TURBULENCE IN THE SKY…

…BUT PILOTS FIND SMOOTH AIR WITH...
GUARANTEED HEFTY RAISES THROUGH NEW AGREEMENT


The news around the airline world couldn’t be worse. We have been hit with the worst kind of bad news that has had a profoundly devastating effect on all airlines and nearly every airline employee. The combination of a slowing economy and the steep rise in fuel prices has brought the airline industry to its collective knees.

Each day brings more news and one gets the feeling that this could be the most profound and challenging event that this industry has ever faced. Virtually every carrier has announced plans to lay off workers; American is letting 6,800 go, Comair is cutting 8% of its workforce, Northwest is setting aside 2,500 employees — the list goes on and on.

Delta, as we know, has lured over 4,000 employees to participate in early-out programs and the sensible betting is that there will be more forced lay-offs in the very near future. Cities are just now being told of their fall schedules and the news is grim at best.

Our pilots, however, seem to be fairing a tad bit better than the rest of us. In late June the two pilot groups of Delta and Northwest reached a tentative agreement on a joint contract guaranteeing them pay raises that will reach as high as 18% over a 4 year period. Both pilot groups have agreed to submit to binding arbitration to ensure that this agreement becomes finalized. Apparently it pays to have a contract and a powerful union standing in your corner!

Then there is us.

"At Will" Employment as Defined by Delta Air Lines Management

"Just as all personnel may resign their employment with Delta at any time and for any reason they choose, Delta may terminate the employment relationship at any time if Delta concludes that such termination is appropriate."

(From the June 12, 2008 Delta Human Resources Administrative Action Guidelines)

Yes, we are at-will employees. We can choose to terminate our relationship with Delta at any time but more importantly, Delta can terminate their relationship with each of us without our input or permission; for any reason, including a bad economy or lack of continued interest in having us around.

Unfortunately, many of us are going to experience the at-will clause sometime early this fall.

With the increased costs of paying our pilots along with the steep rise in the price of fuel, money will have to be extracted from somewhere; layoffs are a foregone conclusion and only the depth of the cuts are the unknown commodity.

Farming out cities will probably once again become a possibility and this time ticket and gate agents will begin to feel the pressure. They have been largely left unscathed in Delta’s past cuts, but look for that to change given the tight economy and our desperate situation.

Our counter-parts at Northwest are experiencing lay-offs but they know the process and have rights guaranteed to them through their contract; slip leave rights and call back rights as well as bumping opportunities should they have to leave the city they are living in. We, however, only have a vague idea of what might happen and no guarantees that should we be laid off, we can ever come back.

Let’s keep signing those union cards and get real representation like our pilots have. Wouldn’t that be nice!

Note: Please check out a new blog; www. res2res.blogspot.com. This site is for reservation agents from both Delta and Northwest who want to communicate with each other during this merger process.