lolwut

A good way to look at it is that if you see a pilot, he isn't getting paid. Really. We're only paid when that door is closed.

lolwut

Here's a pictorial description of how AA's operation is running currently.

80ktsClamp

hey! look! A golden(ish) parachute!

At that moment, I bet that guy was more peeved at McDonnell Douglas than Bucking Bar.

slowplay

If you look close you can see one motor is running in full afterburner and one isn't...that would make it a GE problem.

And he's probably pretty happy with Martin-Baker (or some other seat company) right about then!

jabone

All,

Thanks for the information. It is helpful.


JAB

80ktsClamp

One of those motors is working juuuust fine! 50% rounds up, right?

Truth on the ejection seat company.

johnso29

Sorry Crandall. It's not a job action and it's not childish. It's time to prove how much pilots go above and beyond to keep the operation moving. It's just business.

cessnapilot

Another measure is something called time away from base (TAFB). I'm not at AA, but over the years I've had a lot of months with 250 to over 300 hours away from base. I might get paid 75 hours of pay for 250 hours away from my family. Throw in a commute to another city and you can see why pilots are reluctant to spend even more tie on the road for less money.

Labor at AMR gave some concessions a few years ago. The company wanted more, and said they needed it to be competitive. The problem is the other creditors don't give in kind. How does labor feel if they are the only party making concessions. I don't blame the pilots for not making concessions earlier. UAL, DAL, NWA all made major concessions to prevent bankruptcy, and the companies went bankrupt anyway. The only difference was that now they started negotiating their contract from a MUCH weaker position. AMR is far overreaching in their demands to the pilot group. They've set a bad stage for reasonable negotiations.

My guess is the pilots want a strong company and they're willing to work hard in a solid partnership to achieve that. Management has so alienated the group that it's ridiculous. They're are a lot of smart guys with degrees in finance making a boat load of money in this process. Hopefully they'll realize that airlines need the pilots to be on board for an airline to operate. An airline can't fly without pilots anymore than they can fly without planes.

LandGreen2

jabone:

Another perspective of the employees situation at AA: Pick your favorite NFL team.

Tell the QB, Lineman, RB, WR all to pound sand! You might say to them, "Your contract has been voided; you will continue to work hard for me because by law...you cannot go on strike! Tough luck Mr. QB, Lineman, RB, WR, and etc. while you guys suffer, we front office guys will make MILLIONS upon successful exit from BK."

Now it is game time. Will everyone on the team play their best football while under the stress of the situation? How would any individual fan play if given the keys to the QB job?

Needless to say, the team is starting to lose games, management is ****ed and blames the QB (pilots in AA situation). They are the easiest and most visible target to the fans (passengers or customers). The front office takes no responsibility for the teams losses in fact blaming the play of the QB...who is also having to deal with the lack of motivation coming from his lineman, RB, WR (FA, mechanics, above and below wing personnel)

What do you do as the team owner? You get on SportsCenter and plead with the fans to ignore your decisions as the team owner, and or GM and blame the QB for having "problems".

I am not an NFL QB obviously, but I imagine they do a lot more behind the scenes stuff in order to throw those nice long passes in stride to our favorite WR. A lot of variables have to be choreographed beautifully in order for us to see positive results on the scoreboard. The same analogy can be used in the airline biz. Pilots (and all airline employees) do a lot of behind the scene stuff in order to keep the operation safe, on time, and reliable. They work in concert with each other in order to make this happen. Pilots, whether it is deserved or not, get the credit for the win and the bad press for each loss. It's ok, goes with the job!

Although not entirely necessary, but it would be great if all fans (passengers) could grasp this idea every time there is a labor dispute in the airline business. From a public perspective, it is easy to blame the QB, but it is also important to recognize that the front office makes the decision to use our failed bankruptcy laws to exploit their employees. In the end, the front office will ride off into the sunset on the white horse, with MILLIONS in their satchel and armed with the knowledge of how to rinse and repeat this very old scenario at the next unassuming NFL team (airline).

B757200ER

I laughed when I read parts of this story, but it really isn't funny. Wonder when it's going to get better?