Originally Posted by
Nevets
Second, you say to the original poster to take a look at the CAL/XJT contract as if you've looked at it before. And then you say that XJT didn't have to sign that contract and could have just said no. The fact that XJT was whipsawed by CAL using SKW into signing that deal or lose ALL of the CAL flying is totally lost on you.
You even rhetorically said yourself, "Might as well watch mainlines all go out of business and put even more guys on the street" but yet ignore the fact that was what CAL was going to do to XJT if it didn't sign on the dotted line..."put even more guys on the street."
This is not a case of a pilot group rolling over and letting management "low ball" CAL's offer. The gun was on XJT's head and they blinked first. Now they are dealing with the ****ty deal that CAL shoved down their throat. To put in simpler terms for you, this wasn't a concession to keep or get new flying. This is a concession to stay in business because of what CAL did. It isn't as if we are compensated poorly and therefore can low ball bids because of it. You get it yet?
And lastly, if you deny the similarities between that and what is happening between RAH and Midwest then you certainly know less than I had given you credit for.
I see no similarities b/t RAH/Midwest and the CAL/XJT deals. You leave out one important part of the history between CAL and XJT. XJT lost a RFP for CAL flying and defiantly kept the planes without a clue as to what they would do with them, to the surprise of everyone watching. At the time, the president stated that he would rather park the planes out on the ramp and burn them than watch someone else fly "his" planes (that were owned by and leased from CAL). So, then XJT announces the branded flying that was predicted by everyone except the mgmt of XJT and its kool aid satiated pilots to end in miserable failure. Two years later, XJT went from an exceptional company with a fat balance sheet full of cash to another broke airline, crippled by fuel costs, and in such dire straits that it was able to whipsawed by SKW/CAL into accepting a contract that it now admits is not economically feasible without significant concessions from labor.
So I see RAH/Midwest as a slimy deal between two managements that screws both pilot groups. Whereas I see XJT in a bed of its own management's making, through no fault of its pilots' mind you, but still very different.