Healthwatch - Delta Pilots Authorize Strike

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"Dean S. Lautermilch" wrote in message
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I suspect most will view this as only a bargaining tactic, because Delta's
situation is precarious and they will simply strike themselves out of jobs
when Delta shuts down, which is exactly what will happen if they strike
(remember Eastern??)

Jeff Hacker wrote:
"Dean S. Lautermilch" wrote in message
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I suspect most will view this as only a bargaining tactic, because Delta's
situation is precarious and they will simply strike themselves out of jobs
when Delta shuts down, which is exactly what will happen if they strike
(remember Eastern??)

Pilots in general are starting to see some writing on the wall.
Basically
they've got two choices.

1) They can continue taking pay cut after pay cut until all the
airlines drive
down the wages to bus driver kinda levels on all the airlines.

2) They can make a couple of these airlines go under, and preserve
jobs
on the survivors, possibly allowing them to expand a bit and getting
jobs
over there.

For a long while they saw #1 as their best hope to maintain some
bargaining power. Lately they really wonder of #2 is any worse a
gamble than #1.

(Jeff*Hacker)
wrote:
I suspect most will view this as only a bargaining tactic, because
Delta's situation is precarious and they will simply strike themselves
out of jobs when Delta shuts down, which is exactly what will happen if
they strike. (remember Eastern??)
==========
It will take a beating on the areas economy AND to the airport.
Delta dominates the airport with over 90+% in arrivals and landings.
Liquidation= about 10% of the airport operating. We will find out what
might happen tuesday.
JDR

" wrote:
2) They can make a couple of these airlines go under, and preserve
jobs
on the survivors, possibly allowing them to expand a bit and getting
jobs
over there.

I don't think so. The pilots of Delta have a certain amount of
seniority. Should Delta go belly up, they may be able to find jobs
elsewhere, but they would start with seniority 0, and not have any
bargaining power with regards to wages.

All airlines have worked to drive dowen pilot salaries.

Remember that Delta is really owned by the creditors right now. They
pull the strings. The creditors tell Delta "we'll give you funds to
emerge from bankrupcy if you can squeeze $x from your pilots. So Delta
tells pilots they must make $x worth of concessions.

Pilots say no, threathen to liquidate the airline by striking. When that
threat become serious, airline goes back to creditors and asks "would
you accept if we only squeezed $y out of pilots and worked on squeezing
the difference out of some other employee group ?" Creditors don't want
to lose their investment into Delta, so they reluctantly agree. Pilots
then accept concession that are less drastic than Delta had originally
asked for, so they claim a win.

It is such an obvious ploy that even wall street casino analysts now
discount those strike threats as just normal operating practice without
much of a risk of a strike.

Tell you what...IF I was a pilot I would not want to take ANY more cuts
out of my pay. HELL they gave Delta enough already. TOOO much if you ask
me.
We will find out on or before tuesday, but tuesday is the deadline for
the judge to say.
JDR

Delta crisis et cetera

Yesterday or in the days befo The sagacious political columnist Bill
Shipp calls for Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue to intervene in the Delta
labor problem etal: Other than to beseech 'em that our State economy is
seemingly teetering-on-tottering (Kia factory expansion plans
reportedly now being delayed by a Korean political scandal-snafu), how
may the governor help, Bill?

Subsidize pilot wages?

Perhaps, perhaps.

Meanwhile, an observer contemplating an-upcoming Air Tran trip from
Savannah to Atlanta, which requires a two week pre-purchase to get the
approximate 50 percent discount, hereaby observes:

The airlines are ...uh...victims of their own success.

The busses & trains are sparse/obsolete/defunct: Buh-byah indeed.

Delta expanded like crazy (Northeast, Western, Pan Am, what else was
absorbed?), and where did it get the buyer (rhetorical question) ?
D-E-B-T Helle.

The Southwests, Air Trans, Jet Blues, and the others have notoriously
been eating Delta's lunch, forcing it into austerity and now into
bankruptcy.

The Delta pilots are telling their company they're not going to work
for less, and so it's another showdown for the public to witness via
the 6 o'clock news a la the pilots marching around H-J Airport
contemplating a ****eing-damned strike.

Well, me/we in the public by rationally buying the gimmicky/discount
tickets of the competitor are ...uh... telling Delta/Delta pilots it is
indeed about self-interestred personal economics.

Some of us are also now booking summer vacations. The fuel fares and
Cancun hurricane have lessened Mexico's attractiveness--raised the
usual el cheapo prices somewhat.

I have little idea what Delta and the pilots should now do, but I do
personally know that basic supply/demand motivates leisure & planned
travel.

Waittttt: here's an idea:

If the pilots co-operate & do not strike, then the Governor could
equitably commision 'em as:

Georgia Colonels.

Take that Colonel Sanders.










..

On Wed, 5 Apr 2006 22:30:55 -0400, (jimbo) wrote:

Tell you what...IF I was a pilot I would not want to take ANY more cuts
out of my pay. HELL they gave Delta enough already. TOOO much if you ask
me.
We will find out on or before tuesday, but tuesday is the deadline for
the judge to say.
JDR

And if Delta goes under, what will the pilots do? I doubt that they'll
make as much with AirTran or another low cost airline even considering
the cut.

(Brian) wrote:
And if Delta goes under, what will the pilots do? I doubt that they'll
make as much with AirTran or another low cost airline even considering
the cut.
=======
I do not know what they will do. Nobody knows. Not even the pilots.
This is my opinion---IF Delta does go under, they probably will seek
employment at another airline.
1) TRUE, they will lose seniority, but I can see them making more than
50% of their previous salary.

BYE DELTA!!!
Jim

Company & pilots are reportedly $140 Million apart, and thus a very
constructive innocuous suggestion/concept

According to J. Dickerson on THE DICK WMS SUNDAY MORNING GEORGIA
POLITICAL REPORT aka "georgia gang:"

Reportedly: the pilots have given up $160 million (wages & benefits),
and the company demands/needs/begs for $140 million more

Thus the Atlanta metro economy may go further to hades for pilots/Delta
not coming-up with $140 million, which is relatively chump change,
Governor Perdue & legislature.

How about selling "lottery-bonds" to raise some $140 million in
supplementary revenue?

Please see the "British Premium Bond" here on the internet for further
clues about the under-reported sleeper-gem that I've been touting &
pushing for at least 30 years, including running for the state
legislature thrice.

Hey, just because it hasn't been reported about in the dumbkoff media
don't mean it's a bad concept.

Win-win lottery-bonds have existed in forms in:

Denmark

Britain (for approx 50 years)

Cyprus

USSR

Red pre-capitalist China (I think it was the only legal way for the
proleteriat to gain on their savings)

i got an e-mail from Sweden, and the inquirer tells me they were
considering it there too, but no follow-up despite my request.

Just because the American media may be narrow-minded provincials should
not disqualify it for due public consideration.

If you have a club or organization and aren't too far from the Atlanta
area, then I'll give ya a speech & q & a about the concept.