delta basket. Why not try to set up hiring options besides Delta since Delta is clearly not interested in bringing a large number of pilots over. It sure seems like their priority is keeping as many stuck here as long as they can. ALPA national has not shown me that they have ever truly had my (my company's) best interests in mind. Those interests either are in direct conflict with the major partner, or would require true career progression. Interesting enough, the ALPA major airlines don't have a flow nor high hire rate interview path. The major that does, isn't ALPA.

As for me, yes I was turned down (and won't accept the retry) Delta is not a fit for me, and I'm probably not a fit for them. Not everyone is. Remember the 3 companies that became Endeavor had almost no ties to Delta pre merger and many of us had other companies we'd have rather moved on to. There is nothing wrong with that, not everyone fits every company. I think it's foolish to pretend Delta is the only company and the only place to move on to, but that's what many are doing here. I hope I'm wrong about the success rate of the DGI even though anyone moving on would be junior to me. Everyone that wants to go to Delta from here should.

KSCessnaDriver

You act like the company is still dominated by pre-merger employees, when well over half are post merger and only know this place as Delta Connection...

Avroman

I am aware, and they should all be aware that there is a career outside the Delta world that may well be a better fit both in time and environment.

Funk

I would submit that it isn’t the union’s job to get you a job with a major, just as it isn’t the union’s job to fly the airplane for you, get you through training, or mow your lawn. It IS within the purview of the union to represent you in matters of pay, benefits, job security, working conditions, and quality of life matters that touch your relationship with your current employer, 9E, which as it turns out, is owned by Delta. You are correct that not everyone is a fit for Delta, and the same could be said for a host of other companies, but poo-pooing DGI, or any other program that might grease the skids for some pilots to progress from 9E to its parent company just because it isn’t what you want sounds kind of crazy.

Because DGI is only an interview program and not a flow, I will repeat what I’ve said elsewhere, which is, that it is incumbent upon every pilot that interviews at DAL to invest the due diligence of prepping for the interview so as to be successful. Each individual is ultimately responsible for their own success, and in aggregate, they affect DAL’s perception of the 9E pilot group and its attractiveness (or lack thereof) for a solid guarantee of a flow in the future.

Beyond the obvious business relationship between 9E and its owner, DAL, and not some snapshot of historical antiquity, if you, or anyone else, does not wish to go to Delta as a follow-on, and also for all of those who DO want to go to Delta, whining about ALPA’s failure to get you a job elsewhere (again, it isn’t their job), is wasted oxygen. DGI or not, and desire to follow-on at Delta or not, taking care of your own resume, application, and interview prep so as to be so incredibly attractive to any employer that they can’t turn down the opportunity to interview and hire you is YOUR responsibility and no one else’s.

As a follow-on statement of the obvious, anything that doesn’t violate your principles has a price. If you have a billion dollars to pay me, I will happily eat a plate of dog poo in exchange for that billion dollars. I will not sell my children, my spouse, or my body for a billion dollars. With this in mind, DAL pays a lot of freaking money to its pilots to fly airplanes, and so I happily wear the stupid double-breasted jacket and similarly stupid hat because it is folded into the contractual relationship with my company, and it doesn’t violate my principles. It’s a small price to pay in return for a TON of money doing something that while sometimes annoying, isn’t all that hard. I had CJOs at other majors as well, and each, like Delta, has their warts, and for my situation, I made the decision to go to Delta.

Your mileage may vary, but as someone with friends and mostly fond memories of 9E, I think your harping about not liking the 9E-Delta relationship is pretty whiny and lame. You said you won’t attempt a retry with DAL, and whatever your reasons, they are sufficient for you, and I have no reason to question them. Proposing your post-interview calculus and desires upon the rest of the pilot group as some sort of enlightened revelation is pretty silly. Best of luck with whatever you do. BTW, as of 2016 there were still as many 144 Avros still in service, perhaps you ought to pursue one of those companies and relive the benighted glory of your former years.

Mesabah

I believe it is actually the job of the union to assist you in finding employment with other ALPA carriers, especially during furlough.