APA Leader Blasts 'Culture Gone Awry'
01-25-2016 | 07:41 PM
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APA Leader Blasts 'Culture Gone Awry'
Forbes Welcome
__________________________________________________ ___
American Airlines Pilot Union Leader Blasts 'Culture Gone Awry' After US Airways Merger.
The president of the American Airlines pilots union is blasting the airline for an “on the cheap” philosophy, and ranking it below Delta and United for employee relations, after a series of contractual disputes.
“We have all witnessed a culture gone awry,” Keith Wilson, president of the Allied Pilots Association, wrote Saturday in a letter to the airline’s 15,000 pilots.
Titled “Going for the Bronze?,” Wilson ranks American third among the three global carriers as a result of “industry-trailing total compensation (including United Airlines, whose pilots just inked a two-year contract extension); fatiguing and low quality of life trips; degraded hotels; paycheck miscalculations; {pilot scheduling} (and) obsession with D-zero door slamming on all customers and non-rev passengers under heavy threat of discipline for non-compliance.”
Wilson also cited failures in vacation scheduling software and paycheck software that has resulted in checks that understated earnings and incorrectly withheld income tax and 401 (k) contributions. Also, the legacy American and legacy US Airways contracts have not been fully reconciled. One result: over the weekend, legacy US Airway pilots were not paid for trips that weather prevented, while legacy American pilots were.
An American spokesperson said many of the problems cited by Wilson will be resolved when the airline’s new consolidated flight operating system is fully implemented this fall.
For now, Delta is regularly commended for setting a high labor standard in the airline industry, even though most employees are not unionized and 65% of its pilots rejected a tentative contract agreement in July. The parties returned to the table last month.
Last month, a Delta pilot returned to the gate in Minneapolis to enable a family to make it to a Memphis funeral after their Phoenix-Minneapolis flight was delayed. The pilot was widely praised. Although Wilson cited “obsession with D-zero door-slamming in his letter,” American CEO Doug Parker apparently said recently, at an employee meeting, that pilots have the ability to delay departures for cause,
Last week 79% of United’s pilots approved a two-year contract extension, which is viewed as a sign that CEO Oscar Munoz is making rapid progress in improving the carrier’s labor relations.
The support of the APA, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants and the Transport Workers Union was crucial in the effort by Parker and his America West management team, which was running US Airways, to take over American during the carrier’s bankruptcy.
In January 2015, 66% of American pilots approved a five-year contract that provided a 23% pay raise and 3% annual raises. But implementation of various contract provisions has been flawed, Wilson wrote in his letter.
Management refuses “to invest in both the employees and airline’s infrastructure,” Wilson said. “The misalignment of management goals is beginning to bleed over to both our operational performance and customer service.”
Additionally, Wilson criticized Parker’s aversion to profit sharing. Parker has said repeatedly that employee compensation should not depend on the unpredictable exogenous factors that determine airline profitability, but his position can be difficult to defend at a time of record airline profitability.
According to Wilson, Parker told employees at a recent town hall meeting, “When you sign a contract, ‘that’s the deal, that’s it,’ adding there will be no ‘leapfrogging’ considered until the next contract.
__________________________________________________ ___
American Airlines Pilot Union Leader Blasts 'Culture Gone Awry' After US Airways Merger.
The president of the American Airlines pilots union is blasting the airline for an “on the cheap” philosophy, and ranking it below Delta and United for employee relations, after a series of contractual disputes.
“We have all witnessed a culture gone awry,” Keith Wilson, president of the Allied Pilots Association, wrote Saturday in a letter to the airline’s 15,000 pilots.
Titled “Going for the Bronze?,” Wilson ranks American third among the three global carriers as a result of “industry-trailing total compensation (including United Airlines, whose pilots just inked a two-year contract extension); fatiguing and low quality of life trips; degraded hotels; paycheck miscalculations; {pilot scheduling} (and) obsession with D-zero door slamming on all customers and non-rev passengers under heavy threat of discipline for non-compliance.”
Wilson also cited failures in vacation scheduling software and paycheck software that has resulted in checks that understated earnings and incorrectly withheld income tax and 401 (k) contributions. Also, the legacy American and legacy US Airways contracts have not been fully reconciled. One result: over the weekend, legacy US Airway pilots were not paid for trips that weather prevented, while legacy American pilots were.
