Originally Posted by Albief15

I am just pointing out that for all the gloom and doom and angst about the contract, there ARE some wins in here for SOME of our pilots. Considering the fact EVERY trip in Asia starts with a DH, and the rather uncomfortable coach seating on some international carriers, the business class for 2.5 hours or more was a win for some of the pilot group.
So...if I let you down, sorry. Just because someone posts on APC that "this contract had nothing but givebacks..." does not make it the truth. There are some benefits for some of the pilot group.

As far as "loss or respect", give me a ******** break. I am about 1% of APC that is actually known, and I have never hid my identity. Maybe you are a senior ANC captain, or a new hire who my company helped get hired. As it is...you could also be a 12 year old in his PJs in the basement, and I certainly don't give a rat's ass who you are. I don't have any idea. If you want to email me in VIPS I'm not hard to find if you want to let me know what I disappointment I turned out to be.

Nobody gave two ****s about me and the FO crowd when the retirement age spiked up. Some of the folks who post here regularly supported the original FDA LOA, which had zero education allowance, a $2300 housing subsidy, and the ability to send pilots non-voluntarily abroad for 90 straight days. This contract had substantial improvements for the FDA crowd. The moving bank has tremendous value for all commuters. The OP *****ed about riding coach one way to Anchorage, about 5 hours. Two months ago my trip would have had 2 4 + hour rides in coach, and again....we DH on EVERY trip in the FDA. For 120+ pilots, not just me, the improvements here were real and tangible. I've seen pictures of PR, recently retired "full sized" former F-15 driver and 777 captain, jammed in coach on an intra-Asia flight. 777 guys and MD11 guys also benefit from the new DH parameters. The empathy I had for the OP was real, because dammit that is what commuting was like here EVERY trip until the new TA.

You may never know how how much you could or could not have gotten on this last TA. What I will tell you is I never saw the company EVER come back and sweeten the deal when the 777 override died on the vine. They never came back after the postal bid LOA didn't go their way. Perhaps they would have crawled on their knees back to us this round. Considering the fact I have pilots who have left Delta, American, and Southwest in the last 6 months to come here, I am not sure the FDAs would have gone unfilled, nor the schedules been cancelled. Look around the AOC. Do you think those Atlas pilots "assisting" our efforts and other pilots would have turned around and gone home if we hadn't reached a TA? Do you think they would have flown another 10, 20, or 30% more even if it was above the scope limit per our contract and subject to scope penalty payments? Maybe we could have ruined peak. Maybe we could have just enjoyed our time off and racked up some scope penalty money while the operation continued to function, albeit at a less efficient rate. I was not scared to strike. I was scared that we would never, never, never be released and spend 2-3 years in negotiations purgatory that would offer very little extra monetary benefit.

Contracts, business, and negotiations are full of trade offs. This TA had a bunch of things that benefited many pilots. It also failed to reach some goals. I didn't go out and campaign for this TA...I wrote one letter based on my experience watching the negotiations from the perspective of someone who had been involved in the past. I shared my opinion at the HKG road show. That's it. I didn't write letters, campaign, or make phone calls. I voted, and respected my colleagues to do the same. I was ready to move forward regardless of whether or not it passed. My caution--and only concern--was that turning it down with the expectation of getting more later was not going to provide a fast resolution. I was also concerned it might not provide a solution that was considerably more lucrative. I may have been wrong. 57% were similarly pragmatic. I don't think that makes them selfish, but rather just guys and gals who had to choose between two less than perfect options.

I wasn't trying to screw anyone. I was trying to keep guys from getting screwed with false expectations. And while the OP in this thread complains about a 1-off bad deal, that would be "standard ops" for everyone operating internationally on flights less than 5 hours until we got the new deal.