Originally Posted by
Iowa Farm Boy
Well since initially 50% of AA newhires could potentially be their Squadron Buds (Eagle's 824 are the other 50%), increasing to 65% "Friends and Family" (Eagle Pilots hired before 10/11 get the other 35%), it would seem that to eliminate the A Fund purely to hurt Eagle Pilots would be cutting off your nose to spite your face.
IF on the other hand it is being done to "pull up the ladder, I'm on board" and to heck with the industry and the profession, well, that's ok [/sarcasm].
APA will have to fight their own fights, but could SOMEONE please stop the race to the bottom? I hear DAL perhaps got the ship turning, maybe if we all work together we can actually turn it enough to catch a tailwind?
I’m not advocating any “B” scale here, just reposting what is being said on the APA website in reaction over the AE hiring preferences. APA’s official position is to negotiate a deal that has “equal value” to the current plan. Personally I think the “A” plan is over rated and is nothing but a gun to APA’s head if we were to enter BK. Replacing it with a similar DC plan makes it a little more bullet proof, the problem is figuring out, and then convincing the membership, that the new plan is equal in value to the old one. The fact that the whole Eagle nation is now coming to AA makes that job a little easier.
Secondly, the “A” plan typically only provides about 38 to 40 % of a pilot’s FAE, so replacing it with a 401k match or larger “B” fund contribution is to me a much better deal than having an “A” plan. The “B” plan is the engine that drives an AA pilot’s pension with an 11% company contribution, and no one is advocating that new hires not have that. In fact, incumbent pilots are saying if a new plan were offered to new hires, it should be offered to them as well with an option to opt out of the “A” plan.
In the end, there is no “B” scale for new hires, just a different pension plan, and frankly I think it’s a better plan. One could always argue that it’s a diminished benefit, and maybe so, but it’s a much more secure benefit.