Tomahawk58

I wish I was as eloquent as this captain about the trouble with the APA, but he says it best:

Whoop-Whoop! Pull-Up!
An Open Letter to APA Leadership and fellow AA Pilots
What kind of return can you expect from a $200 million dollar investment? Even in a down economy, a couple hundred million dollar investments with modest appreciation should have increased value, right? With roughly 4,000 CA’s and 6,000 FO’s (- furloughs) contributing a percent-and-a-half of our wages over the past twelve years, we have given our APA leadership ~ $27,000 per CA and ~ $16,000 per FO in union dues, while allowing our APA leaders to "speak for us." What message have they delivered and what is our return on this trusted investment? Isn’t it fair to ask, are they doing a good job? How much more job security, leverage, career progression and increased buying power do each of us have today than we did in the year 2000? Looking back at our investment in APA and more importantly, looking ahead, where have they led us and where are they taking us now by merging our careers with a weaker, poorly run and more dysfunctional US Air? With twenty or more years “invested” in our own American Airlines careers, isn’t it time for each of us to disconnect the controls and start demanding better results?
In late 2000, just prior to 9-11, we were encouraged to turn down a 22% pay raise because it was not quite “industry leading” enough to dwarf the pay increases United and Delta had just received. Several months later, still in the shadows of the World Trade Center attacks, we took a 23% pay decrease in order to prevent going into bankruptcy and losing our pensions. When the betrayals of “pull together – win together” became public, we angrily voted in new APA leadership that once again promised us “an industry leading contract.” Unfortunately, these bold promises were followed up with admonitions to “do your job and nobody else’s!” Next came the infamously ill-conceived "not really sick - sick-out" and a year-long defamation of character promotion aimed recklessly at our own heads with billboards in DFW, ORD and MIA (costing $7,000 a month each) telling our customers that “American Airlines doesn’t really care about you!” Brilliant! Meanwhile, our nation was involved in two wars, the economy was collapsing, people were losing their jobs in droves, oil prices were quadrupling, our competitors had cut their expenses in half, unemployment remained above 8%, national debt sky-rocked, while our APA union leaders "spoke for us" by advertising on billboards that – “We suck and we want top dollar for doing it!”
Just when it appeared that there were a few rays of sunshine headed our way with new leadership at APA and the Flight Department, along with massive aircraft orders in place, the frustrations of conflict, gloom and uncertainty continued. When negotiations broke down over Thanksgiving of 2011 and management filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, our APA leaders said, “It’s not our fault, we are working to achieve an industry leading contract for our members!” Even then, as troubling as this unwelcome bankruptcy news first appeared, early indications were that finally the clouds had burst and we would be forced to focus our combined energies on survival and trying to grow American Airlines. Unfortunately, our APA leaders are once again being misguided by the “smartest guys in the room, hard-liners” who are demanding "their pound of flesh" and a vote of “no confidence” rather than facing the financial realities of a survive-or-die situation in a deeply depressed world economy.
While none of us likes hearing the harsh realities of surviving and emerging from bankruptcy, we are choosing to ignore an AA growth plan to instead pursue the purity of wedding night promises from a severely distressed and dysfunctional US Air. Shotgun marriages rarely work; mating a wounded duck with a flailing penguin will not produce a soaring eagle. Short term promises will not change long term realities. A (likely) future AA merger will work best when we are financially able to choose a worthy partner on our own terms. Risking our career investments at AA with the fate of a failing US Air, while encouraging us to remain silent is like pulling the GPWS circuit breaker; it does nothing to eliminate the dangerous terrain ahead. If we truly want an “industry leading contract,” we need to prosper in the real world of our difficult economic environment by beating the competition and providing the world class service that our customers and fellow employees deserve. Cash flow is the life blood of any business and we have been bleeding out for many years. Unproductive duty rigs, unwavering objections to preferential bidding and conflict guarantees at the expense of the 90% who are hauling the lumber is simply counter-productive and punishes the majority of outstanding employees who work for a living.

