Originally Posted by
Floridaflipper
Look at the WHOLE TA, not just the pay rates. We were able to get a whole lot of favorable rules in our contract that aren't necessarily reflected in the pay rates but will show up in the pay check.
When was your first TA negotiated? There is a lot more that comes into play than you think. The economy and the status of mainline you fly for at the time of negotiation are big players. Your first contract was negotiated before 9-11 and a lot of other things that changed the industry we have today. We at Colgan only got the contract we did because of Mesaba and like many people have said already, this is probably the contract we would have ended up with.
A lot of negotiating capital must be wasted on the basic protections in a first contract. The ALPA reps that negotiated this contract are pilots from the line and are fighting for their QOL as well as yours. They wouldn't have settled for this TA if they thought they could get more.
The Commutair pilot group is trying their best to better their working conditions and they are getting the best they can for now. I have no doubt that their next contract will be leaps and bounds better than this one. They won't have to waste so much of their bargaining power on basic protections and can focus on pay rates, deadhead pay, etc.
The people that spout the anti-ALPA sentiment aren't aware of what their pilots on their merger committee give up to try and make things better. I know at Colgan one of the merger guys had to put off his upgrade for quite a while and was pulled away from building time on the line which could affect when he gets to move on to a bigger and better company. He easily could have been in the last class at JetBlue had he not been on the committee but decided he would give his time to make this place better for him and his coworkers.
Remember when voting on your contract, that payrates are really not as big a factor in determining what your paycheck is, its the work rules that determine if and when you get paid. I was on reserve when we got our contract and I would have seen a miniscule pay raise due to the pay rates alone. But because of the work rules that we got, I saw my take home pay more than double.
Does the Commutair TA have any Junior Man protections (as in max for the year and month)? There is nothing better than telling scheduling "No". I have been over my max junior mans since May.