Originally Posted by gtechpilot

I'm not confused, I've talked to may of our station staff and I have no emotions vested in the discussion. So why get personal?

I didn't mean you as a person are confused but rather I think your argument. Don't read into something that's not there. I don't attack people behind a website screenname.

Philosophical difference here - if you treat your employees well and guarantee job security through good times and bad, you will be rewarded with a more productive workforce. It's not unrealistic, but it's definitely not a common business plan in the US.

I completely agree that employees work harder when treated well. And we are treated well. But you cannot guarantee jobs in this industry. I had a friend who flew 6 hours in two months. Any management would see a problem with this. You can't argue with the finance of it. From a pure business aspect management is responsible to the shareholders. Without them there is no business. (I'm not saying management doesn't also have responsibility to employees. My point is a business has to make money to provide ANY jobs. You can't pay employees to not work and expect to make money)

There's also no question that we are understaffed right now. Instructor pilots are bidding FO lines and we run through the entire reserve list every weekend.

We are absolutely understaffed for the summer. But bringing guys back just to furlough them again makes zero financial sense.

And, again, we have a philosophical difference - I have seen a noticeable decline in the moral of the captains I fly with and a serious increase in anxiety for those who are furlough or downgrade fodder this fall. Though harder to quantify, poor moral can effect the bottom line just as badly as the 80 furloughs.

But is it our management's fault for the decline in morale or the general state of the industry?

I agree that there is not much that ASA could have done to outbid then new Delta ops Borg. But ASA could have done more to reward the loyalty of the multiple 20+ year employees at the stations we've lost. Instead, ASA is content to wash their hands of the mess while proclaiming 'not our fault'!

That's a separate argument that we agree on, but it has nothing to do with the actual reason they lost their jobs.

If I get furloughed this fall, I understand that this management considers it a good business decision. I simply disagree. I don't like the prospect of being furloughed, but I bend over backwards (and will continue to do so) to keep flights ontime and to make the company look good because it is in my best interest to see the company succeed. I will not, however, trust our management to have my best interests at heart.