Creating fear and fomenting anger through the sophistry of a doomsday scenario where management "shreds our contract by eliminating all duty rigs, sick benefits, rampant furloughs” and other imagined horrors is irresponsible, self-serving and dishonest. What proof do you have that US Air’s management team is better than ours? For the most part, the AA “villains of the past” are gone; the enemy is our competition. Looking back, how have our "industry leading" scope protections worked-out for our current and furloughed AA pilots, with American Eagle flying over 1,400 daily flights (just 600 fewer than AA)? How has SUP CC worked out for the majority of our pilots and the financial well-being of our airline? What are the unintended consequences of fighting amongst ourselves over every issue that threatens our ability function efficiently and operate profitably? What’s more important to our pilots, the socialistic argument of fairness, spreading the wealth and “occupying union clout” or one of capitalism where a thriving, prosperous company makes all of us wealthier, more secure and truly ... industry leading?
Short term relief from management’s 1113C will not resolve our long term financial problems. Failure to increase productivity, encourage teamwork, make profits and share rewards is a recipe for continued mediocrity and certain long term failure. Decade long efforts to foment anger with constant infighting between APA and AA management are destroying our airline, aiding and abetting our enemies and have put us on the brink of financial collapse. APA leadership is now spending considerable energy vilifying management’s high priced “Lorenzo lawyers” and Eastern’s failure while ignoring any union culpability and our own well paid legal assassins. Instead of working to grow our company we are now paying outside lawyers insane amounts of money to encourage a back-door merger with a “big hat – no cattle” US Air. These same lawyers are getting very rich advising us to sue our own company and fight them for every dime, while filling their own pockets with large amounts of our hard earned dollars. Either way, lawyers on both sides will walk away from the wreckage, extremely wealthy and unscathed.
We will win the future and secure our professional careers by controlling our emotions, analyzing the situation and taking the proper action. We must provide better service at a competitive price than our competition or we will lose the battle. As pilots, we must think of ourselves as small business owners and earn our customers business on each and every flight. Like most other pilots at American Airlines, I am making less today than I was twelve years ago. We are about to lose much of our retirement and we are all now working for a bankrupt carrier; whatever we've been doing is not working and it is time for new tactics and better results. While this letter takes aim at APA, it should not be mistaken as a ringing endorsement for AA management, it isn't - it's about debt, mathematics, gravity and leadership. Clearly, mistakes have been made on both sides, economic challenges have conspired against us and yet none of that matters now. Going forward, if American Airlines loses – we all lose. Leadership is tough and it's much easier to sit on the sidelines and second guess; I'm not that person and I understand that "these are the times that try men's souls," but we must all do better. Both sides must work to rebuild trust and change the culture if we are to succeed. If American Airlines fails, historians will rightfully proclaim that we ignored our instruments, turned our backs on common sense, stalled a perfectly good airline and foolishly overflew repeated opportunities to safely and securely reach our destination.
I don’t care about the past two hundred million dollars’ worth of APA union dues and I know that much of that money has been well spent on valuable projects that enhance safety and enrich pilot lives. Nor do I care about past PUP payouts that poisoned our spirit; at this point all of that selfishness is runway behind us. All I’m concerned with now, and believe the majority of our pilots care about, is winning the future. There are certainly many disagreeable elements within management's 1113C proposal, but a short-sighted merger with US Air is a reckless diversion into a slippery runway that will end poorly. Prosperity and a future merger are alive through growth, but will perish along with the likes of Eastern, Pan Am and others if we continue to fight amongst ourselves. Whoop-Whoop! Pull-Up! Stop the madness of the past, set egos aside, negotiate a win-win agreement, rebuild trust and let’s concentrate our energies on the important business of beating the competition and growing American Airlines!

I purposely left his name off.

HotMamaPilot

Do you all have FQS' at AA? Some of it sounds a little like management. Just my opinion.

eaglefly

From my understanding it's a senior captain who believes he'll make out better without the U merger. He obviously couldn't care less about the junior half (like Tomahawk). It's a fact there are an extreme minority of AA pilots who want a scenario that milks their last 5-10 years out without the worry of the possible reduction of what THEY have (seniority/equipment) in a U merger. This extreme minority of pilots thinks AMR's plan works out better for them by ensuring the bottom 50% pay the price, by essentially becoming the doormats they can wipe their feet on to stay clean just long enough to make retirement.

