Originally Posted by
Rock
Good grief...I have never not acknowledged the endless lists of complaints about the TA. I just don't believe that those complaints outweigh what I believe are the merits of the TA.
95% of what is posted in this forum is complaints about the TA. But as anyone who has ever led anything knows, the easiest thing in the world is to find faults in someone else's work. The REAL challenge is coming up with a solution for those faults. That is what I have been asking for time and time again. Know why I keep asking? Because for the most part, nobody has offered any viable answers. AS is a classic example of that. Her answer is...just vote no. Voting no is NOT a solution. It is a decision. But it's a decision that requires a follow-on solution. This is probably the first time in my flying career I've been associated with a bunch of guys who seem to have forgotten that the ride isn't over until you are in the chocks with the engines shut down.
I respect your Yes vote (I assume it's yes?). You have thought about it a lot and that's all I can ask. But, I also think that you place too much emphasis on we must have a path forward. If there was a clear path, there would be no need for the NMB, or any angst.
Since there isn't a clear path forward, if this were all economic, I would tend to agree with you. But, there is so much more than some $$ in my pocket that makes me vote No. My path forward is that while I don't know if my economic position will improve by voting NO, I don't dislike the current CBA nearly as much as the TA. I don't think I am losing opportunity cost so much as I'm gaining relief from QOL and work rule changes that I think can be fixed somewhat in a new TA. I think this mainly because the polling will show clearly to the new NC where our pilot lines in the sand are and what's truly important to us.
For many of us, fixing some of these nagging issues is very important. I get to see TNT deal close, I get to see a new President and if the Cadillac tax is repealed or modified, perhaps I get to see other airlines vote for a TA, I get to be polled and provide input moving forward.
The path forward is a series of steps. CD and the MEC have a plan and a path forward--the system will work. It may be creaky, but it will work.
While we are doing that, I believe we will proceed with the SLRWG as it's in all our interests to do that. Then when we vote again, we don't have a black box. We get to see health care costs again and vote on real numbers and not unconstrained 18% of unknown costs. Now that we have had an enormous discussion among the pilots as to what we like and don't like, and what's important to us, I believe we can provide some really, really good direction in our polling where before it was much more abstract. And, most importantly, we now know that we must find a solution to retirement--is it our line in the sand (I think the company CAN afford A plan increases), or must we find a different path forward? Kicking the can down the road doesn't do us any good at all. We need to fix this now.
The path forward will find its own way dynamically. If we were to try to pin it down, we would do a disservice to ourselves by trying to set a static set of conditions.