Originally Posted by
BagMan
You do spend a lot of time gate keeping. You have been around a while. Not sure I agree with your representation of what is going on with the DEN and MCO reps. MM's memo to the fact sure did not explain any thing. But I'll put that aside for now and just ask the same four questions.
Is this not the same tactic we took last time?
How did that work out/ What happened?
How did we actually get a contract last time?
Why this is different from last time?
Anybody can answer these questions I would like to hear some different perspectives. To many of us don't know what happened and we can never build real Unity out of Ignorance of the past.
If we want a contract we need engagement. We need people to know what has happened, and We need people to understand how things are going to move forward. A timeline with benchmark accomplishes would make me feel at least like we have a plan and a fall back position.
I understand this is more work then the normal glib, dunking, whining and bickering so many of come here for. Take solace in the fact that this may lead to some productive engagement.
During the last negotiation, the company was wildly profitable and was still not negotiating in good faith. I’m sure you’ve heard of LOA 67
However, the pilot group was much more unified back then, IMO. I would attribute this to variety of reasons.
Geographically speaking, for the majority of that negotiation, we had 3 bases, DEN, MCO, and CHI. LAS opened later in the process.
This time, we have 13 bases. Pilots are now spread out and segmented. Some attitudes are territorial.
Financially, the company is not wildly profitable anymore. If they were not negotiating when they were profitable they aren’t going to be backing up the Brinks truck when they are surviving on SLB gains. One of the triggers to get the last CBA was Spirit getting theirs a year prior. That’s how PBS and the payrates came about, as far as Indigo is concerned, what goes on at spirit has always affected what happens at frontier. Pilots were unified around the fact that the company could absolutely afford to pay for a new contract. Right now, IMO, F9 pilots don’t see eye to eye on the financial state of the airline.
Industry experience and career goals is another one that has changed IMO. The turnover during the last negotiation was a fraction of what it has been post Covid. Motivations differ amongst the group. Some want to get their time and leave, some are here to stay. Some love the turn model, some hate the turn model.
to execute on a plan to get anywhere pilots will need a shared vision.