The overwhelming majority of AA pilots believe what apparently all the analysts believe and that is that a U merger is better then AMR's stand alone plan and the 1113 as demanded leaves no career for most anyway.

Sliceback

This is pretty funny. An "open" letter, unsigned, that only exists on APC, posted by T58.

How about telling the world where the letter was written/posted/printed?

Tomahawk58

Do you have thoughts on the content or would you think differently if the person who penned the article name was there?

What are your thoughts on the merits of his position?

Golden Bear

I'm fairly certain it is by definition not an open letter if not signed.

Kinda loses rhetorical impact if the writer does not stake his reputation on the content being proposed. You could have written it yourself, and then just claimed it came from someone else. That would undermine the content incredibly.

So, yes: it is different since it is unsigned.

Tomahawk58

Here you go:


APA Leadership and Fellow AA Pilots,



As momentum mounts and the groundswell of support continues toward a “no confidence vote in AMR management,” I’d like to offer another pilot’s perspective. Please delete or disregard my attached letter if you are too busy or uninterested in the internal debate that appears all but settled amongst our pilots. I respectfully appreciate both sides of the argument and sincerely hope that the majority is right, that my instincts are wrong and that a merger with US Air (at this time) is not simply “fool’s gold.”



I certainly don’t pretend to own a crystal ball or have access to deeper insights than those responsible for leading, but I care too much to simply “pay my dues and hope for the best.” Destiny is a choice … leadership requires vision, character, courage, communication and action. Please choose wisely.*



I have complete confidence in the pilots of American Airlines.



Respectfully and All the Best!

Captain Michael Tetrick

AA Pilot // APA Member

*

eaglefly

Interesting how this rant completely leaves out the past "investment" (a measely 1.8 billion dollars) the pilots gave to AMR 8 years ago. Come to think of it, it also leaves out the future investment of the wholesale gutting of the current CBA well BEYOND the rest of the industry. Instead, it focuses on why the APA coudn't force AMR to do anything due to being hamgstrung by a corporate sympathetic NMB.

Considering the "results" of what the pilots of AA have gotten so far, I think that FINALLY, they HAVE the capability to do something. Yes, U is weak AS IS, but so is AA. TOGETHER, IT is much stronger.

Dysfunction (and betrayal) breed dysfuction (and betrayal).

He fails to accept that Chapter 11 was planned all along and even Horton initially stated the pilots negotiation state had nothing to do with it. First doubling-down and now tripling-down on sacrifical demands by AA pilots has only forced the herd into the first sanctuary they can find. If AMR's 1113 had been more "industry standard", instead of an all-out decimation of the majority of our careers, we wouldn't be where we are right now. I don't see that as the APA's fault, but apparently he does. The "no confidence" vote simply mimicks what virtually every analyst is also saying. It seems the only ones who believe the current "corner-post" cocktail with the scortched earth chaser is the current AMR managment and a minority of sympathizers.

AA growth plan ?

I don't see that at all. In fact, I see significant contraction as large RJ's flown by others take the majority of our domestic ops and an open-ended code-sharing plan that allows for the wholesale elimination of anything else on a whim. The PROMISE of a small increase in International ops won't make up for the massive losses elsewhere. The curret orders through 2017 are for replacement only and the options can go anywhere else at a later time. In fact, I understand even the current "orders" for the Airbuses aren't firm and thus can change.

How have the trust and promises from this direction paid off so far for AA pilots ?

Oh, that's right.............it's the APA's fault.


The only "soaring eagle" in the stand-alone plan looks like it will be AMERICAN EAGLE.

Complaining about "promises" (actually failed promises) in that direction vs. elsewhere ?

YGBFSM !

TOTALLY disagree here. In that case, would the employees SUDDENLY be valued and their interests considered by the same group looking to eviscerate them to the current degree they want or would history repeat itself for the umpteenth time ?

