Flight Plan
1. The Delta Pilots should NOT be the only Pilots in the industry having their pay cut to ONE THIRD of their current pay. These Pilots are expected to take this massive pay cut- YET the Delta CEO’s are paying themselves 10’s of millions of dollars per year, and have BANKRUPTCY PROOF PENSIONS.
2. Jet fuel prices have gone SKY HIGH, putting airlines in greater financial difficulties. The airlines can’t raise their prices to cover that fuel increase because there is so much competition within the airline industry. The best thing that could happen to the US airline industry is to have 2 or 3 carriers go completely bust- thus allowing the industry, to then raise prices to cover fuel increases.
4. If Delta goes down the tubes- it is NOT the Pilots fault- it is a combination of too many carriers in the U.S. market, poor management, and a fuel climate that does not allow the airlines to make any money.
5. The problem will NOT be fixed until airlines are willing to jump prices to cover fuel costs,and CUT THE FAT AT THE TOP with GREEDY UPPER MANAGEMENT.
6. Keep in mind- Pilots are willing to take cuts- substantial cuts, equal to what other airline Pilots have taken within the industry, yet Delta wants to DOUBLE the normal cut, while UPPER MANAGEMENT retains the right to keep their pay as it is and has the mentality that if Delta loses MILLIONS of dollars this year- they deserve big bucks in compensation because they are GODS and have kept the company from losing millions. If the Airline is losing money, and the UPPER MANAGEMENT does not prevent it - and this prevention should include PAYCUTS FOR THEMSELVES, then they certainly have not done their jobs- hence do NOT deserve such FAT COMPENSATION.
7. The former CEO of Delta was CORRUPT. HE paid himself 75 MILLION when he left. THERE IS NO PERSON ON EARTH WORTH 75 MILLION DOLLARS, especially when the airline LOST money his entire tenure as CEO.
8. Food for thought:
a Greyhound busdriver makes about 45- 50 thousand a year...and the bus he drives costs about 180,000. An Airliner costs about 30 million- both of the Pilots together make about 300,000 total- the Captain makes more, the First Officer makes less- but that IS the current average. Why do Americans think they should be able to fly on an airliner from Atlanta to Miami for 89 bucks, and the same route on a Greyhound costs 75 bucks. I have NEVER felt I had the right to travel anywhere in the US cheaply by airplane- especially when it can cost 75 bucks right now to fill up a gas tank on an automobile-and I certainly don’t expect an airline to have the same price or be cheaper for the trip currently, versus 2 years ago when fuel prices were half of the cost now. Do I want the Captain flying my flight to make the same amount as someone who manages a McDonald’s?? NO.good morning everyone !
Posted by SouthernDoll
04/08/2006 at 10:14 AM
Seems as though doll takes cartoons pretty damn serious.
ha! actually...Aviation is one of my passions
I LOVE ANYTHING AVIATION
Posted by SouthernDoll
04/08/2006 at 10:44 AM
You have another Socialist to join you OCM.
It could never be the UNIONS could it SouthernDoll??
GM, France and Albany
What the declines of all three have in common.
Saturday, April 8, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDTAt first glance, they seem to have little in common. But the riots in France over labor reform, the slow-motion suicide of General Motors, and the continuing decline of the New York economy all share one defining trait: entrenched and unchangeable union power.
These columns have always favored the right to collectively bargain, and any private company that allows a union to organize its workers deserves what it gets. But that doesn’t mean we should fail to appreciate the consequences when unions become entrenched inside any organization. On the evidence throughout business and politics today, unions do not provide individual job or income security. On the contrary, they undermine security by contributing to broader business and economic decline.
The current French protests are in response to a modest change that would allow employers to fire people under age 26 more easily. So entrenched has the politics of union entitlement become in France that even at the onset of their careers these young protesters are demanding security over opportunity. In the global economy, this means they will end up with less of both.
France remains a wealthy country, and its economic decline can be masked for a time as it lives off accumulated capital. But already the promises that its unions have extracted from the government seem unlikely to be kept. A growth rate of between 1% and 2% a year won’t be enough to finance the pensions and health care of an aging nation. And facing up to those facts will require an increasingly painful political reckoning.
Here in the U.S., the same burden is slowly crippling New York, once a bulwark of American industry. Power in the state capital of Albany is shared by Republicans and Democrats. But both parties bow before the public-sector unions, especially the teachers, and the health-care workers led by perhaps the most powerful man in the state, Dennis Rivera.
Thanks to his political clout, New York’s Medicaid costs are higher than those of Texas and Florida combined; a health-care insurance premium for a young family of four is roughly six times what it is across the border in Connecticut; and high-deductible health-savings accounts that can help the self-employed afford insurance can’t even be offered in the state.
