Remember the furlough mitigation LOA? That was a scope relief LOA disguised as furlough mitigation. It was a back-room deal done by the scheduling chair who wasn't even a member of the NC. Then, a motion to go into exeucutive session to consider. Our current contract was public knowledge, our scope language was public knowledge, and so was the company's intent to furlough 147 pilots.

Why the need to consider the joint venture (scope relief) LOA in executive session? why not give it to the reps to take home and read through, and why not show it to the entire pilot group out in the open?

It wasn't about saving money in contract '02. It was about saving face. Company held those pilots hostage not the union. The company then creatively devised a plan to release the hostages they took and asked the union to pull the trigger on it in secret (executive session). Let's see, we can pull the pin on the hand-grenade that destroys the profession for all, or we can pull the trigger on the gun that shoots 147 pilots in the head.

What a splendid furlough adventure and what glorious additional flying opportunities there were. Funny, those management pilots never worked so hard in their entire lives....