[must be the Jet Blue promises at work here]

As it stands, most don't believe they will have a career to risk (well perhaps the top 20% or so will ). The idea that the last 10 years of treatment here will result in "world class service" is laughable IMHO. You simply cannot abuse people to this degree for this length of time and expaect that. If you ask me, they're planning on creating a luxury resort, but refuse to accept that it won't prosper with damaged materials (hopelessly demoralized labor).

Last I heard, the 4+ BILLION at C11 filing has blossomed to almost 5 BILLION !!!

I think VERY few think that major change is unneccessary. It's the degree of change that's the problem. Perhaps if AMR COULD convince us of a future, we'd be listening more closely. Instead, all that's heard is the grinding of the knife as it's being sharpened ever more.

He obviously hasn't read the 1113 demands and if he has, clearly doesn't comprehend its ramifications (or chooses not to). I say "demands" because apparently management has so far shown zero interest in bargaining in good faith.

What proof do we have of the past not repeating itself in the future, like it has both in the past and present ?

Once again, YGBFSM !!!

That's what happens when one side has sympathy from governmental chums. It's also what happens when one side takes advantage of "spirit and intent" and adopts an "end run" philosophy repeatedly. He fails to mention that the "7300 floor" would have made a HUGE difference.

Long-term imposition of the 1113 will destroy what chance we have left. To increase teamwork, there has to a belief that there IS A TEAM and right now there is no such belief. Apparently his solution to end the "infighting and anger" are for plots to just sit quietly hat (little hat) in hand and hope for the best from a source with a long and consistant history of...............well, need I say more ?

ALL the above require two to tango and as of now, no one has even shown up to dance.

In order to "win" in the future, there HAS TO BE A FUTURE. An 1113 that allows the virtual elimination and transfer of the majority of our domestic network doesn't allow for a future.

He sure comes to a lot of certainties. One being that the current 1113 is acceptable for AA pilots and the other being that a merger with U is CERTAIN to fail. Most of us would LOVE for AMERICAN AIRLINES to grow, but the 1113 is more of a roadmap to SHRINK American Airlines. It provides for SOME replacement at AA, but no iron-clad assurances of growth, just smoky insuations. The major GROWTH is going to be among supporting regionals and code-shares like Jet Blue, Alaska and Eagle.

If you ask me, the REAL plan is AA simply becoming one of many 'One World' operators and AA will be MUCH smaller. The goal then is to build not AA, but the 'One World' network. Unfortunately to do that successfully (and set up a domestic whipsaw model), it will require the "stand-alone" plan and a U merger NOW (with OTHERS in control) messes that all up. In essence, it appears clear to me that what is really about to happen is the final sacrifice of AA pilots for the good of a global network that is primarily for the benefit of others. If AA pilots were truly part of the future, AMR would be more open to scope that allows pilots on the APA list first crack at flying currently flown by them, regardless of where that future "replacement/expansion" jet is placed. As it stands now, all that's desired is simply a BLANK CHECK and a career dying a slow death is still a death.

Emotion ?

I saw as much of it in this letter then in anything else I've seen or read. Sounds like he's panicking at the though 85% of his fellow pilots see this situation opposite of what he does and yes, that can be a helpless feeling.

eaglefly

With momentum mounting will AMR come to its senses and offer something that provides hope for a future ?

I certainly don't know, but as I stated months ago, the longer this insanity (the currently demanded 1113) continues, the greater the chance of the train flying off the rails. I don't know what that will look like, but it will be bad for all of us, I'm sure. The latest press release describing ORD being handed off to others to fly large RJ's decimating that percentage of pilots there hasn't helped.

BTW, went through ORD last week and in terminal G (Eagle) I noticed it doesn't say "American Eagle" at any of the gates/counters. It has the "bird" logo of AA/Eagle with a little "One World" emblem and that's all. It's CLEAR where this is going (and where managment wants to take it.......apparently without most of us) and as it stands now, AA pilots will end up a shadow of their former selves UNLESS they do something drastic. Since AMR hasn't been willing to offer them a reasonable future so far, it appears the U "lifeboat" is all that's left (undesirable as it may be).

DASH8EE

Disagree. Eagle is done for. You forget... AMR is out sourcing feed as well in their stand alone plan.