Originally Posted by
Denny Crane
No it doesn't but it does ensure that DCI is essentially capped in the amount of block hours it can fly and it will shrink to keep the 1-1.56 ratio. Currently, couldn't the company take us to a ratio of 1 dci hour to .90 mainline hour if they wanted too?
Denny
They could, but they would have to get additional small (read: inefficient) aircraft to do it. There is no economic incentive for additional outsourcing. The opposite is true: there is economic incentive to *decrease* outsourcing right now because the 50s are such a drag. This is evidenced by the extraordinary lengths the company has been willing to go to in order to get out of them (killing Comair, Mesa lawsuit). Lesson learned: the company responds
strongly to economic incentives.
With the TA, you decrease the number of airframes at DCI, somewhat decrease the ASMs at DCI, decrease number of pilots working at DCI, and shift the balance of flying significantly towards mainline. These are all good things! None of us are arguing against them. The problem is by shifting DCI's fleet to one that is economical, capable, and popular with passengers, you are once again creating economic
incentive to outsource. Yes, there are block hour ratios to protect you from the company responding to that incentive. The real money question is: will the company respect the contract? Will ALPA enforce the ratios if tested? Will the language hold up in court? Will the ratios survive the next contract?
These are the real questions because by the end of this contract, if ratified, DCI will be far more attractive than it is now, the company will once again consider them a viable alternative to mainline, there will be 230 76 seaters permanently ensconded at DCI, and a portion of the 102 70 seaters will be getting old. The pressure to allow more outsourcing will be huge, and the precedent will have been set.
Put another way, if there were some way to
guarantee that the "hard caps" and ratios remained in place for the next 15 years, they would be a good deal and worth allowing the extra jumbo RJs. With this T/A though, it's only guaranteed for the next three years (if the company respects the contract) and it ensures there will be pressure for additional outsourcing at some point. You're trading decent protections for the next three years for a precarious situation in the years after that.