On their APC forum, the UA guys are pretty fired up about the move up of the reserve window from 1000 on the first day of reserve to an earlier time - 0600 (I think). The implication of this is that it makes reserve for commuters that much worse because it would make it impossible to commute in on the first day. It also removes premium pay opportunities from more senior guys because those earlier morning trips are now going to be assigned to reserves vs taken at premium by more senior folks.

Also, their TA allows retired guys to work at their training center, which 1) is a huge scope concession for them, and 2) allows the company to address two of their most pressing needs (the training center backlog and staff shortage) without any kind of commensurate “win” for the pilots.

AND! They apparently get a free Tumi suitcase as a signing bonus. Unreal. It’s almost like the muffin man story.

It’s pretty evident to me given the turd TA that was produced that their MEC, execs, and NC have completely lost touch with reality and need to be recalled.

I’ve made a point of this over on the UA forum several times - the UA pilots have been in negotiations for more than 3.5 years now. During that entire time, they never filed for mediation. That’s further evidence, absent a really, really good reason that hasn’t been explained, of a union that doesn’t get it.

That means they have posed zero threat of ever being able to threaten any kind of legal self help to UA. Mediation must be gone through to be able to pose that threat.

There is almost no downside to filing for mediation. You can still meet with the company outside of scheduled mediation sessions, you can still picket, and you can still engage in the (illegal) sickouts and work slowdowns that many pilots seem to prefer. It doesn’t close any doors.

Filing for mediation starts the timer ticking toward the possibility of a release from mediation and potentially, legal self help. It opens that door.

Not filing for mediation means that you’re choosing to cut yourself off from being able to have access to perhaps the strongest leverage available to labor. You’re closing that door on yourself. Note: we are not in mediation yet.

If the UA TA passes, in terms of pattern bargaining, it’s bad for our entire profession. It will lower the bar and make it harder for our NC to achieve our goals.