Which one of you guys... (DL/F8 6227)

[surreal1221]

No kidding? ASA is about to be tossed to the streets too. The big D is not happy with their -700 pilots, and once they all stop crying ASA is out for good.

Where's my laugh box?

Oh yeah, a grumpy F8 pilot crushed it.

 

[SpiraMirabilis]

Delta isn't happy with anyone, and won't be forever.

 

[BobDDuck]

Exactly the reason that if it says "Delta" on the side, it should be flown by real Delta pilots, regardless of size. No offense to anyone, but the only way to to truly control the quality of service is to have direct control over the employees,

So why did they just caved on the 76 seat overage? No offense taken. Trust me. The vast majority of regional guys (the RJDC loonies exluded) would love to see you guys get your house in order and start recapturing some of YOUR flying.

 

[JEP]

The guys upfront don't get paid enough to care what the cabin looks like or your desire for an explanation on the delay.

May be true, but they sure should care.

 

[SteveC]

It's all cool. Nice job security for the bizav side.

:bandit:

 

[Cptnchia]

Exactly the reason that if it says "Delta" on the side, it should be flown by real Delta pilots, regardless of size. No offense to anyone, but the only way to to truly control the quality of service is to have direct control over the employees,

So why did they just caved on the 76 seat overage? No offense taken. Trust me. The vast majority of regional guys (the RJDC loonies exluded) would love to see you guys get your house in order and start recapturing some of YOUR flying.

Because unfortunately, I'm not the MEC Chair!

On a serious level, the reason they gave them an allowance on those airframes is that with the deliveries coming, the company would have been in compliance. More importantly though, the company agreed to DALPAs interpretation of airframe numbers, so they can't argue about what is a spare or not in the future.

The issue isn't how many RJs they are allowed or not. We never should have allowed even one way back in the day. The guys who voted on that are for the most part retired, and have left this mess in our lap to clean up. It will take a lot of political willpower and unity of the pilot groups to correct this error. The problem is that we, (pilot in general,) are our own worst enemy, and will screw ourselves worse than management ever can.

 

[BobDDuck]

Because unfortunately, I'm not the MEC Chair!

Fair enough :buck:

 

[amorris311]

cptnchia you are my new hero!

 

[Polar742]

Because unfortunately, I'm not the MEC Chair!

On a serious level, the reason they gave them an allowance on those airframes is that with the deliveries coming, the company would have been in compliance. More importantly though, the company agreed to DALPAs interpretation of airframe numbers, so they can't argue about what is a spare or not in the future.

The issue isn't how many commuter feeders, props or jets they are allowed or not. We never should have allowed even one way back in the day. The guys who voted on that are for the most part retired, and have left this mess in our lap to clean up. It will take a lot of political willpower and unity of the pilot groups to correct this error. The problem is that we, (pilot in general,) are our own worst enemy, and will screw ourselves worse than management ever can.

Mo betta.

Yeah, I agree with all of the above. The biggest issue I had, from my almost-career at RAH was generated from the mainline pilots (mostly from USAir guys) who'd say yeah, we'll tack you on our seniority list, and get you at the bottom of our payscale to make it right.

One hand, of course I'd want to be hired onto a 1900 and retire off a widebody making fat cheddar.

On the other, I was in the top 4% of seniority (or so), making better money than the mainline FOs that would always breach the topic, mainly so they could get a left seat.

Back at the regionals, you make so little for so long, when you're past the hand-to-mouth lifestyle, you sure as hell don't want to go back to it if you can avoid it.

 

[kellwolf]

It is not the passengers fault that JO treats the Mesa pilots like his concubine. Passengers do not set your pay rates, establish your work rules or screw with your schedule and most importantly it wasn't the passengers that made the decision to work there. Passengers don't even know they are flying Mesa until they show up - they wanted to fly Delta.

I agree with all but the pay rate. In a roundabout, convoluted way, they do via ticket prices. Higher ticket prices mean more revenue, which means potentially more money for labor. It's hard to get a pay raise when no one wants to pay more than $59 each way. It's even hard when said person then complains about the level of service they receive. I don't go to McDonald's, order a quarter pounder with cheese combo and expect some version of angus beef with bleu cheese on a toasted bun with hand cut fries and a micro-brew beer. People have to adjust their expectations. What people pay for is to be taken from point A to point B safely and on-time. If THAT'S not being provided, then it's EVERYONE'S job to practice service recovery. It's not only gate agent or the FA....it's EVERYONE. I see too many people that take the "let the gate agent handle it, it's what they get paid for" mentality. Well, guess what? The gate agent makes probably $8/hr tops to start. By ignoring the passengers and keeping them in the dark, you're making their job harder.

