Steve,
Don't worry man. My issues are not with Pinnacle. My issue is with using data that ranks us against ALL companies instead of ranking us against our fellow DCI carriers when discussing the issues of which of us are worse performing within the Delta system.
Here's what I think. They should look at what performance each of us negotiated and agreed to in the individual carriage contracts.....and nothing else. It's fine to use the performance numbers when the contract is up to re-negotiate or decide if it should be renewed then. But I can't sign a deal with a lawn care company, see the guy across the street is getting better service and terminate the deal based on that. I'd be slapped with breach of contract and lose in roughly 1.8 seconds. Part of the problem we have here is everything is so cloak and dagger. We don't know what our performance goals are, so we as employees (and stakeholders in the company) don't know where we stand. Is the on-time arrival goal 67% for the month or 70%? Should I actually TRY to get there on time by burning extra gas or try to save money by flying the profile? If the company was more forthcoming on issues like this, we'd be better informed as employees and know what we need to do to keep our jobs and positions. Unfortunately, upper management deems this "need to know" info, the people that DO know about it have signed a confidentiality agreement and we get vague things like "We hit our target number for the month." The sad thing is I don't know if we have a leg to stand on. I can find out what our on-time performance was for each individual month (along with if the delays were air carrier induced, ATC or weather), but I have no idea what the goals were in the contract. If I trusted management a bit more, I might not care as much. Our management, however, likes to keep us in the dark or spread misinformation, which, of course, breeds mistrust. My livelihood is in the hands of a group of people I don't trust, and that scares me.
You mention your management's decision to accept the ASA. Well, word on the other side of the street is that the decision to accept it was a flawed one to begin with. Doesn't make things any better, and certainly the employees should not be placed on the block or blamed for the issues of not meeting the performance criteria that was unattainable in the first place.
Luckily, the employees aren't getting the blame for this one.....yet. With our performance numbers over the past year (and the stellar ones we're putting up now) along with our cost structure, it shouldn't be a problem for our management to find homes for those 16 jets. The albatross for the company is the lack of a pilot contract. With a 99% strike vote, any carrier that we bid on an RFP for is gonna have that in the back of their minds. With oil where it is now, no one can really afford a 1 day strike, much less a week or two.
Personally, I think ASA between major airlines and their regional partners should be public knowledge. I don't see how they aren't with publicly traded companies like Pinnacle. How do we know our management didn't sign a crappy deal? I'd like to know how effective my management team is at negotiating contracts that benefit BOTH sides rather than just signing any deal that comes along. I'm sure the shareholders (especially since our stock is hovering near a 52 week low and fallen $15 a share in a year) would like to know that as well.
I also understand that ASA's contract with D is different and a bit harder to pull than other DCI carriers. Still, without knowing the details, this seems like a shady move by Delta.