An American spokesperson said many of the problems cited by Wilson will be resolved when the airline’s new consolidated flight operating system is fully implemented this fall.
For now, Delta is regularly commended for setting a high labor standard in the airline industry, even though most employees are not unionized and 65% of its pilots rejected a tentative contract agreement in July. The parties returned to the table last month.
Last month, a Delta pilot returned to the gate in Minneapolis to enable a family to make it to a Memphis funeral after their Phoenix-Minneapolis flight was delayed. The pilot was widely praised. Although Wilson cited “obsession with D-zero door-slamming in his letter,” American CEO Doug Parker apparently said recently, at an employee meeting, that pilots have the ability to delay departures for cause,
Last week 79% of United’s pilots approved a two-year contract extension, which is viewed as a sign that CEO Oscar Munoz is making rapid progress in improving the carrier’s labor relations.
The support of the APA, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants and the Transport Workers Union was crucial in the effort by Parker and his America West management team, which was running US Airways, to take over American during the carrier’s bankruptcy.
In January 2015, 66% of American pilots approved a five-year contract that provided a 23% pay raise and 3% annual raises. But implementation of various contract provisions has been flawed, Wilson wrote in his letter.
Management refuses “to invest in both the employees and airline’s infrastructure,” Wilson said. “The misalignment of management goals is beginning to bleed over to both our operational performance and customer service.”
Additionally, Wilson criticized Parker’s aversion to profit sharing. Parker has said repeatedly that employee compensation should not depend on the unpredictable exogenous factors that determine airline profitability, but his position can be difficult to defend at a time of record airline profitability.
According to Wilson, Parker told employees at a recent town hall meeting, “When you sign a contract, ‘that’s the deal, that’s it,’ adding there will be no ‘leapfrogging’ considered until the next contract.
01-25-2016 | 10:31 PM
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Forbes Welcome
__________________________________________________ ___
American Airlines Pilot Union Leader Blasts 'Culture Gone Awry' After US Airways Merger.
The president of the American Airlines pilots union is blasting the airline for an “on the cheap” philosophy, and ranking it below Delta and United for employee relations, after a series of contractual disputes.
“We have all witnessed a culture gone awry,” Keith Wilson, president of the Allied Pilots Association, wrote Saturday in a letter to the airline’s 15,000 pilots.
Titled “Going for the Bronze?,” Wilson ranks American third among the three global carriers as a result of “industry-trailing total compensation (including United Airlines, whose pilots just inked a two-year contract extension); fatiguing and low quality of life trips; degraded hotels; paycheck miscalculations; {pilot scheduling} (and) obsession with D-zero door slamming on all customers and non-rev passengers under heavy threat of discipline for non-compliance.”
Wilson also cited failures in vacation scheduling software and paycheck software that has resulted in checks that understated earnings and incorrectly withheld income tax and 401 (k) contributions. Also, the legacy American and legacy US Airways contracts have not been fully reconciled. One result: over the weekend, legacy US Airway pilots were not paid for trips that weather prevented, while legacy American pilots were.
An American spokesperson said many of the problems cited by Wilson will be resolved when the airline’s new consolidated flight operating system is fully implemented this fall.
For now, Delta is regularly commended for setting a high labor standard in the airline industry, even though most employees are not unionized and 65% of its pilots rejected a tentative contract agreement in July. The parties returned to the table last month.
Last month, a Delta pilot returned to the gate in Minneapolis to enable a family to make it to a Memphis funeral after their Phoenix-Minneapolis flight was delayed. The pilot was widely praised. Although Wilson cited “obsession with D-zero door-slamming in his letter,” American CEO Doug Parker apparently said recently, at an employee meeting, that pilots have the ability to delay departures for cause,
Last week 79% of United’s pilots approved a two-year contract extension, which is viewed as a sign that CEO Oscar Munoz is making rapid progress in improving the carrier’s labor relations.
The support of the APA, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants and the Transport Workers Union was crucial in the effort by Parker and his America West management team, which was running US Airways, to take over American during the carrier’s bankruptcy.
In January 2015, 66% of American pilots approved a five-year contract that provided a 23% pay raise and 3% annual raises. But implementation of various contract provisions has been flawed, Wilson wrote in his letter.
Management refuses “to invest in both the employees and airline’s infrastructure,” Wilson said. “The misalignment of management goals is beginning to bleed over to both our operational performance and customer service.”
