For the record, I've been trying to avoid posting anything for the time being as the Union is working with the company on certain issues. But in light of eaglefly/thrustlever/grim reaper/dirk diggler being unable to get over himself, I'll clear up as much as I can.

There are two issues at play here. Issue one, which is the only REAL issue is semantics in regards to metering. The contract states the company can meter if flowing more than 30 will disrupt operations at Envoy. The company has decided to meter to 30 stating that operations will be disrupted at some point down the road. On the flip side of that, the argument-which I agree with for the record-is that the company can't claim a disruption in operations when we are currently over-staffed.

So the question then becomes: can the company meter or not meter? Either way, the minimum that will go is 30. That's worse case. And this is the only real issue at present.

Unfortunately this thing has taken a life of it's own online thanks to eagle lounge (as usual). People quickly began to extrapolate that 5 people were withheld this month will turn into 10 next month, 20 the month after that and so on. And that somehow all this will affect our upgrade and flow times.

Here's the truth...and I hope everyone pays attention: All of our upgrade and flow numbers are based on flowing the minimum per month. Which is 30/month for the 824 and 25/month for the Protected Pilot group and so on. That hasn't changed.

American could hire 200 pilots next month and meter down to 30...and the upgrade/flow numbers would still be unchanged...because the minimum flowed. The issue in that case would be the same we have now: Can the company meter? I'm part of the group that doesn't think the company can in an over-staffed situation.

But those are two separate issues. The only thing that could potentially throw our upgrade/flow numbers off is if the hiring numbers dried up. Even then it would take multiple months throughout the year of no hiring to have a tangible effect.

Finally, the two emails the Union sent out recently is the Union doing exactly what they should be doing: putting pressure on the company to explain why they metered from 35 to 30 for next month. They have tied in the flow to upgrade and hiring numbers because American is using flow as a recruiting tool. It's a classic turncoat tactic: Use the company's words against them. The Charlie Bucket email was another example of this. The Union used recruiting numbers from 2015 to extrapolate a negative picture...again, for the company's benefit. This was no accident. Up until September 2015 we were hiring very few pilots. Since then the numbers have been doing very well.

Those Union emails have a target audience and it isn't the pilots. It's the company. Everyone from Parker, Isom, Hashimoto, down to Winkley, Temples, and Pedro receive any and all Union communications on their desk daily. Think about that...the Union knows what they are doing. Let them do their job without losing your cool.

Don't make any of this more than what it is. As long as 30/month are flowing-which they are-the upgrade and flow estimates are unchanged. The one and only issue here is the original one: can the company meter down to 30 when we are over-staffed? I say NO, they can not. Lets focus on getting that resolved without setting fire to the entire house just because there is a draft in one of the windows.