This is the funniest **** I've read all year.
Originally Posted by
Dacuj
Yes, closing LGA and MIA may have been premature. However, the company was planning for RAH to fill the gap in MIA as they needed the 175's for those lucrative routes. As we know, staffing became an issue for RAH and that continued our flying down there.
No, it wasn't premature. First, it was punishment for defying management. Then, it was necessary because their threats had caused so many pilots to leave that their attrition forecasts led them to believe we wouldn't be able to staff it. We were replaced by anyone that had excess capacity...Compass in LAX, Republic in ORD, I believe several carriers in NYC. Now, we're being replaced in ORD by Skywest, and the scuttlebutt is that our flying in MIA will also finally be shut down with Republic completing the transfer of the 175's there that were previously in ORD. Even with 70 OCE's flowing in the next few months, there was a decided lack of vacancies for that status. Hell, we're probably only getting NYC back because we're being forced out of ORD.
Let me say this about the current Envoy. We have evolved from the mostly sole feeder to AA to competing with other regionals for flying. Since this transition over the past 4 years, comparing Envoy to all the regionals flying for AA, Envoy is hands down the best. We provide the best product, ontime flights, professional staff in comparison to the other companies.
Our performance numbers were so good when Doug Parker took over, he threatened to turn us into the next Comair! We had excellent performance on just about every metric when the hostile takeover occurred, and DP demonstrated that meant absolutely nothing to him compared to cheapness. Our costs were within a few dollars a block hour to everyone else, and most of that was related to the lost decade and the average pay level of our captains. And now you want us to believe that the cabal suddenly CARES about our product? That's laughable.
In a lot of ways we have maintained this special relationship with AAG as we have progressed into the era of competing regionals at American. How, you ask?
Bwhahaha...."but wait, there's more!"
We have the best flow in the industry. No other regional comes close.
...as a result of multiple grievances over Letter 3 and ten years of arbitration trying to get the company to comply with L3.
...as a result of a grievance settlement involving the company moving our aircraft off of our operating certificate in violation of our CBA.
...after which we have virtually the same flow as PSA and PDT.
We are transitioning gradually to an all E175 fleet. This is the top of the line "regional" jet. Everyone knows though that this isn't a real regional jet. The other two WO's fly the regional jets. We fly routes that AA does. In a way, you could see we are a hybrid mainline American. Before you start saying how stupid this is, read the next point.
This, this is very stupid.
Because somehow, flying DFW-ORD is waaaay more sexy than flying DFW-SAV, or DFW-GRR, and makes you more qualified to be a mainline pilot.
Which brings me to, we have one interview. It's an AA interview. You interview, hire into Envoy and less than 6 years later you are at American. You don't have to do another interview or a medical. You simply transfer over as you would if you had bid the E175 coming from the E145.
Except you lose all seniority, vacation, have to go through a totally different indoc, AND you're on probation again. Yep, totally just like a vacancy bid!
Not a single other "regional" carrier in the U.S. has this.
Except for PSA and PDT.
AAG wants it this way. They want a cradle to grave employment opportunity. That way, Envoy gets the best and the brightest out there.
No, they want the cheapest labor possible for their regional feed, pure and simple. If it was as you say, American Airlines would have stopped ALL street hiring, and would be hiring all their squadron buddies and shuttle pilots at ENY, PSA, and PDT. But that's not happening, is it?
But when our fuel bill is a great deal more than Mesa, management throws a fit...until they realize the reason is because we aren't tankering gas from cheaper stations like Mesa...and it's management's own fault, not the pilots.
So, tell me again why you can't be positive about Envoy?
Because they would rather hire CLR stooges to be salesmen than fix real problems for one.