Engage: The Podcast for Delta Pilots

Latest Episodes:

E82: Trip Coverage Shenanigans: The ARCOS Blame Game Oct 05, 2026

Show notes

Trip coverage shenanigans continue. Pilots are hearing the finger-pointing from management over trip coverage, ARCOS, auto-accept, and operational reliability, and many are asking a pretty simple question: How is this our problem?

Engage host First Officer Ryan Argenta sits down with Delta MEC Executive Administrator Captain Rich Wheeler, Scheduling Committee Chairman Captain Ian Turner, and Vice Chairman Captain Josh Cantrell to take that question head-on. They trace how years of staffing decisions, fragile rotations, exploding open time, unrestricted ARCOS batch calls, and growing reliance on PWA Section 23 M. 7 brought trip coverage to where it is today.

The group goes back to the beginning: how trips were covered before ARCOS, why nuisance calls became a problem, how pilots adapted using contractual tools like auto-accept and auto-acknowledge, and how M7 evolved from a rarely used emergency provision into what the committee describes as a routine scheduling tool. They also dig into the latest ARCOS developments, ongoing technology and implementation problems, and what pilots should and shouldn’t change about how they use the ARCOS system. There are two sides to every story. This episode gives pilots the history, context, and facts behind the trip coverage debate and asks who really owns the problem.

Engage Weekly - News You Need to Know - October 2, 2026 Oct 02, 2026

Show notes

The weekend is taxiing into view ✈️, and this latest edition of Engage Weekly has plenty on the frequency.

Get caught up on the latest news and events from the Delta MEC.

News rundown below 👇

• Negotiating Committee Update

• ARCOS+ Mobile App Update

• Welcome New Hires — September 22 Class

• Mental Health in Aviation Act Clears Senate; Support Requested for the Cabin Air Safety Act

• ALPA Election Season

• ALPA Board of Directors Charity Auction

• Contract 2026 Swag

• Aviation Security: CMAP Access Issues | What Pilots Should Do

• Hotel: Reminders, Recent Hotel Changes, and Upcoming Relocations

• CASC: Delta ALPA Attends NATCA Communicating for Safety Conference

• DPAC: The 2,000-Pound Telephone

• Plus, important pilot information and LEC updates are available in this week’s newsletter!

Have a good weekend!

Engage Weekly - News You Need to Know - September 25, 2026 Sep 25, 2026

Show notes

The weekend is cleared for push ✈️, and this latest edition of Engage Weekly is loaded with updates from across the Delta MEC.

Get caught up on the latest news and events from the Delta MEC.

News rundown below 👇

• Negotiating Committee Update

• ALPA Election Season

• Delta MEC Communications Team Attends ALPA’s Communications Summit

• ALPA’s 70th Air Safety Forum: Moving Forward Together

• ALPA Board of Directors Charity Auction

• Contract 2026 Swag

• Council 44 Rep Displays Unity with Controllers at ATL Tower

• Committee Spotlight: Contract Administration

• CA: Grievance Tracker Update

• Scheduling: Scheduling Reference Handbook Update

• Training: QCQ Run Times

• Aviation Security: CMAP Launches in ATL

• CASC: September 2026 TTK — Parallel Runway Incursions

• DPAC: Just One More

• Plus, important pilot information and LEC updates are available in this week’s newsletter!

Have a good weekend!

Engage Weekly - News You Need to Know - September 18, 2026 Sep 18, 2026

Show notes

The weekend is lining up on final ✈️, and this latest edition of Engage Weekly is ready for arrival.

Get caught up on the latest news and events from the Delta MEC.

News rundown below 👇

• Welcome New Hires — September 8 Class

• UNH Polling: September 14–23

• Committee Spotlight: Scheduling

• Contract 2026 Swag Store

• Membership: September Retirements

• Aviation Security: Air Safety Forum

• CASC: Dangerous Goods Committee Update

• DPAC: Calling DPAC

• Plus, important pilot information and LEC updates are available in this week’s newsletter!

Have a good weekend!

Engage Weekly - News You Need to Know - September 11, 2026 Sep 11, 2026

Show notes

The weekend is coming into view ✈️, and this latest edition of Engage Weekly carries an important message of remembrance, unity, and staying engaged.

Get caught up on the latest news and events from the Delta MEC.

News rundown below 👇

• 25th Anniversary of 9/11

• Section 6 Negotiations Resume with Updated Opener

• Engage Podcast: Hold the Line | Unity Is Our Leverage

• UNH Polling Begins on September 14

• CASC: The Power of ASAP

• CASC: MYNN/NAS Runway Construction

• Plus, important pilot information and LEC updates are available in this week’s newsletter!

