CONNECT THE DOTS…

IAM OPPOSES MERGER
JOB LOSS ON THE HORIZON


Somewhere along the way in all this ‘happy talk’ about merging with another airline, Delta and the other carriers forgot to ask any of us, besides the pilots, how we felt about the entire process. Things are moving way too fast and the tough questions that should have been discussed prior to the Pan-Am fiasco are not being carefully scrutinized during this process.

Who can forget the hemorrhaging of cash that took place during our bold but poorly thought out venture into Europe? The billions spent and squandered were the beginnings of Delta's financial unraveling during the early nineties and lead to the eventual dismantling of a once proud and profitable airline. Remember how great our benefits were and how much money we made back then? One bad move and it was over, we suffered a decade of demise and financial ruin. Poor decision making was followed by more poor leadership and bankruptcy was delivered to our doorstep.

All those people are gone; some stopped by the bank on their way out the door and deposited their guaranteed millions. Others just faded into oblivion only to have their names uttered with disdain and disgust. Doesn’t it feel like we are heading down that same path again? New leaders; same old rush to make their mark.

A year ago Delta didn’t have two pennies to rub together and now all of a sudden it has become a King Maker. The marvels of the bankruptcy laws have turned Delta into a power broker and it could set off a wave of consolidation that would most probably cause years of havoc within the entire industry. Mergers are messy, sloppy and generally expensive affairs that give the few short term gains and long lasting financial headaches for the rest.

The pilots have (if you believe the media reports) been offered billions of dollars of equity in the new merged company and guaranteed raises as much as 30% for some. This capital has to be generated from somewhere; it can’t be manufactured out of whole cloth. It has to be taken from somebody.

Could it be that the reason the Companies are not talking to the IAM and are not talking to us is that we are the ‘revenue stream’ that these monies will be flowing from? Why not? They have certainly done it in the past. During bankruptcy our pay was slashed and our benefits made to almost disappear. We have not recovered even a fraction of any of it...but now the company has billions to give to our Pilots.

The time has come to recognize our vulnerability to our Company’s rash decisions. We cannot survive another journey into the financial wilderness that this merger might deliver us without the protection of a legally binding contract. They covered their mistakes in the past by contracting out over 100 of our cities. We don’t have much more to give them and should not trust that this management team has any more quality answers than those teams of the past. Our memory is long and fooling us again should not be in the cards.

The IAM is opposing this merger because the Companies aren’t talking to anyone but the pilots; that fact alone should tell all of us what kind of future we will have without representation. Let’s act together and unionize or watch as we are individually ‘cut from the herd’ to help pay for the pilots new burgeoning portfolio. Union now!