For the rest http://www.opinionjournal.com/weekend/hottopic/?id=110008207
Posted by Z Woof
04/08/2006 at 10:53 AM
Woof Darling. you can HUFF and you can PUFF , but you will not blow my house down. When you become capable of conversing WITHOUT making a PERSONAL ATTACK, I shall give you the time of day.
Carry On.
Posted by SouthernDoll
04/08/2006 at 10:58 AM
I love your
Girls do that a lot here.
Let those union pilots strike, who cares, fly TED.
Buy a Honda.
Posted by Z Woof
04/08/2006 at 11:04 AM
TED is the *lowcost* version of United.They hired Pilots,Flight Attendants,Mechanics,etc who were not United (union) to fly for less money.They basically started a *sister* airline that paid their Pilots and other employees less.
Delta,who claims they have all these current financial issues due to the UNION, couldn’t run their UNION FREE SONG Airlines either.Delta had the same concept in *SONG* airlines-it went bust because they couldn’t make any money with it either. TED is still in business and fine if you want to go to a major city-try getting a ticket to Billings or Little Rock-won’t happen. As Americans-we need MAJOR airlines that are willing to fly to cities other than just the major cities in America-unfortunately,due to the so called *low cost* airline influx into the US market- the major airlines are facing stiff competition.These *lowcost* airlines don’t have the routes-and pay their Pilots about 40 thousand to start-if the majors are put out of business-you had better become accustomed to just a few major routes.re:UNIONS:There are good and bad things in all aspects of UNIONS.Unions came about because employees needed protection from sweat shop labor practices. IMHO people as a whole would prefer NOT to belong to a union. Unions are HASSLES.Look at HONDA in Marysville Ohio, they have NO UNION.They make almost exactly what GM workers make( factor in the Union fees)about 4 dollars less an hour-YET THEY NEVER VOTED IN A UNION because they felt respected,are treated well,have good benefits,and good pay. GM on the other hand-has a history-like most all UNIONIZED businesses,of sweat shop practices prior to being unionized.So,yes,I will debate hotly the fact that UPPER MANAGEMENT plays a huge role in the fact that companies Unionize or not. And PUH LEEZE. DO not give that old argument that can’t hold water that if you don’t want a *peon* job making low wages,then better educate yourself and become one of the bosses-it is plain and simple-someone has to do the various jobs in this job market from the ground up-not everyone can be a boss,and NO American worker can support themselves on minimum wage only. Well,they CAN actually,in poverty-but the American concept has been *we won’t do the crappy jobs*- blame government all you want for illegal immigration-it is EVERYONES fault-we all must harbor some blame and work TOGETHER to find a solution.
Re:Car-One of my cars IS a HONDA.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
Costco is making money hand over fist-they pay their employees over 16.00 per hour to START, AND decent benefits. I will bet my LIFE that you will NEVER, EVER see Costco employees vote in a union. No need to with their currrent business pratice- however- if ever they were bought out, etc-and the powers that be cut pay and cut benefits to fatten the coffers for the select few-a union might be thought of.
Posted by SouthernDoll
04/08/2006 at 12:27 PM
OCM...no worries
Posted by SouthernDoll
04/08/2006 at 12:29 PM
I been auctioneering—as a customer.
Let Labor/Management duke it out on their own. If the government would stay out of the fight, market forces would determine prices and salaries. (No firearms needed—the beauty of capitalism) Airline pilots aren’t exactly the same as poor uneducated W. Virginia coal miners.
Posted by Oink
04/08/2006 at 01:29 PM
OCM: I believe we give some things part of our souls. Just like old songs take us back to certain times and places. Familiar odors are especially apt to bring back old feelings—the olfactory part of the brain supposedly is close to the part controlling emotions.
Posted by Oink
04/08/2006 at 02:05 PM
I wish I had a Muslim topic to post this under… BUT HOW’S THIS FOR CHUTZPAH?
JERUSALEM, April 8 — The Palestinian prime minister, Ismail Haniya, called a cutoff in foreign aid “blackmail” on Saturday and said that his government would not bow to international pressure and recognize Israel.
The balls of this guy!
Posted by Oink
04/08/2006 at 02:27 PM
Can we nuke them now?
U2warrioro5: NO. Let’s wait till they say sorry to get the money back.
Then Nuke’em. Start with those new Bunker Nukes. They’re civilian friendly.
Trust me. We have Bunker Nukes in inventory. Future money comes from TaxPayers.
I’m fiscally conservative.
Posted by Z Woof
04/09/2006 at 11:24 AM
