While I'm NOT so naive as to think Bedford & Heller weren't able to influence decisions made prior to the announcement, the utter lack of accountability MEH pilots and the keyboard commandos on APC has held on MEH management in this mess is befuddling to me.
So if you believe that Bedford was influencing things prior to the announcement shouldn't we find out when? It seems to be apparent that BB manipulated the system to his advantage knowing that it was cheaper to the company after any integration to have as few Midwest pilots active when the announcement was released. It also should be investigated to the involvement of the RAH EXCO.
I'm no lawyer but wouldn't BB manipulating AM be a federal offense? If not, isn't in the best interest of the profession to look into this so as to stop future manipulations to screw other pilot groups in the future?
No dog in this fight but I wonder how it would have shaken out if AirTran would have been successful in their merger attempt with Midwest...
Good luck to all the Midex pilots, classy group of folks.
Who care? It doesn't matter now. It couldn't have turned out any worse if that's what you're asking. What's worse than the entire airline getting furloughed?
So... Fight for PLAIN LANGUAGE NON LAWYER SPEAK scope before you get a letter like this:
There simply is no way to sugar coat this so here it is. Yesterday was a bad day for us. As you know, yesterday we had our grievance hearing on the scope arbitration. Even before the hearing began we were informed that all of our remaining aircraft would be returned and all our remaining pilots would be furloughed on November 3, 2009. While we all knew this was coming, it is obviously sooner than any of us were led to believe.
Unfortunately, that was not the worst of it. After both sides presented opening arguments in our grievance case, the arbitrator called the attorneys aside and spoke to them at length. Essentially he told us that, given the fact that Boeing was recalling the 717s because it had a buyer for those aircraft (a claim made by the company that we had no evidence to rebut), there was no way he could find that the company had an obligation to continue to pay pilots who, through no fault of the company, no longer had planes to fly. While we did discuss this at length, the reality was that we knew we did not have the evidence to prove the company voluntarily returned the 717s. We had the burden on this point and we simply did not have the evidence to prevail. Unfortunately, a ruling that the company could furlough pilots as the planes were returned could have an adverse impact our seniority arbitration case. We therefore stipulated to a more limited issue for the system board’s determination, that is, what the status was of the pilots who would be replaced through no fault of their own at the time the 717s were returned. The arbitrator made an arbitrator’s ruling that the pilots who were active at the time of Republic’s purchase would be considered as “active pilots in a non-pay or benefit” status upon the grounding of the 717s.
Quite honestly, we don’t know what the value of that ruling will be in the seniority arbitration case, only time will tell. We will continue our fight to get a fair and equitable seniority integration, but I would be lying to say that we are in a good place. I couldn’t even speculate on what the timeline for a seniority integration would be, let alone what the outcome of that process might look like. I can only commit to you that as long as we have a fight we can make, we will make it. I am sorry we were not able to achieve more. The work that the Merger and Grievance Committees have been putting in has been tremendous and I hope you will take the time to acknowledge their efforts.
This blows.
I remember a scene from one of the Smokey and the Bandit sequels. It had Big & Little Enos Burdette, a vintage bomber, pitchforks, and the "recycling" of some straw. TH really needs this same treatment.
Who care? It doesn't matter now. It couldn't have turned out any worse if that's what you're asking. What's worse than the entire airline getting furloughed?
I'll tell you: Being entirely replaced by cheap labor flying aircraft painted in Midwest livery pretending to be Midwest Airlines.
Everyone active when the purchase was finalized earlier this summer will be integrated. Its a giant turd sandwich and you guys get the first and biggest bite. In the end everyone at the new RAH will have to take a bite.
What about the group of seasoned pilots that was furloughed due to the outsourcing that took place last September?! What about those pilots?! This isn't just about a small group that was there at the actual time that the purchase was announced... this was in the making long before that!
Who care? It doesn't matter now. It couldn't have turned out any worse if that's what you're asking. What's worse than the entire airline getting furloughed?
I don't know what is going on at MidEx but in reply to your question a complete shutdown and lay offs is worse than a furlough.
At least when you are furloughed there is a chance of getting your job back.
Skyhigh
__________________
Work smart. Work to live. Don't live to work.
What about the group of seasoned pilots that was furloughed due to the outsourcing that took place last September?! What about those pilots?! This isn't just about a small group that was there at the actual time that the purchase was announced... this was in the making long before that!
That isn't as black and white. However I agree with you and hope that all your guys do get integrated and I feel that your "active" list should be the list on the day the first Midwest painted 170 showed up a year and some months ago. Remember that these are just my opinions and I have no say in the outcome of any of this, Im just a $37 CHQ FO.
Similar Threads
Linear Mode
