Originally Posted by
SoCalGuy
"Selling out" the bottom 50% of your own list??? Wow, I bet you would be a popular "guy" amongst those "sacrificial lambs" that make up the bottom 50% of the list
Besides.....when AA has 2000+ pilots on furlough, where do you see "EGL's chosen ones" - AKA Top 50% sitting on the AA seniority list?? When you have 2000+ AA pilots on the street waiting to come back, and you want to put another 1500+ "chosen" EGL pilots in the mix.....good luck on that mess
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Seeing that it's been 6+ years and AA still has that many guys/gals on the street, the EGL guys/gals would be waiting for many years to see the light at the end of that tunnel
All and all....sounds like an unrealistic pipe dream.
It IS an unrealistic pipe dream for many of the new kids on the block. They profess their fervant desires, but fail to consider the REAL ramifications of those desires.
That is indeed what is known as a "pipe dream".
IF the APA were to claim all current Eagle flying, let's consider what WOULD likely happen.
That flying is now MAINLINE flying under APA control. Let's not even argue what pay and benefits would be invloved, because that just complicates this discussion.
Since that flying is now theirs, their FIRST priority is to get their furloughed pilots employment...........and it SHOULD be. It's THEIR FLYING. It would be logical to assume since the majority of Eagle's little 37 and 44 seat guaranteed money loser RJ's (and eventually the 50-seaters) would be parked or replaced rapidly. That would mean as those aircraft are removed from Eagle during a transition period that would be virtually certain to occur, they'd be replaced by those mainline 737 orders already under way and new aircraft that might actually make money (especially under the increased costs of a new AA pilots contract) like 100-seaters. Those new jobs (MAINLINE jobs) would be offered to AA furloughees.
A "transition period" would involve the downsizing of Eagle with a simultaneous upsizing of AA as AA reclaims their former flying with new aircraft and Eagle parks their hopeless losers (and furloughs). Eventually, (say 18-36 months) Eagle is reduced to its 47 CRJ-700's (it exercises its 22 orders recently won on greivance) which is about 500 pilots and perhaps they'll still have an equal number of 50-seaters to fly to places that can still somewhat support them as they need frequency.
We're at about 1000 Eagle pilots now.
Then the "transition period" ends and Eagle disolves and is now part of AA. By then, most if not all the remaining AA furloughees are back who want to come back and Eagle pilots are likely merged onto the AA list or are now actually "one airline". About 550 of those pilots ALREADY are on the AA list and the remaining would likely get stapled with some fence protection if they were senior Eagle Rights captains (minor details involving a couple of hundred pilots at most by then).
The bottom 1500 Eagle pilots ?
Well, you figure it out.
At that point they may or may not have guaranteed right of employment, but THAT is NOT the function of the APA to negotiate, it is Eagle ALPA. My guess is they'd try and may win that, but just as likley the best that can be offered is preferential interview at AA.
Remember ! They were furloughed from Eagle who was liquidiating (dissolving) itself and NOT from AA, So why would they have automatic employment rights at AA (again, especially if the APA's responsibility is not pilots from OTHER carriers) ?
Of course, perhaps the "Leave it to Beaver" scenario is a better fantasy to cling to for junior Eagle pilots. You know the saying, "be careful for what you wish for ?".
Well, many of them wish for "NO MORE RJ's at Eagle !".
Sadly, many of them fail to consider the realities and ramifications of their wishes, but you can't blame them as most have a couple of years in this industry at most and don't know s%$t from shinola.