Originally Posted by
likeitis
What would have been best for your pilots would have been to amalgamate the IBT and ALPA contract asap after the Midwest/Republic merger was announced. You would have been able to improve your contract and would have had pay rates for the 190. After the Frontier deal was announced then amalgamate the now IBT/ALPA contract with the FAPA contract. Two opportunities to improve your life NOW verses waiting to negotiate in section 6. After Amalgamations are finished now go to section 6.
1) Republic announced Frontier before Midwest
2) Amalgamation of contracts has no set rules. The company can simply say no all day long.
3) There was also the inclusion of Lynx and Mokulele at the time who also were to be represented
4) At that point in time both Frontier and Midwest didn't want to integrate let alone amalgamate contracts.
5) Contract neg. was stopped for good reason. There was a lot going on and a lot of questions that needed answering. Each union found out the same way we did, though the news, and needed to make sure they had all of their ducks in a row before proceeding forward.
6) Without everyone on a single seniority list the amalgamation and negotiation of a new contract would just be a large flop. There's no airline with multiple pilot groups that have benefited from not being on the same seniority list. See Mesa/Freedom, GoJets/TSA. Past history dictates moving forward without being combined is extremely risky.
There's no benefit for Frontier to maintain separate. Everyone agreed to integration, to a timeline, to get it completed in a timely manner. You don't place your bets then try and pull it back off the table once the cards are being dealt.