Delta Pilots

I don't consider a 33% pay cut (51% all told if the company gets its way this time around) and next to no pension left 'very little'.  I wonder how many people who have worked for a company for the better part of their lives would be happy with an arrangement like that?

Piloting commercial jets is an exhausting job with enormous responsibility for the life and safety of every person on board, and the flight attendants are essential to that process as well.  Personally, I want *all* of the people who are flying & managing any airline flight I'm on (all staff on board) to be well paid and to feel good about their jobs.  However, I imagine that Delta would be quite happy to pay all its staff minimum wage (and no benefits) if it could get away with it -- 'erm, thanks but no thanks, I think I'll find another carrier...  Even better, we all need to stop flying so much and polluting the atmosphere with CO2, but I digress.   For anyone who doesn't believe pilots deserve to be paid well, this is an illuminating article:

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635198635,00.html

One thing that certainly worked in the pilots' favor over some of the other employees is that the pilots didn't give up their union.  It has certainly protected them from the company raiding their income more (i.e., doing whatever the heck it wants to do without any misgivings).  The pilots don't all live lavish lifestyles, though there are those who do -- it's undeniable that the ones who spend their income as fast as they make it will struggle with harder times ahead.  But if the company could have found qualified people willing to fly commercial jets for peanuts, it would already be so.

The company has a history in recent years of significantly less than impressive management and the pilots have already agreed to give up more -- but of course, it's not enough.  I take the view (and it's the same for any struggling corporation) that when the top brass are willing to whittle their salaries and benefits down to a minimal spread between the highest paid execs and the lowest paid staff -- then that's alright, hefty pay and benefit cuts all 'round!  Maybe the CEOs should start flying all the planes -- takes care of the pilot problem and I rather imagine the salaries of those flying would no longer be an issue.  Heck -- they could multi-task by not only flying the planes but also performing flight attendant duties simultaneously. 

"...and yet it was management that rewarded itself with $42 million in bonuses and pension trust payments in 2002 after a year of huge losses and cuts. When is the last time a CEO negotiated wind shear?"

Nonetheless, history tells us that it will probably all get sorted in the eleventh hour -- both sides are playing their poker face right now to see who's going to cave first.  But if the company is allowed to void their contracts -- I do believe that what goes around, comes around.

Another piece in today's Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/10/AR2006041001661.html

They've reached a tentative agreement!

http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/delta/stories/0414deltapilots.html

Even though it's just tentative, it's sounding like all the analysts who said they doubted a strike would happen were correct.

from our internal website:


"The new tentative agreement reached between the company and ALPA is the subject of Jerry Grinstein's latest update, recorded today. In the update he said "This is very important and significant step, one that I believe is in the best interest of our people, our passengers, and the communities around the world who depend on us, and it is a step towards our goal of becoming a sustainable company." He thanked both negotiating teams and the people who support them behind the scenes for their long hours and hard work to craft an agreement that is good for Delta and all of its constituents. He also talked about permanent, structural changes Delta is making to cut corporate overhead costs by an additional $200 million annually. He asked that all employees continue to focus on the customer. "Emotions are running high. Our customers have expressed concern. Now more than ever we need to support and respect one another; now more than ever we need to win over every customer and keep their loyalty, and now more than ever, we need to focus on our future and all the opportunity it holds."

Looks like I still have a job

Looks like I still have a job

 

Yay atlcollie!

Looks like all the people who booked with Delta don't need to panic, either.