It might be hard for the pilots to comprehend but FA staffing is a way bigger issue for this company than pilot staffing, especially in the small bases.

Agreed. Regardless of what G4 pilots think the legacy airlines barely know we exist. Maybe an attack on NK/F9 but more likely meant to stop other legacies from poaching their regional pilots specifically the LCAs who can choose from multiple offers any time they want to go.

Yep.

The term is "vacancy reduced" vs displaced. That way they don't have to give you seniority or displacement rights. They can reduce your base to zero and tell you these are the options open for you to bid. Completely legal under our contract and precedent set when they got rid of VBD. If I recall the union stepped in and negotiated an agreement for one time displacement rights for those guys. I wouldn't expect that again.

Pretty soon G4 is going to be full of undesirables who are only here because they couldn't get hired anywhere else.

Most of ABE and PIT is staffed with local Steeler and Eagles fans. Born and raised and happy to be back.

And how many more similar qualified folks are out there dying to live in one of our rustbelt bases at the expense of their career?

People born and raised in PA
People born and raised in MI
People born and raised in WI
People born and raised in IA

You know what all of them have in common? When their base closes there's no reason for them to work here and they will knock the door down to get out. Because everyone knows you can't commute at this airline and all three legacies have rust belt bases.

Open a base in LCK and you might find out.

Don’t believe it.

Fear mongering the closure of bases .... has no basis in reality. The only base that is at a risk of closure might be in GA, and even that probably won't happen. The microbases are filling in just fine after 6 months or so, and the FA issue is likely more of a result of poor planning than a systemic issue... The only way microbases go away is with a merger at this point. If we merge, we go to multi day trips, and then commuting will be the same as any other airline.

I'm Confused
 

Got a message from Maury G in my inbox. This was nice because I feel like if he's putting his name on it then it will probably happen. I've always thought he was smart. The issue is, when does Redmond become CEO? I thought it was June 1st.

Why is the Chairman of the Board emailing the pilots? Is this a good thing?

At the last shareholder call, MG said he would be taking an active role in contract negotiations and that pilot hiring/retention was a top priority. While he may have stepped down as CEO, he is still the majority shareholder and Allegiant is his baby. I don’t see much happening without his involvement. Whether or not what he says or writes means anything, I guess we’ll find out, but there is certainly some level of accountability having discussed this openly during the shareholder call.

I’m cautiously optimistic, but it’s also hard to ignore the timing: just prior to our busiest flying month. If it turns out to be more empty your words, and there are no signs of genuine commitment from MG/the company to give us the contract we deserve soon, things will start to get ugly(ier).

Nothing good about an email from MG. All he is doing is trying to reassure pilots that are considering leaving that he is doing something and they should stay. We have our busiest month coming up. The wheels will fall off in July as normal, and he needs to convince pilots not to leave.

MG putting his name on something should give you reason to look twice. Remember, he hates pilots, and has conditioned all in HQ to hate pilots too. Caveat Emptor