Have a good weekend, and never forget.

Hold the Line: Unity Is Our Leverage Sep 07, 2026

Show notes

This Labor Day, Engage brings together union leadership for a wide-ranging conversation about where Delta pilots have been, where Section 6 negotiations are headed, and why the hard-fought protections in our PWA are not bargaining chips for management’s operational challenges. MEC Chairman Captain Eric Criswell and Negotiating Committee Chairman Captain Bill Finley discuss the return to a traditional Section 6 timeline, an expanded negotiating opener, management’s attempts to tie operational reliability to pilot contractual protections, and a simple message to management from the pilot group: concessions are not an option.

Then, Strategic Planning Committee Chairman Evan Baach and Strike Preparedness Committee Chairman Eric Cowen take us behind the scenes of the union’s long-term strategy - from pilot unity and building leverage to the history of organized labor, the Pullman Strike, the Railway Labor Act and the generations of workers and pilots whose sacrifices built the profession we have today. The lesson of that history is as relevant now as ever: what we inherit, we have a responsibility to protect - and what Delta pilots negotiate today reaches far beyond Delta.

Raise the bar. Hold the line. Stay engaged.

Engage Weekly - News You Need to Know - September 4, 2026 Sep 04, 2026

Show notes

The Labor Day weekend is taxiing into position 🇺🇸, and this latest edition of Engage Weekly has plenty on the frequency.

Get caught up on the latest news and events from the Delta MEC.

News rundown below 👇

• BOS MEC Meeting Summary

• Happy Labor Day | Delta MEC Office Hours

• BOS Council 9 Elections and Next Steps

• Welcome New Hires — August 25 Class

• Transcript: Engage Podcast | Pivot to Traditional Section 6 Negotiations

• Delta MEC Uniform Advisor Update

• Aviation Security: CMAP Issues

• Hotel: Changes and Relocations

• Training: Voluntary Withdrawal from Training and 737 MAX Module

• Contract Administration: MEC Grievance Tracker

• Jumpseat: Frontier Jumpseat Update

• PAN: What Is Talk Therapy?

• Training PUB Event — Wednesday, September 9

• Plus, important pilot information and LEC updates are available in this week’s newsletter!

Have a safe Labor Day weekend!

Engage Weekly - News You Need to Know - August 28, 2026 Aug 28, 2026

Show notes

The weekend is taxiing into position ✈️, and this latest edition of Engage Weekly has the BOS update on frequency.

Get caught up on the latest news and events from the Delta MEC.

News rundown below 👇

• BOS MEC Meeting Update

• Welcome New Hires — August 18 Class

• BOS Council 09 Interim Elections

• Contract Administration: Grievance Tracker and AE Training Bypass Issue Sheet

• Contract Administration: Pilot Volunteers Needed

• CASC: Boston Runway Construction

• CASC: Radiation Exposure

• IT: @Rest Wi-Fi App to Be Retired from EFBs

• Plus, important pilot information and LEC updates are available in this week’s newsletter!

Have a good weekend!

Engage Weekly - News You Need to Know - August 21, 2026 Aug 21, 2026

Show notes

The weekend is coming into range ✈️, and this latest edition of Engage Weekly has an important update on the frequency.

Get caught up on the latest news and events from the Delta MEC.

News rundown below 👇

• Update on Negotiations: Chairman’s Letter and Engage Podcast

• Welcome New Hires — August 11 Class

• BOS Regular MEC Meeting — Week of August 24

• CASC: Threat Tool Kit | MEL Operations

• Professional Standards: Command vs. Control

• Communications: Swag Store - https://dal.alpa.org/Swag-Store

• Plus, the BOS PUB / Family Awareness Event, important pilot information, and LEC updates are available in this week’s newsletter!

Have a good weekend!

Engage Weekly - News You Need to Know - August 7, 2026 Aug 15, 2026

Show notes

The weekend is approaching the runway ✈️, and this latest edition of Engage Weekly is cleared for the NEWS1 arrival.

Get caught up on the latest news and events from the Delta MEC.

News rundown below 👇

• Delta MEC Special Meeting — August 11–12

• Welcome New Hires — July 28 Class

• BOS Regular MEC Meeting — Week of August 24

• BOS PUB and Family Awareness Event

• University of New Hampshire Polling: August 3–12

• CASC: ASAP Win — SLC Pavement Warping

• PBS: NAVBLUE Upgrade

• DPAC: Freedom!

• PAN: As a Pilot, Can I Participate in Talk Therapy?

• Plus, important pilot information and LEC updates are available in this week’s newsletter!

Have a good weekend!

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