I am a yes voter, I did the math last week and it makes a ton of sense to me to vote yes for this offer--Except for the HBT issue that I don't understand well enough (which is why I am unsolid)..The reason I will vote yes is outlined:

First and foremost--as others have said--the Cost neutral backstop to arbitration in this negotiation renders moot many things that I THINK we should get due to the company making 5 billion per quarter, gas being at $60 a barrel, projections for the next few years being solid and Doug, et al walking away with bucketfuls of cash...That ship sailed when the MTA was voted in---UNTIL we can fully amend the contract IN FULL, (2016 open, 2018 for the MTA or 2018 open 2019 for the Latest offer) NONE OF THAT MATTERS--To me this means that the QOL improvements that I want and DESERVE due to us doing well have to be paid for by giving up something to keep the cost neutral---

5 hr (or 5 10)min day
321 Carve out
Improvements to the Reserve System
Profit Sharing
3.5 Trip Rig
Better Pay Protection
Solid work Rules for PBS

When the contract is amendable--these Items should be FIRST on the list, and I will gladly vote Hell No until we get these AND industry standard pay.

Unfortunately, in this negotiation, NONE OF THESE THINGS ARE AN OPTION--Unless we are willing to pay for it....and I am not willing to go backwards from the MTA rates and rules to buy any of these things yet...

So given that--to boil down the offer that IS on the table--What the company has indicated they want to buy (Doug's 7 items) and what they are willing to pay for it (19% pay raise+4% as blood money to get it done 23"% and 3% raise per year). This is the analysis as I see Doug's 7 Items:

1) One Year Extension--Solid Loss for Pilots

2) Combining of Int/Dom Divisions--Solid Loss for Pilots--with caveats

3) Elimination of Home Based Time--I don't understand this one enough to know what is going on here

4) Vacancy Bids hold from Training--Vacancy Bids will cover multiple months--I don't see this a a loss or gain for either side-simply an alignment/housekeeping function

5) Short Call Report Time--Notwithstanding the chance for management trickery--this seems to be the same boilerplate that is in other contracts (Delta)--Until proven otherwise, I see this as another alignment/housekeeping function

6) Overnight Sim sessions for Landing Currency--AS LONG AS THE PROPOSED COMPANY LANGUAGE STAYS IN AS IS...Another Alignment/Housekeeping/efficiency function--Without the language protection I expect this to be abused by management

7) Benefits Excise Tax--My opinion--NO ONE knows what is going to happen with the ACA/employer mandate/Cadillac medical tax nutroll...I appreciate both the company and the APA at least trying to develop a framework to discuss.

To further edify these Items--1-3 are really the sticking points to the negotiation

Item 1--Getting to a fully amendable contract earlier is better for pilots--we NEED to open up the contract to get gains--what the logic here is--How much are we losing by extending the amendable date one year? and is a 23% raise for the next 4 years enough to offset the loss of one year of amendability? When I ran my numbers here--I used the MTA rates until 2018 then a 28% gain with a new contract until 2020, and I compared it to a 23%+3%/year raise from now until 2020--including on both calcs the raise additions to the 16% pension contribution(I figure Doug will delay at least a year to get us a new contract)--When I ran these numbers--for me I ended up with about 50k more in my pocket at the same time in 2020...At which point the amendability issue is then moot...

Item 2--The Domestic/International fence is a solid loss of 200 widebody positions for pilots--No way around this fact--the only way to make those up is by growth--The way I see this Item--Is that Industry Standard is That this fence will come down at some point due to the fact that AA is the ONLY carrier with the fence--If not in this negotiation, then when the contract is amendable--the company will come back with another offer for this--Unfortunately--If we don't sell it at some point for a fair value--I see this as being extremely vulnerable in arbitration (not necessarily in this arbitration but at some point in the future) due to the industry standard of it not existing anywhere else--personally I would rather sell it now for the pay raise we are getting (The aforementioned portion of 50k/2020), when it WILL NOT mean furloughs. With the attrition right now these positions will be removed without having to actually reduce staff; at some point--when the economy turns and this gets turned off in an arbitration it WILL mean 200 folks get furloughed..

Item 3--I freely admit that I don;t understand this one enough to make an educated decision about it.

So to wrap up this analysis and bottom line it--I will vote yes at this point--It will cost the company 50k extra between now and 2020 to entice me to give up the international/domestic fence and the HBT (Which I am keeping an open mind about)--I am one of the newest folks here to, so most everyone else will get more than me..Everything else in the MTA is as is, and Items 4-7 are simply housekeeping items..

Slings and Arrows....NOW...

 

Worst hotel I've stayed at so far was a La Quinta in PIT. It wasn't great but not bad (5 out of 10). Next is probably the Palos Verdes at LAX (2 out of 10)...the hotel itself is worse than the La Quinta, but the location makes up for it...but we could certainly do far better.

Everything else I've stayed in so far I'd rate a solid 7+ on a 1-10 scale.

 

You obviously haven't stayed at the Hotel Pennsylvania on the long LGA. You never had the pleasure of the Days Inn Bradley. We also stay at a Days Inn on the short BUF. The Holiday Inn Mt. Prospect is pretty bad, too. Every other airline is downtown on their long layovers. We're out in the middle of nowhere, next to Costco.

 

Let's not forget a CLARION as a crew hotel for one of our hubs. Our hotels are lacking but I don't think it's an issue in the proposal.

 

I know you are just trolling but this drives me nuts. Every hotel but one offers free wifi and a free waffle doesnt make up for a two-star hotel. This is not mesa.

 

"Every hotel but one"? I've been to several that don't have free wifi.

 

Congratulations on coming here. You should have a very good career. My advice to you is to focus on doing the very best job while your here because your family depends on it. Enjoy your family while you can and take %99 of what is said from the unions as tripe. The web board is a better and fair source of information ONLY if you can parse the wheat from the chaff. And there is a LOT of chaff!

The best source of information will be your contract and calling the Chief Pilots office for questions. They will be of more help than the union. There is WAY too much negative waves, rhetoric and discord from the APA.

 

The coolness wears off pretty quick, this place is mesa with airbuses.

Here are a list of the nasiest hotels we have.

Days Inn BUF
Hotel Penn LGA
Palos Verdes LAX
Sherry MIA
Pear Tree Inn STL
Best Western SEA
Radisson BDL
Holiday Inn ORD
Circus Circus RNO
Fairfield Inn RSW
Radisson SJU
Millennium BUF
La Quinta PIT
Country Inn MSP
Clarion PHL

These are all I can remember but they are horrible, most are disgustingly filthy and are also in horrible locations. This is what happens when lazy over 55 flight attendants with asses the size of the astrodome make the hotel decisions.

 

No offense but I've always believed life is what you make of it. It can always be better or worse.

Coming off of lots of deployments and working at a regional I have a feeling AA will be much better than "Mesa"

 

We all thought that. Even mesa has a min day.