Hey guys, I applaud the Omni guys getting a TA. Although, I'd like to give you some things to think about when deciding how to vote. Being at Ryan for 14 years now, I am extremely knowlegeable of your current CEO, as he used to be ours.

Under our previous contract, Jeff Crippen "promised" us we'd never get used to the full 8 days on/6 days off they needed in the contract, traveling outside our lines, they only wanted it for emergencies. It wasn't but a year or two, every line and every pilot was spending 10 days away and 4 days at home, counting our commute. Furthermore, he "promised" we'd always get hotels in base, but it wasn't in the contract. Again, a year or two later, they started trying to take away hotels in the Chicago base. When we threw a huge fit, they gave the rooms back, but negotiated with the hotel for a lower rate with no housekeeping, even no linens or toilet paper would be supplied. My point is, if it's not in the contract, you can not trust Crippen to stick to his word.

Please don't take this wrong, because I truly wish you guys the best, regardless if our companies compete in the non-sched world, the more each pilot group moves forward, the better off we'll all be in the end. Just take a look at our contract and see how it stacks up against your TA. Don't look at our profile page on APC, it's not very accurate, although I've tried to get it updated. From many of the things I've heard about your TA from friends, unless that info is wrong, I would have liked to see you guys surpass us since our current contract is 3 1/2 years old and due to be amended next spring. If you want some of the details I can give them to you to compare.

Like I said, we need to be notching each other up from contract to contract. I do realize this is your first contract though, our first was a real steaming pile, far worse than your TA.