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Letter effort by Capt Rodammer.
From: LLRodammer@aol.com
Date: 1/28/2017 2:03:04 PM
Subject: THE TRUMP LETTER
01-28-2017
Hi Mark:
I sent
President Trump this letter yesterday to see
if he would speak with Mr. Anderson and Mr. Bastien
regarding the absence of our "unqualified retirement checks" the past
11 years.
As my letter points out, we have
tried all of the normal channels and this is the only hope we have
left. I hope you welcome this request.
Best,
Larry
01-27-2017
Dear President Trump:
How great that sounds! You were
my choice from the minute you announced your candidacy. I was blown away by the
fact that you wanted to help our country and be a hero of the middle
class. Your "can do" patriotic attitude is infectious and has spread
worldwide. Great!
I flew for Delta Airlines for 33
years after flying for the U.S. Navy for five years. I retired on the
B-757/767. Of the many different types of aircraft that I flew, the B-757 was
my favorite.
I am writing to
you concerning an incredible betrayal that was achieved by Delta
Airlines in regard to their Retired Pilots. Back in 2005, Delta went
into bankruptcy about September 15th. Two days later they announced that the
Retired Delta Pilots would no longer be getting a retirement check. Wow! This was
a total surprise; but we thought it would only be temporary.
Many of the Retired Delta Pilots
were getting 2 checks from 2 separate retirement accounts at Delta; the
"qualified" account and the "unqualified" account.
In my case, after awhile the
small check of about $2,000 per month began being paid to me again, but
the big check of about $7,000 per month has never been paid to me
since September 1, 2005.
It's going on 12 years now and
the Retired Delta Pilots are out of money. At the time of bankruptcy I was
turning 63. Even though I flew to the very last day before turning 60, I had to
retire by federal law. After I turned 65, the law was changed and you could fly
to 65.
As soon as Delta told us they
were no longer going to pay us our retirement, I looked for work. Nobody wanted
a 63 year old ex-pilot who did nothing but fly airplanes his whole life. The
3,000 plus other Retired Delta Pilots, almost all, had the same experience. No
jobs for old guys.
Delta loved hiring ex-military
pilots because of the package they brought. They were all college or academy
graduates, military trained, line officers, and they had excellent flying
experience. In my class of 60 pilots in February 1970, there was one civilian
pilot and 59 former military pilots.
Throughout our many years at
Delta, the pilots were asked to take pay cuts by management several times and
management promised they would make it up in the next contract. Management
always gave us an adequate raise to more than make up for the pay
cuts. In the early 1980's the pilots and other employees even bought Delta a
B-767 because they were in bad financial shape at the time. We all chipped in.
President Trump, we have
been waiting for Delta to make this right. Personally, Delta has failed to pay
me more than one million dollars that I had been promised by contract for over
35 years. This was pay that I worked for and Delta promised to pay me every
month until I died.
The formula (60% of final average
earnings) was the same one used for everyone that worked at Delta prior to
bankruptcy. The Delta Pilots were given an option to take
about "half" of their retirement in a lump sum the day they
retired. The other "half" would be paid monthly until the pilot died.
Delta issued "New Delta
Stock" to me and the other Retired Delta Pilots about the time that they
were emerging from bankruptcy. We thought this stock was something we could
sell to keep us afloat until Delta was back on their feet; then, as they always
did in the past, they would again "make things right" and continue
paying us our monthly retirement. This turned out not to be the case.
Thousands of Retired Delta
Pilots wrote Delta's CEO's and the Board of Directors telling them that it's
time to pay the Retired Delta Pilots their retirement checks again. We were
told there would be no more checks for the Retired Delta Pilots; even though
all the other Delta Employees, including management, former Northwest Pilots,
and everybody else that was due a retirement check was being paid every month.
A group of Retired Delta Pilots
tried very hard to bring this nasty deed by Delta to light. There was no law
firm that would touch it. The Atlanta Newspapers wouldn't write about it. The
U.S. Senators from Georgia did not want to hear about it. Delta successfully
got away with sweeping this huge injustice under the rug. Nobody
cared about the pilots who went to fight our country's wars and then were
mortally wounded by the company they dedicated their lives to. Too old to work,
their final years are horrible. Broken Promises and an
incredible betrayal! Wow!
In 2015 Delta had a profit of
about $20 billion. $2 billion could have easily paid back the retirement money
the pilots were promised. About $100 million annually would pay the Retired Delta
Pilots their promised retirement. The $100 million would decrease as pilots
die.
These are Military Pilots from
WWII, Korea, Vietnam, The Middle East and wherever their service was required.
There was no recovery from this injustice by Delta Airlines. A huge
"Hidden" betrayal by a company whom they trusted and worked several
decades for. Shameful!
President Trump, believe me, most
of these U.S. Military Veterans are hurting badly today. Delta did them
wrong and they need to be called to task on this.
With all due respect sir, the
Retired Delta Pilots are begging you to gather these CEO's into the Oval
Office and convince them that they need to treat these veterans with respect
and pay them the retirement they are owed. The CEO's are Richard Anderson and
Edward Bastien. They would not talk to us, but I think they would talk to you.
Thank you for your attention. I
appreciate your help. As I said earlier, I've been with you since day one and I
really admire your outstanding leadership in "Making America Great
Again!"
Thank you!
Larry Rodammer
Lt. U.S. Navy
Captain Delta Airlines
Larry Rodammer
370 S.E. 13 Ave.
Pompano Beach, Fl 33060
954-817-4343
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