Thread: 175's are done
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Old 02-24-2020, 06:44 AM
  #17  
DirkDiggler
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Union update for those potential new hires: 24 February 2020

Fellow Pilots,

We expect the news the company shared today came with a variety of questions and emotions. Just a month ago your MEC was prioritizing our efforts towards strategic planning and concluding Letter 2 negotiations. About a week later your MEC met with management and received the news that United planned to transfer 36 EMB145 aircraft to ExpressJet Airlines, positioning us to be the world's largest operator of the E145. Since receiving this information, your MEC has been diligently working to capitalize on this opportunity that identifies ExpressJet as the premier United Express carrier and establishes ExpressJet as a platform for consolidation within the UAX system.


The decision to remove the E175 aircraft from our fleet was made by United Airlines. Your MEC spent a great deal of time trying to determine how to keep the 175 at our airline, but the decision had already been made. While this is certainly disappointing to our airline and pilot group, we have decided to focus on the silver lining, which is this growth opportunity that will fill the void. Our ability to adapt to United's larger growth plan in this environment of consolidation is key to our resiliency and our ability to position ExpressJet pilots for long-term stability and growth.


In order to facilitate bringing 36 additional aircraft into our operation, the Association and management collaborated on a plan that carefully considered all of the moving parts and potential pitfalls. This included addressing pilot retention, positioning XJT to be an attractive airline for new hires, and resolving a number of issues that been lingering in Letter 2 negotiations. The collaborative approach also provided the Association an opportunity to be a part of the decision-making process in how our training center would be setup to handle the influx of training that will be integral to the success of this transition. It was also important for both the company and the Association to make XJT an attractive place to work for flight instructors in order to retain the great ones we have and attract more into the training department. While we welcome the growth to our fleet through these additional aircraft, we understand that aircraft without pilots would just be an exacerbation to our current staffing conundrum. For this reason, we also developed a plan to accommodate the pilots from the airline impacted by this announcement. We will announce that plan after we've had a chance to address the pilot leaders at that airline.


During the transition of pilots from L-ASA to L-XJT we faced many challenges and learned many lessons that come with the blending of operations and cultures. As we worked through this new transition, we were able to take these challenges into consideration with our plan. Your Training Department leadership has been working around the clock to make sure the transition of these new pilots is carried out as safely and as thoroughly as possible.


The announcement of these new aircraft and the new 10-year agreement with United Airlines has put both ExpressJet management and your MEC on a new trajectory. The former focus on obtaining gains through Letter 2 negotiations has been brought into this transition process. To better position the airline for a successful future, management is keenly aware that changes need to be made in order to attract —and also retain— as many pilots as possible. While the final details of these contractual gains are still being finalized, there has been significant progress on, not only topics that were originally proposed in Letter 2, but others as well. With management's cooperation, we look forward to concluding the Letter 2 campaign. We plan on addressing any unresolved issues, on both the Association and management's side, in Section 6 negotiations that start in October of this year.


Expect more communication as we continue to make progress on this transition in the coming weeks. We thank you for your patience over the past several weeks and we hope to have more very soon as we move forward with this new growth opportunity.
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