Originally Posted by
sailingfun
Well Carl here is section 1.E.3 you quote.
If the Company's ownership level (i.e., the percentage of ownership referred to in Section 23 1 B. 16. a.) in a foreign air carrier exceeds 25%, the Company flying block hours scheduled in any month between the United States and any country to or from which the foreign air carrier operates from or to the United States, will not be less than the Company flying block hours scheduled between the two countries in the same month of the twelve-month period prior to the month in which the Company's ownership level first exceeds 25%.
As you can see Carl we have a block hour floor and not a percentage of flying. That is a huge difference. The union has also put out several communications explaining this.
You're absolutely right sailingfun. My sincere apologies.
What really troubles me is that I discussed this at length with an MEC admin guy last month, and he was clear about the fact that we had a percentage of the block hours as a protection. When I looked it up afterwards, I read into the language something that wasn't there because of that conversation.
It could also be that he meant some other bit of language other than 1.E.3, but who knows. It just shows me how impossibly complex our Section 1 has become when our own admins don't understand it as well as they thought. At this level of complexity (and we're about to add to that complexity), this can only work to the benefit of management.
Regardless, I was wrong and again apologize. We don't have a block hour percentage protection, just a block hour protection. If they grow a JV partner, we have no right to share that growth. If they shrink a JV partner, we are protected from being forced to share that shrinkage. Unless there's another document somewhere that reverses the entire interpretation.
Carl