WORDS FROM THE TARMAC:

MERGER DETAILS TRICKLING OUT
EARLY-OUT PROGRAMS LOSING LUSTER


Why is it that when new programs are initiated and announced the details seem never to be clear or concise in the initial stages? The more we hear about the early-out programs, the more disappointment people are experiencing. As they say; the devil is always in the details!

Did everyone notice that the industry standard pay that Delta has been promising for quite some time is still just a skip and a hop away down that yellow brick road? Commitments and promises are the easiest capital to produce because they are commodities that expend no resources; only hot, empty air.

On the other hand Delta is reporting that “Northwest’s contract frontline employees will continue to receive pay increases in accordance with their existing collective bargaining agreements.”

Commitments versus contracts; one produces empty, unfulfilled promises, the other tangible assets that you can deposit in the bank!

My wise old friends who have worked at other companies and have taken early-out offers tell me that this is the most pathetic package ever assembled that they have seen. Most of us wouldn’t really be able to tell given the complicated double-speak language utilized by the compilers of the package. Yes, you need a lawyer to unravel the details.

The newly combined company will have, initially 75,000 employees. 63,000 of which will be non-pilot employees. We get to divide up 4% equity on a graduated basis depending on what we make a year. The 12,000 pilots get to divide up 3.5% of the equity all by themselves. Hardly seems fair does it? Power to the powerful.

My question is? What equity? (stock) Have you seen the value of our stock lately? 4% of a worthless stock hardly seems like a deal worth discussing and sharing with family and friends. It would be much better to have a pay ‘reimbursement’ that is constant and forever than a one time stock allocation.

Speaking of hard times, while our newly named Management team decides how much more ‘performance awards’ they will be doling out to each other in the coming months, word has it that a significant number of our ramp employees have had to resort to selling their plasma at the plasma banks just to pay for increased food prices; a rather embarrassing scenario for hard working men and women trying to tread water in these difficult times.

Mr. Anderson; American and United are currently paying industry standard pay to their employees. Perhaps you could hire some of their front-line corporate officers and ask them how they manage to accomplish something that we can only aspire to sometime next decade.

Speaking of front-line execs, has anyone wondered why these corporate types seem to be paid as much money to leave a company as they are rewarded to come onboard? I guess once they have been handed the 'golden key' to the executive washroom, the key fits all executive 'facilities'.

We are all just hoping that our new management team and board of directors is as good at running an airline as they seem to be at acquiring one.

We’ve used this adage before but it bears repeating; you don’t always get what you deserve in life but you always receive what you’re willing to bargain for. Let’s allow IAM to do the collective bargaining for us. Sign those A-cards today!

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