Originally Posted by
Ben Salley
LAX:
That seems to be a common misconception on both sides. Next time you get a chance, ask an IAH 756 Pilot how great their flying has been since the UAL IAH base opened, or try to find a 767 trip in the bid packet. Ask any UAL/CAL pilot about the 6,000 hours/month we are deadheading right now; total flying runs about 220k/month, so we are deadheading almost 3% of total flying for lack of an isl. The pain is spread pretty evenly.
I'm looking forward to Aug/Sep as well.
-Ben
Agreed about Aug/Sept, but how is the pain being spread evenly when a LCAL pilot here has posted that he has moved up from 72 to 59% of the list in the last 3 years since the merger? I have moved down as a total percentage in the same time period.
Despite the exhibits, aircraft orders are VERY difficult to consider for the mergers carrier. The CAL management team that took over has kept overall capacity basically flat since the merger. I don't see any reason why that wouldn't have been the case in a stand alone CAL. On the flip side, Tilton was widely quoted as saying he was getting ready to order NB 737 replacement jets in 2009. On both sides, what WOULD have happened with capacity in a standalone operation is merely speculation. What HAS happened is that LCAL has grown and LUAL has shrunk over the past 3 years. And thank God we got a contract and the SLI is almost done or it would have gotten much, much worse