If there's a delay, I try to let the passengers know. We were holding short of the runway forever in AUS yesterday after two MX delays, but I couldn't do a PA since we were next in line. I felt terrible b/c I had to listen to ATC in case they cleared us onto the runway. So, I made up for it in the air by explaining to the people in the back why we weren't moving prior to take off. We've got a lot of guys here that just shut the cockpit door and put up a wall. I can't do that. I like my job and would like to keep it. Even if they're only paying $59 each way, they're still paying, which enables me to keep flying and feeding my family. If they choose to go to another airline (or Delta decides to drop us b/c of customer complaint issues), my job now belongs to someone else.

 

[E_Dawg]

If DL (or anybody!) truly wants control over their product maybe they should think about selling their OWN product instead of outsourcing it to the lowest bidder. By that I mean mainline pilots and mainline airplanes (yes even if that means -GASP- flying an RJ at mainline)

Because a turd with a pretty paint job is still a turd.

Personally I think it's a joke that ANYBODY can get away with painting (mainline name) on somebody else's aircraft... and hoping the passengers don't realize the difference.

 

[ladder360]

I agree with all but the pay rate. In a roundabout, convoluted way, they do via ticket prices. Higher ticket prices mean more revenue, which means potentially more money for labor. It's hard to get a pay raise when no one wants to pay more than $59 each way. It's even hard when said person then complains about the level of service they receive. I don't go to McDonald's, order a quarter pounder with cheese combo and expect some version of angus beef with bleu cheese on a toasted bun with hand cut fries and a micro-brew beer. People have to adjust their expectations. What people pay for is to be taken from point A to point B safely and on-time. If THAT'S not being provided, then it's EVERYONE'S job to practice service recovery. It's not only gate agent or the FA....it's EVERYONE. I see too many people that take the "let the gate agent handle it, it's what they get paid for" mentality. Well, guess what? The gate agent makes probably $8/hr tops to start. By ignoring the passengers and keeping them in the dark, you're making their job harder.

If there's a delay, I try to let the passengers know. We were holding short of the runway forever in AUS yesterday after two MX delays, but I couldn't do a PA since we were next in line. I felt terrible b/c I had to listen to ATC in case they cleared us onto the runway. So, I made up for it in the air by explaining to the people in the back why we weren't moving prior to take off. We've got a lot of guys here that just shut the cockpit door and put up a wall. I can't do that. I like my job and would like to keep it. Even if they're only paying $59 each way, they're still paying, which enables me to keep flying and feeding my family. If they choose to go to another airline (or Delta decides to drop us b/c of customer complaint issues), my job now belongs to someone else.

That's an awesome outlook man! That kind of mentality can be contagious too. Keep it up!

 

[MikeD]

I agree with all but the pay rate. In a roundabout, convoluted way, they do via ticket prices. Higher ticket prices mean more revenue, which means potentially more money for labor. It's hard to get a pay raise when no one wants to pay more than $59 each way. It's even hard when said person then complains about the level of service they receive. I don't go to McDonald's, order a quarter pounder with cheese combo and expect some version of angus beef with bleu cheese on a toasted bun with hand cut fries and a micro-brew beer. People have to adjust their expectations. What people pay for is to be taken from point A to point B safely and on-time. If THAT'S not being provided, then it's EVERYONE'S job to practice service recovery. It's not only gate agent or the FA....it's EVERYONE. I see too many people that take the "let the gate agent handle it, it's what they get paid for" mentality. Well, guess what? The gate agent makes probably $8/hr tops to start. By ignoring the passengers and keeping them in the dark, you're making their job harder.

If there's a delay, I try to let the passengers know. We were holding short of the runway forever in AUS yesterday after two MX delays, but I couldn't do a PA since we were next in line. I felt terrible b/c I had to listen to ATC in case they cleared us onto the runway. So, I made up for it in the air by explaining to the people in the back why we weren't moving prior to take off. We've got a lot of guys here that just shut the cockpit door and put up a wall. I can't do that. I like my job and would like to keep it. Even if they're only paying $59 each way, they're still paying, which enables me to keep flying and feeding my family. If they choose to go to another airline (or Delta decides to drop us b/c of customer complaint issues), my job now belongs to someone else.

