Originally Posted by Making Sense

My Dearest Jimmy8,

I must confess, watching you drift about in your self-constructed bubble of ignorance regarding the most elementary principles of accounting is rather disturbing. Perhaps, dear friend, it's time to crack open a tome or two on financial wisdom?

Let me illuminate matters as simply as possible. When one speaks of a $100+ million debt (our bonus, as it were) in the accounting ledgers, it is accompanied by an equal sum in cash (or other assets) on the other side of the ledger. Upon payment, both vanish simultaneously. It’s called double-entry bookkeeping.

Any prudent company owner - much like a shrewd tech entrepreneur managing their startup's funding - would prefer to maintain this interest-free debt while their cash generates interest income or can be used operationally. It's really quite elementary, dear Jimmy. Why pass up the opportunity to hold $100 million in cost-free borrowed money, which you could invest in Treasury Bills to effortlessly earn $4 million annually? You wouldn’t pass up either, Jimmy.

When you struggle to grasp such a fundamental concept, what credibility do your claims have about suboptimal ticket pricing and missed revenue opportunities? Making unfounded assertions doesn't advance our discussion.

Our revenue team has demonstrated expertise that would impress even the Goblin bankers, while your arguments seem to rely on little more than lower-middle management intuition. And as Professor McGonagall would say, when one lacks understanding of fundamental principles, gut feelings are about as reliable as a chocolate teapot.

Regarding the contract negotiations of summer 2023 - oh yes, the union leadership then made our current lot look like the Wizengamot in comparison. Yet our pilot group as a whole, displaying all the strategic acumen of a confused troll, not only supported, but even re-elected AR with abilities that would make even Crabbe and Goyle look competent.

We find ourselves precisely where our choices have led us, we deserve to be where we are.

Progress now demands that we face reality with high clarity and open eyes and expel both GU and the NC from their positions. We require neither middle-management mindsets nor novice negotiators. The situation calls for a seasoned negotiator (not a pilot) who has experience managing major leverage points and can skillfully deploy them when necessary

But most crucially, we must dispel this ridiculous notion that management is our Voldemort. The truth, my dear Jimmy, is that we have met the enemy, and it is us - as plainly visible as a Thestral to those who've seen the truth.

WE ARE THE PROBLEM, Jimmy.

Regards,

A Concerned Colleague

Originally Posted by Making Sense

Dear Jimmy,

The longer we soar over this matter, the more your pixie dust seems to fade. Perhaps you'd do better sticking to adventures in the Neverland forest.

I find it absolutely fascinating that you'd suggest the company lacks proper financial backing – as if their accounts are somehow running on empty! Come now, if that's true, perhaps you could enlighten us all about where exactly our bonus payments materialize from if not from the opposite side of that double entry? Are we supposed to believe there's some magical money fountain hidden away in Maury's basement? Let's be real here – this line of argument isn't doing you any favors, my friend.

And here's the real kicker – we both recognize we're standing in our own way. Just imagine what we could achieve if everyone would simply open their eyes to the reality of our situation. While I need to verify the legal implications, I see one clear path forward: we need to make a clean break from Teamster.
Then we bring in a skilled negotiator – someone who can actually get results. Trust me, with the right person at the helm, we'll have this wrapped up before we know it. After that, it's simple: we put it to a vote – and then either we align ourselves with ALPA or forge ahead with our own independent union.

Since this seems to be more in your wheelhouse, I'd genuinely value your perspective on the matter.

Time for politics is over, let’s get things done!

Originally Posted by jimmy8

We obviously disagree on this topic and that’s fine. All I’m saying is swampseeker is burning $30m a quarter which is well over $100m a year.

yes, we need to get rid of teamsters for sure. ALPA is the only other logical move because our pilot group is too incompetent to run its own Pilots Association

Originally Posted by CRJphlyer

Well even with ALPA your pilot group will still run your association. That being said, the resources of ALPA being at your disposal shouldn’t be understated. Just look at the last round of bargaining.

Originally Posted by Making Sense

At this stage, we should focus on streamlining rather than expanding our resources and inputs.

We need to reduce all those support mechanisms, not expand them. We need LESS guidance, not more!

The strategies we've implemented over the past two years have proven ineffective.

Reducing complexity, including removing Teamster involvement, would allow for a more efficient negotiating committee that can effectively finalize the contract. Once that's accomplished, we'll have ample time to evaluate future options, whether that involves joining ALPA or pursuing alternative paths.

Originally Posted by Making Sense

Dear Margi,

Yes, that’s precisely what I’m suggesting, my friend. I genuinely want to get rid of TEAMSTER. It seems both curious and fitting that you now suddenly cradle the current union, one I earnestly wish to bid adieu.

In the tapestry of your formidable 2,000+ posts, the word "troll" emerges with uncanny regularity, dancing like a mischievous sprite in your verbiage. Are you aware that many here view you that way? What is it about the word "troll" that captivates you so much?

Though I do not stand among the ranks of management, I am untethered by the chains of any "Maury complex," unlike what you and some of our comrades appear to display. Your assertion—that without TEAMSTER, we are but pawns at Maury's whim—lays bare a labyrinthine psyche I implore you to explore.

While I appreciate you as a person, your behavior in the Allegiant Forum is intriguing, especially since you left us many moons ago. A suggestion? Seek the aid of a wise figure to navigate these intricate realms, dear friend, for this forum is not the mystical scroll of a healing sage.

The most disheartening aspect is that you have been right about many things—not necessarily the details, but the overarching themes. Your insights have unsettled the pilot group more than a rogue wind at a wizard's feast, especially among the delusional faction of our pilots and the legion of AR (and GU) supporters and fanboys. You've consistently rubbed salt in their self-inflicted wounds, yet they still don't seem to grasp the point.

Many who departed, as you did, have earned hundreds of thousands more and are set to gain an additional few million dollars over their careers. Many of those who stayed behind express regret in various ways, trying to alleviate it by demanding unrealistically large concessions from management to ease the sting of their decisions.

It’s likely just as baffling to both of us how that our pilot group re-elected AR a year ago. It seems that, as a group, we might be making poor choices that have landed us in our current situation.

Again, WE are the problem!