Xjtguy, I agree with everything you just said.

 

In 2001 835 TWA Captains were assigned seniority numbers 2000-6000 on the AA seniority list ALL senior to me and my Feb 19, 1999 seniority date.

Of the 100 TWA captains that are junior to me, many were displaced for 6 months to 1 year and then reinstated to Captain. The majority of the 100 TWA captains junior to me are captains now.

There is an arbitration right now finishing to decide to give TWA Captains protected bid statuses at each base. The decision will be announced mid-June.

If nearly ALL TWA captains kept their seats, how can you say "You guys wiped out an airline off the map" ?

AGAIN: Nearly ALL TWA Captains kept their seats. They either retired from them or are still in them.

AND: To be fair 1200 TWA Co-pilots furloughed along with 700+ AA co-pilots.


7576FO

 

The environment "is what it is" as they say. Not the first time there's been this kind of High supply/Low demand for pilots, expecting to change shortly. Mid to early 90's was VERY similar to the current situation, for both civ and pure mil pilots.

Why you haven't gotten a call from the places you're trying with your qualifications is beyond me.

 

I think a military pilot with a strong background (lots of instructor/examiner experience, plus maybe safety/dir. of ops) will have a really good chance of being invited for an interview in the next few years. Just hang on, keep those apps updated and continue to network and prepare.

 

Next few years?! I'm hoping next few months! Like, before the end of 2013.

 

We all hope that! But seeing that there's more of us than positions right now we'll have to stand in line...here's hoping to get called sooner rather than later!

 

This post is simply not accurate.
TWA captains were not just displaced for 6 months to a year!! Are you really not aware that TWA captains went from the left seat to the street.? Never before has this happened.
Additionally in the last decade, over 1250 Native AA pilots upgraded to New Captain status for the first time. While former TWA pilots still to this day, have over 220 former Captains that were in the left seat before the merger, who have yet to be reinstated as Captain

 

We had many furloughed TWA Captains who flowed back to AE- I flew with them. They are now "back" at AA, albeit some in the right seat.

 

You are both correct. And incorrect.

7576 is correct that many TWA CAs not only kept their seats, but went on to enjoy left seat AA pay and retire from AA.

Cipollini is correct that many TWA CAs went straight from left seat to furlough.

Actually, there is historical precedence: back in 1985 when SWA purchased Muse Air (and renamed them TranStar), they went on to shut them down and laid off 100% of the pilots.. CAs and FOs. They then offered the pilots "re-interviews" for their jobs. And that was done in a thriving economy.

AA on the other hand had a mess on their hands: purchasing the assets of a troubled airline and shortly thereafter, 9/11: hence the huge furlough that affected thousands of both AA and TWA pilots.

You guys can argue until you're blue in the face as to what was fair and what wasn't, who got screwed and who didn't. The end result was that APA crafted a deal that has both sides yelling "UNFAIR" - however, they negotiated that deal using a PROCESS deemed unfair by Congress, hence Bond-McCaskill.

I was always critical of the process used by APA. While I realize I (and all AA pilots) pay union dues so that our union protects us, I also never believed that APA wanted to play by the rules most other unions used for SLIs - with the exception of SWAPA (which also tends to call its own shots.) I was always a firm believer that Binding Neutral Arbitration is the fairest PROCESS to iron out a SLI, and that is what should have been used with AA/TWA. Of course, they never solicited my opinion on the matter (although I did publicize my opinion more than once.)

In other words: I'm all for my union protecting me, but please do it using a fair, industry-proven process.

So, again - to set the record straight once again:

- Some TWA pilots (top 1/3) prospered after the AA/TWA deal (those that kept their CA seats and retired)
- Many TWA pilots (bottom 2/3) got royally screwed after the deal (those that got stapled/furloughed)
- Many AA pilots got royally screwed by the bad management decisions of the TWA purchase and Supp CC taking their flying away (DFW and ORD.) Many AA pilots also got furloughed after 9/11. (IMHO, AA was forced to furlough many more pilots as a result of the TWA deal. Without the TWA deal, I highly doubt we would have furloughed that many.)
- The process used by APA - crafting a deal with AMR and excluding the TWA pilots from it - was deemed unfair by Congress and resulted in Bond-McCaskill legislation to prevent that from happening again.
- However, in all fairness to APA, they were fed up at that point by the unrealistic demands - and boycotted meetings - by TWALPA, which finally led to the crafting of Supp CC between APA and AA. This bore much resemblance to SWA and Muse Air, when SWA finally got fed up with Muse's unrealistic demands. It's also reminiscent of the SWA/Frontier deal, where Frontier pilots wouldn't budge either. Yes, it has happened before - IMHO, AA was pretty close to dumping the whole TWA deal without an agreement at that point, hence the rushed Supp CC "gunshot wedding."

In the end - just like ANY and EVERY past merger - many folks on both sides feel they have been screwed, and will continue to feel that way forever, no matter what the argument.

I will concede that APA's (and SWAPA's) abuse of the system - crafting their own integrations by pointing a gun to the other side - led to government intervention on SLIs for the first time ever in airline history. That says a lot.

 

"The end result was that APA crafted a deal that has both sides yelling "UNFAIR" - however, they negotiated that deal using a PROCESS deemed unfair by Congress, hence Bond-McCaskill."


And courts have ruled "fair enough".