Which helps considerably with housing costs & traffic...opens up the SFV & SGV as very drivable.

 

That's not quite what he said.....

 

He told everyone to plan their living arrangements accordingly, I'm just reading between the lines

 

"Pacoima" comes to mind.....

 

ALGT letter to shareholders...........form 8k may 16 2006:

Labor Situation
Last year at this time we reported difficulties with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (the IBT), the bargaining agent for our pilots. At that time, the
IBT leadership called for a strike, embarking on a path away from the traditional negotiation environment under the auspices of the National Mediation
Board (NMB). Through court actions we were able to prevent this effort. This marked a low point in our negotiations with our pilots.
This is the first contract with our pilots. It is well known that initial contracts take longer (years) to negotiate. Since last spring, working through the NMB
process, we believe we have made good progress in negotiating the necessary elements of a contract. Both the pilots and the Company recognize the need to
work collectively to put an acceptable agreement together that recognizes the interests of both groups. Our goal is to complete an agreement and have it
ratified by our pilots this year.
On another front, the industry is facing a strong demand for pilots. The combination of near term industry expansion due to record profits from reduced fuel
expense, and upcoming retirements of as many as 50 percent of the crew members from the big 3 - Delta, American, and United - in the next ten years has
created this demand. The source of pilots for the majors has been (and will continue to be) from less mature carriers, including carriers such as ourselves and
regional carriers. We sit in the middle of the pilot flow and, while we hire our needed crews from regionals as well, we are also losing crew members to larger
carriers. A component of these resignations is frustration with our lack of an agreement and the contentious nature of our negotiations. It is our belief that a
completed agreement will take away this uncertainty and frustration.
Regional carriers have historically hired younger, first time, commercial pilots and introduced them to the U.S. air traffic system. As these crews gain
experience, including pilot in command time, they become eligible for the minimum standards of most larger carriers, including those at Allegiant. But a
recent rule change passed by Congress has substantially raised the minimum requirements for new entrant crew members. Regional carriers are facing a
shortage due to the inability to attract sufficient new hire crew members to offset experienced pilots leaving for other industry opportunities.
At present, we have been able to fill our pilot needs; however, we may have to become more aggressive in our recruitment efforts in the coming months and
years to fill our needs.

 

If you pay them they will come. Simple

 

They will try every trick under the sun EXCEPT for the one that will actually allow them to attract and retain pilots. It will take more than just "having a contract" to keep their pilots around. It will have to be a comparable contract to the Big 4, and I'm not just talking about pay rates.

 

Pay your pilots or die while stubbornly holding on to your cash. This will be the theme in the coming years I believe, for the "low tier carriers" as Bob Forbaro calls us

 

Might be wise to add that the vast majority of us pilots are waiting to see the contract before we decide to stay or leave.

Retention and the newfound concerns of management about pilot staffing so far are minimal compared to the massive exodus if they don't give us a good contract. You think you have issues attracting pilots now? Wait until you give us a sub-standard contract and you're losing 50 pilots a month with no one applying.

 

Can it even be that good? I mean other airlines with better contracts are picketing for better contracts. Allegiant will have to hit it out of the park to get caught up.