Kev,
the "riding the coattails" argument is a nice soundbite for the labor movement but it is COMPLETELY unsupported by any sort of data.
If DL employees were riding the coattails of their union counterparts, DL employees would have to be/have been making LESS THAN their union counterparts. That has almost NEVER happened for any consistent period of time.
You can look at the data here but there is no basis for arguing that DL employees are riding the coattails of their union counterparts. If anything, DL employees are PULLING their network carrier peers' salaries UP and creating pressure on those other airline mgmt. teams to give their employees what DL employees have.
http://web.mit.edu/airlinedata/www/default.html
I'm glad that you are committed to your cause and I want you to keep believing in it, but I can't let you say publicly that DL employees are being PULLED UP by labor unions at other airlines when the evidence clearly supports the complete opposite.
As for the size of UA's operation, my primary intent is to know if their handling is for their entire operation or if it constitutes some small subset of the operation, as US does at CLT.
When you talk about union aided job security, explain for me how UA has managed to build a network in their home and the 2nd busiest airport in the world where mainline is less than 200 flights/day yet regional operations are over 2X as large. And even if the ramp and passenger service (you didn't mention that but I guess that is also UA employees), the crews are definitely not UA employees. How have the unions at the world's largest airline allowed their employer to outsource such a huge part of their flying in such a large market? And the reality of the size of UA's RJ operation at ORD is precisely the reason why they don't need their own employees in scores of small and medium sized cities around the country.
I'd be most happy if all of the people who touch DL customer's bags, handle their reservation, serve their Coke would all be DL employees but the simple reality is that DL's level of outsourcing is as good as if not better than at other carriers - and it is moving in the RIGHT direction for DL employees - completely different from what is happening at other airlines, including UA.
Talking about DGS and AirServ is great but you can't talk about them without talking about what is happening at other airlines... and esp. the fact that many foreign airlines don't have their own BW staff at most airports, if at all.
Talking about the competitive situation WRT labor is just as important as it is about route performance. It means nothing to say that airline X outsources Y amount at Z station while also failing to consider the "other side of the story" by other airlines.
BTW, and I do hope you don't take it the wrong way, I have THOROUGHLY enjoyed the spirited interaction we have had on this thread - along with 700 and Josh and robbed and others. It is indeed possible to have different opinions, acknowledge the contributions each other makes, and still respectfully stand up for one's own position.
and robbed, the pay and bennies for DL's contractors in the bag room are certainly better than the maintenance outsourcing that US uses in foreign countries - at a far higher rate than DL uses for maintenance.
let's have more of it, please.