Did we all forget about this memo?
October 10, 2007
Dear SkyWest Pilot,
Over the last couple of days I have been asked by some of you if I would provide some information relating to the tentative agreement (TA) at ASA.
Here is what I know about ASA’s TA: They did reach a tentative agreement, but they have not yet come up with a final wording and it will take some time for them to do that. The background on this agreement is that ASA has been in negotiations for five years, during which they have worked under the same work rules and benefits that were negotiated almost a decade ago. After five years of negotiations, ALPA has claimed the following as “victories.” If these are “victories,” then I think it is clear that SkyWest Airlines pilots have had the most wins for the past 10 years.
ALPA statement: Achieved raises for every ASA pilot
First, this isn’t completely true because first year ASA CRJ200 Captain pay remains at $54.73. Secondly, they are looking at raises for any of their pilots after five years of exhaustive negotiating. Our pilots received several increases during that period of time, including longevity, scale increases and the inclusion of Performance Rewards – which was an approximately 5% pay increase alone. SkyWest pilots did not have to pay union dues or assessment fees to get these increases. For the period of time that ALPA and ASA have been negotiating, their pilots have made much less than ours. In addition, during the past five years – and for many years before that – SkyWest pilots have enjoyed guarantees and duty rigs that ASA pilots have not. For example, our pilots have had 1 for 2 daily guarantee; 3.75 daily guarantee, 1 for 1 above 12 hours for years, and duty rigs that apply to continuous duty overnights. ASA’s pilots are only getting these now – finally catching up to us – if this agreement is ratified.
ALPA statement: ASA’s hourly rates exceed SkyWest rates in every seat configuration.
This statement is not completely factual either. It is true that if ratified, the scale would be slightly above SkyWest’s in some years of service if you ignore the fact that union dues must be deducted to get a fair comparison For example, the SkyWest Airlines rate for a first year captain in the CRJ200 is $56.59. The ASA rate for a first year captain in the tentative agreement is lower than SkyWest at $54.73. SkyWest’s year two is also higher. Taking into consideration union dues, SkyWest pilots are still paid a higher rate in the CR7 Captain scale in years 1 through 7, higher in the CR7 First Officer in years 4 through 6, as well as in the CR2 first officer in years 2, 4, 5 and 6. The main point here is that it has taken 5 years to possibly get even with SkyWest pilots in true hourly compensation, and even then only in some areas. It’s certainly not as the statement above leads you to believe.
SkyWest Airlines pilots also have advantages beyond wage rates, such as:
• Better work rules
• Higher match in 401(k)
• Advantage of stock purchase and stock options issued to pilots
• Growth and opportunity that has allowed SkyWest Airlines to hire for 1,500 new pilot positions in the last five years
• Upgrade of more than 700 Captains in the same time period
• Preferential Bidding
• Golden Days
If ASA pilots had been working at SkyWest Airlines with our pilot pay rates, work rules, incentive pay, stock options, in the 423 plan, etc. for this time period, they would have made significantly more than $13.5 million combined. With time value of money included, they could very well have given up another $6 to $8 million dollars in wages alone.
ALPA statement: Virtually every area the former ASA contract was below industry standard, including profit sharing and duty rigs, now meets or exceeds SkyWest pilots’ policy manual.
The fact is that the ASA TA does not “meet or exceed” the SkyWest Airlines pilot policy manual in the following areas:
1. ASA pilots have lower 401(k) match
Improvement to their 401(k) is still lower than SkyWest Airlines:
Year 1 20% match up to 6% of income
Year 2 30% match up to 6% of income
Year 3 40% match up to 6% of income
Year 4, 5 & 6 50% match up to 6% of income
Year 7 75% match up to 6% of income
10 or more Years 75% match up to 8% of income
(SkyWest Airlines is 100% match at 2, 4 & 6 %)
2. Lower payout on profit sharing
3. 3.0 hours pay for vacation days
ALPA statement on scope protection: The tentative agreement secures enhanced job protection that includes no-furlough and fragmentation provisions as well as a formula for integration in case of a merger with a non-ALPA airline.
SkyWest, Inc. can transfer up to 15 CR7’s & 40 CR2’s to other SkyWest, Inc. entities. (ALPA claims ASA now has job protection; however, SkyWest pilots have superior job protection because they are part of a growing and thriving airline that continues to add aircraft, hire pilots and move pilots into higher paying jobs through upgrade, rather than having to fight to limit how many aircraft we are going to lose to other entities over the next 3 to 5 years.)
As stated above, SkyWest, Inc. can transfer up to 55 aircraft out of the ASA fleet. This can be done at a rate of 4 aircraft in a 12-month period without any penalties or other provisions kicking in.
ALPA statement: This tentative agreement shows just what can be achieved for a pilot group with the tools ALPA provides. We congratulate the ASA pilots and extend our thanks for their hard work in helping our profession!
ALPA itself has stated that “since Negotiations began on September 25, 2002 progress has been excruciatingly slow:”
• Number of total sessions: 292
• Number of IBB sessions: 144
• Number of NMB sessions: 148
Once all the facts are presented, I can only come to one conclusion: after five years of paying dues & assessment fees and negotiating, ALPA-represented ASA has begun to approach what SkyWest Airlines pilots have had for years. I wouldn’t doubt that when their contract expires, they’ll be trying to catch up with us once again. I know there is a significant amount of pressure on everyone from ALPA and its supporters, but you don’t have to be pushed around or intimidated by them. We have a good thing here at SkyWest, and if history is any indication, we
will receive continued opportunity and improvements – without outside representation. Let’s not mess it up; think about the facts before picking up the phone.
Sincerely,
Klen P. Brooks