Personal: March 2008 Archives

these are the lilies I ordered from FTD.com and sent to wife at her office yesterday...

because it would work well for me personally. Delta is where I'm "Platinum Medallion" in terms of FF status, and Northwest is part of SkyTeam, the airline alliance to which Delta belongs, so I've flown NWA to get to Singapore and Japan. Still, I understand why the pilots are at odds:

Merger talks between Delta and Northwest — the nation's third and fifth largest airlines — could be over. Executives at the two airlines had hoped that their pilots would agree on labor issues before proceeding with a deal. But Delta's pilots just told their bosses that they reached an impasse with Northwest pilots over the critical issue of seniority.

The days when an USAF pilot or USN/USMC aviator could do their 6-8 years in the service and get a good job with a major airline are long gone. New pilots have to start out with regional carriers that pay less than $20K/year, then hope they move up through the ranks to get to the big leagues. The guys in The Show have seniority with their respective carrier. If you mix the workforces, clearly 50% of those folks get bumped down. Even though the merger would have made the largest airline in the world, there's no way they would grow their way out of the seniority problem. I don't know what can be done to convince them all it's a good idea, which is a shame. With NWA's Asian routes and DL's domestic flights, as well as the fact that NWA is affiliated with KLM (great for getting to Amsterdam), I'd be in really good shape.