Originally Posted by
Packrat
I think your argument is more with AAY than with the people contracted to fly your jets to OKC. Why aren't AAY pilots tasked with ferrying Company aircraft? Seems like you've set your own precedent by not insisting Company pilots perform maintenance ferry flights.
Until and unless you're actually on strike, there's no question about the morality of doing this flying. Put up a picket line and I'd agree with you. By extension, are AAY pilots doing something immoral performing daily line flying while mediation/negotiations are going on?
You can't have it both ways, Wurmy.
The argument is with AAY, but the guys moving AAY planes are providing AAY's management with the guns to keep fighting.
The insistence was there, that's part of what the negotiators are working on. It kind of makes it hard to negotiate something when a handful of contract pilots slink in and offer to do it for less than the standard rate. The Company pilots did ferry all maintenance and test flights until the negotiations got to the point where it was obvious it was going to mediation and then strike, and they started contracting it out. Now it is not even being offered to the AAY pilots. AAY Pilots are severely understaffed also. Management had been advised for the last year to hire for attrition and 117, but they haven't until lately. AAY pilots paid for this by not being allowed to take PTO, receiving horrible schedules and TDY assignments. It did however give some control to the pilots to dictate additional pay for pop up assignments, open time and junior assignments. Then the contract pilots offered to fly time that has traditionally been open time and it undercut the argument of the AAy pilots, AFTER they had already paid the negative price for the lack of hiring. The AAY pilots paid for it, and the contract pilots swooped in and took the flying as their spoils. While still understaffed they level out the schedules and remove days off, but then still put flying out there for contract pilots so there is not much open time. Does that illustrate how they are using all of you contract pilots as a whipsaw against other pilots?
AAY pilots doing their own flying and other pilots subcontracting it have nothing in common. I don't even see where you are going with that by comparing one to the other.
I know you have justified it and that's your deal. I know I couldn't morally move another pilot group's planes around in a situation like what is occurring right now at AAY. I'm trying to imagine running over to Alaska while they were negotiating their first contract, and helping to take the teeth out of what tools the pilots' actually had. Nope, couldn't do it.
I also heard that some JetBlue pilots were moving an AAY Bus around on the sly, and they pushed back onto an active taxiway without clearance. WHOOPS! Now their CP and the FAA are investigating. I'm not sure I would want these kinds of pilots moving my planes around, just saying.