Ok, great. So where are the bid lines? PBS was never written into what the court has now called our interim contract, the PWR(Pilot Work Rules). As meager as they are, the tools can’t even abide by. What’s more important is this fact; PBS is not in our PWR.

The company was hoping for a sympathetic hometown judge in Vegas. Didn’t happen. Now the 9th circuit is our appellate. All but a slam-dunk for our side. This bodes well for our future lawsuits.

If we tallied up what this lawsuit is costing, I’m guessing quarter-million to a half. Looks like we’re getting our due’s worth. Oh. That’s right, we aren’t paying due’s?

 

Merlot and PBS were two things the judge did not throw out. The company cried a river and he allowed them to keep Merlot and PBS "with more oversight by the pilot group". Unfortunately they stay...

 

Indeed, the judge was fooled on those specific points for now. He is unfamiliar with our forthright management team. This will change over time. He will see through the next smoke and mirror show.

Overall this is a good indicator of how our next union based law suit will be received by this court.

 

Even if the judge fell for the "harm to the company" line about immediately overturning PBS, I wonder why he didnt give a 90 day deadline to go back to line bid status quo and give them time to adjust or find new software? Will the regular injunction lawsuit push for this later this year or thats it?

 

From the last call I heard the union lawyer on (after we won the injunction), they are still planning on going after removing the Merlot PBS in the actual lawsuit.

 

This management 'team' continues to underestimate the resolve, discipline, intelligence and resources available to this pilot group. They are accustomed to a group of young, aspiring regional pilots (west air) and happy team-players at new start-ups (ValueJet, former Allegiant). They continue to stumble, time and again. Their operations department, led by an arrogant, incompetent hack and his band of loyal followers, has completelt squandered every stitch of credibility and trust. Realizing their castrated status, they have given up all attempts to lead or manage. All formal means to communicate have ceased. The vacuum left has been filled by a highly effective IBT organization.

 

I hope you guys work your way out of the morass soon.

 

Dawg,
I hope for the sake of the industry you are correct. I wouldn't underestimate management though, as their ineptness really only costs you QOL in so far as the operation still goes. In the way you all describe it, your management is trying to change the QOL expectations of the pilot group in total so that when the fall back position will be still a major giveback in terms of pilot contracts.
Mixed lines of reserve and flying without proper protections could really harm QOL.
Force TDY could really harm QOL.
PBS without negotiation and compensation will harm pilot QOL.
In essence, at least in the meantime, mgmt has won in accomplishing the quickly changing operation by essentially ignoring the costs to their employees in terms of QOL.
For the sake of all pilot groups I hope you all achieve an adequate contract and force mgmt to follow it.
LUV

 

I noticed that our pilot work rules pamphlet is not as easily accessible within our crewops anymore? I had to access it via the search engine. Gee, I wonder why? Now that we are going to set up an SBA after the appeal gets slapped down. Maybe someone will address the line about “No pilot will be scheduled for duty beyond 16 hours”.

The company enjoys ignoring this line in our PWRs, and falsely interprets FARs to a max 18 hours. Of course “Safety” is our top priority? Or did I get that wrong? Discuss..

 

LUV you are absolutely correct. This is why we went so far as to sue the company and are fighting this fight to the bitter end. Managemnt underestimates what its going to take for a contract and will soon find out the hard way that this group will not budge.

Our MEC put out a letter last week that explained how important this fight really is. It's bigger than us and the entire industry and profession are watching us to see if we'll cave to the company's attempts to make our profession "different". Our guys know that, even if they leave, this sludge will follow them if they don't stand and fight now. Great group of pilots here that have come together in a fashion that management never anticipated.