I'll agree that M. M. was out of line, but I will say this: At least the pilots, almost every one of them that stood up, grilled Kirby on the pace of negotiations, and made their voices heard, pilot, after pilot, after pilot. They did it sternly, yet respectfully. Bravo!
Did you watch the corresponding FA Crew News session? I remind you that many RSV FA's are sleeping in the employee parking lot, in the crew room, barely scraping by. These are stories we hear every day! What were their concerns voiced to Ms Shamblin and Mr Kirby by the FA's?
-the wine selection in Envoy
-Powdered creamers (I am not kidding...)
-too much ice catered (who cares!?)
-Inflight entertainment....
Where is the outrage? Why are we worried about the current wine selection and not worried about the fact that US is not willing to pay its employees a liveable wage? While I realize the crew news sessions are not the place for negotiation, making your voice heard and sharing your individual story with Upper management is imperative. I say kudos to the pilots. Management is not concerned with our contracts folks, they are not concerned with you being on Reserve after 17 years, and they are certainly not concerned with the fact that they are running an airline where similar employee groups (Pilots, FA's) are doing the same work with different benefits and compensation. Somethin' ain't right.....
I am all for having a strong airline that is a force to be reckoned with (be it DL or no DL; mgmt makes the big bucks, let them hash that out...). I firmly believe we will have that, with or without the merger, and the damage that mgmt is doing (in the form of "dragging their feet") is going to hurt us in the end.
Helllo!??!?!?