I would categorize your outlook here as a pretty simple one: You're a professional who takes pride in his work. Doesn't get any better than that.

 

[E_Dawg]

kelwolf I'll join in.... awesome post, agree 100%!

 

[SpiraMirabilis]

You couldn't ask your FO to make the announcement? At Mesa, generally speaking the FO makes all announcements during taxi and then the PM makes announcements in the air. The initial announcement (Welcome Aboard) is made by the captain, or the FO. But usually the captain. Really good captains will get out of their seat and make the welcome aboard announcement with the FA's PA while facing the passengers.

 

[SpiceWeasel]

I don't go to McDonald's, order a quarter pounder with cheese combo and expect some version of angus beef with bleu cheese on a toasted bun with hand cut fries and a micro-brew beer.

What??!?!? They don't have angus beef, bleu cheese, and microbrew beer? WTH man, all this time I thought McD's was créme-de-la-cream.

If there's a delay, I try to let the passengers know. We were holding short of the runway forever in AUS yesterday after two MX delays, but I couldn't do a PA since we were next in line. I felt terrible b/c I had to listen to ATC in case they cleared us onto the runway. So, I made up for it in the air by explaining to the people in the back why we weren't moving prior to take off.

ZED-fared home the other day from ZRH to ORD on SwissAir.... the CA of that flight made a PA, ON THE RWY in POS and HOLD, that said we were waiting for 5 minutes for crossing traffic on the runway in front of us. anic:

 

[BobDDuck]

If there's a delay, I try to let the passengers know. We were holding short of the runway forever in AUS yesterday after two MX delays, but I couldn't do a PA since we were next in line. I felt terrible b/c I had to listen to ATC in case they cleared us onto the runway.

That's what the FO is for. That or monitor COM1 while you are in PA.\

ZED-fared home the other day from ZRH to ORD on SwissAir.... the CA of that flight made a PA, ON THE RWY in POS and HOLD, that said we were waiting for 5 minutes for crossing traffic on the runway in front of us. anic:

Maybe I'm missing something, but with the brake set, KNOWING it's going to really be 5 minutes of sitting, I don't have a problem making the PA there.

 

[SpiceWeasel]

Maybe I'm missing something, but with the brake set, KNOWING it's going to really be 5 minutes of sitting, I don't have a problem making the PA there.

Sure - just never had that happen before.

 

[WacoFan]

I agree with all but the pay rate. In a roundabout, convoluted way, they do via ticket prices. Higher ticket prices mean more revenue, which means potentially more money for labor. It's hard to get a pay raise when no one wants to pay more than $59 each way. It's even hard when said person then complains about the level of service they receive. I don't go to McDonald's, order a quarter pounder with cheese combo and expect some version of angus beef with bleu cheese on a toasted bun with hand cut fries and a micro-brew beer. People have to adjust their expectations. What people pay for is to be taken from point A to point B safely and on-time. If THAT'S not being provided, then it's EVERYONE'S job to practice service recovery. It's not only gate agent or the FA....it's EVERYONE. I see too many people that take the "let the gate agent handle it, it's what they get paid for" mentality. Well, guess what? The gate agent makes probably $8/hr tops to start. By ignoring the passengers and keeping them in the dark, you're making their job harder.

If there's a delay, I try to let the passengers know. We were holding short of the runway forever in AUS yesterday after two MX delays, but I couldn't do a PA since we were next in line. I felt terrible b/c I had to listen to ATC in case they cleared us onto the runway. So, I made up for it in the air by explaining to the people in the back why we weren't moving prior to take off. We've got a lot of guys here that just shut the cockpit door and put up a wall. I can't do that. I like my job and would like to keep it. Even if they're only paying $59 each way, they're still paying, which enables me to keep flying and feeding my family. If they choose to go to another airline (or Delta decides to drop us b/c of customer complaint issues), my job now belongs to someone else.

Outstanding outlook.

 

[SpiceWeasel]

Outstanding outlook.

I know! I couldn't agree more. We need you over here Kell - we have the JH's that don't really give a crap about D0 or A14.... far too many. "It's not my job" mentality. Not good for a tenuous contract like our DCI one....