From another pilot:
Scott addressed my class (virtually) last week. I wouldn't say he was 'negotiating' anything. He made most of the same statements listed above, but they were all in answer to questions from pilots.
With respect to the RJs, this came up with several members of management, and all emphasized the same two points: RJs no longer work because of RJ pilots are getting paid more than us to fly 50 seaters that can't even carry 50 people, and even with the enhanced pay, the pilot shortage is biting them hard. It was also made clear that some cities will see reductions in service (duh). He wants pilots in the RJs to come here, and not go to any other carrier.
Florida base: his exact words were "I'm not as opposed to it as I used to be, but I still don't see it." The network exec took it a step further, and said that as long as AMR has a big hub in Miami and DL continues to flood Florida from ATL, a Florida base makes zero sense. Scott also made another point about our hubs: the 3 most profitable hubs in the world are DFW, ATL, and CLT, and the reason they make so much money is that the hometown airline in each controls no less than 85% of the market share. We don't have more than 50% in any of our hubs (not including Guam). Until we can create that kind of super-hub, we can't really consider a new base.
The comment about AMR and DL besting our pay immediately was made, but that isn't the company's primary concern, because UAL would do the same thing.
One person asked him what he sees as a potential hiccup for all of the new planes coming, and he was pretty emphatic: a lack of LCAs and instructors. That got brought up several times just by Kirby and then again by others. It's clearly a major, major issue, and it might be the one reason for some optimism in all of this. Airplanes that can't be staffed are a huge liability.
His comments about the union...I'd never seen him try so hard to watch his words. He was a combination of disheartened, embarrassed and frustrated. It's clear that he wants this done, but he was also definitely caught off guard by the response of the pilot group. Does that make any difference in the end? I don't know, but I hope so.
He also addressed a question about the Spirit/Jetblue merger with a degree of glee that one would normally see on Christmas morning. His exact words: "I'm ecstatic! I think it's going to be a huge disaster that we can--and will--take full advantage of."
The premium pay issue didn't come up, but I can certainly understand the company wanting to get the level of premium pay down to a fraction of what it is, but I think it's going to take a while for that to happen.
The issue of a wide-body order was also addressed. He called it a "make or break deal for Boeing." Take that as you will, but it's clearly going to be a sizeable order whenever it is announced. Along this line, he talked about how well we are doing in some markets, and others being weaker than they had hoped. Several managers emphasized a number of different growth spots around the globe, and the lack of planes and pilots is the only thing slowing us down (and LCA's and instructors). One concern they have now is that if China and Japan open up again fairly quickly, we'd have to move quite a few planes around to take advantage of those markets. A good problem to have.
So, no, he wasn't 'negotiating' with us. I've seen that, and this wasn't it. Did I believe everything he said? I'm not so sure that we can grow without another base, because I'm not sure that I buy us not having more than 50% of the market share in a few of our hubs, though I'm sure we are probably closer to 85% in SFO. I'm also not sure what metrics the company is using to measure that. Revenue per passenger? Pure passenger count? Seat miles? I have no idea.
I just hope we can get this all settled quickly on terms that work for both sides, and I hope we can get a long(ish) contract.