Additionally, Wilson criticized Parker’s aversion to profit sharing. Parker has said repeatedly that employee compensation should not depend on the unpredictable exogenous factors that determine airline profitability, but his position can be difficult to defend at a time of record airline profitability.
According to Wilson, Parker told employees at a recent town hall meeting, “When you sign a contract, ‘that’s the deal, that’s it,’ adding there will be no ‘leapfrogging’ considered until the next contract.
__________________________________________________ ___
American Airlines Pilot Union Leader Blasts 'Culture Gone Awry' After US Airways Merger.
The president of the American Airlines pilots union is blasting the airline for an “on the cheap” philosophy, and ranking it below Delta and United for employee relations, after a series of contractual disputes.
“We have all witnessed a culture gone awry,” Keith Wilson, president of the Allied Pilots Association, wrote Saturday in a letter to the airline’s 15,000 pilots.
Titled “Going for the Bronze?,” Wilson ranks American third among the three global carriers as a result of “industry-trailing total compensation (including United Airlines, whose pilots just inked a two-year contract extension); fatiguing and low quality of life trips; degraded hotels; paycheck miscalculations; {pilot scheduling} (and) obsession with D-zero door slamming on all customers and non-rev passengers under heavy threat of discipline for non-compliance.”
Wilson also cited failures in vacation scheduling software and paycheck software that has resulted in checks that understated earnings and incorrectly withheld income tax and 401 (k) contributions. Also, the legacy American and legacy US Airways contracts have not been fully reconciled. One result: over the weekend, legacy US Airway pilots were not paid for trips that weather prevented, while legacy American pilots were.
An American spokesperson said many of the problems cited by Wilson will be resolved when the airline’s new consolidated flight operating system is fully implemented this fall.
For now, Delta is regularly commended for setting a high labor standard in the airline industry, even though most employees are not unionized and 65% of its pilots rejected a tentative contract agreement in July. The parties returned to the table last month.
Last month, a Delta pilot returned to the gate in Minneapolis to enable a family to make it to a Memphis funeral after their Phoenix-Minneapolis flight was delayed. The pilot was widely praised. Although Wilson cited “obsession with D-zero door-slamming in his letter,” American CEO Doug Parker apparently said recently, at an employee meeting, that pilots have the ability to delay departures for cause,
Last week 79% of United’s pilots approved a two-year contract extension, which is viewed as a sign that CEO Oscar Munoz is making rapid progress in improving the carrier’s labor relations.
The support of the APA, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants and the Transport Workers Union was crucial in the effort by Parker and his America West management team, which was running US Airways, to take over American during the carrier’s bankruptcy.
In January 2015, 66% of American pilots approved a five-year contract that provided a 23% pay raise and 3% annual raises. But implementation of various contract provisions has been flawed, Wilson wrote in his letter.
Management refuses “to invest in both the employees and airline’s infrastructure,” Wilson said. “The misalignment of management goals is beginning to bleed over to both our operational performance and customer service.”
Additionally, Wilson criticized Parker’s aversion to profit sharing. Parker has said repeatedly that employee compensation should not depend on the unpredictable exogenous factors that determine airline profitability, but his position can be difficult to defend at a time of record airline profitability.
According to Wilson, Parker told employees at a recent town hall meeting, “When you sign a contract, ‘that’s the deal, that’s it,’ adding there will be no ‘leapfrogging’ considered until the next contract.
I say this separately from seniority issues.
Not one word from the PHX pilots you company men voted for this POS JCBA something like 97% yes. Not one word about this unmitigated disaster.
01-26-2016 | 12:07 AM
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Huh?
I thought APA CHOSE pay over profit sharing during bankruptcy - or am I wrong... I thought AA was pushing for it? I'm confused!
Profit sharing actually can be good for management - labor costs become more variable, so a negative situation economically is easier to deal with.
Of course, AA must be laughing to the bank right now without it. The amount of money they are making at the top has got to mind blowing...
Schnurman: At American, workers choose raises over a piece of the profits | Dallas Morning News
I thought APA CHOSE pay over profit sharing during bankruptcy - or am I wrong... I thought AA was pushing for it? I'm confused!
Profit sharing actually can be good for management - labor costs become more variable, so a negative situation economically is easier to deal with.
Of course, AA must be laughing to the bank right now without it. The amount of money they are making at the top has got to mind blowing...
Schnurman: At American, workers choose raises over a piece of the profits | Dallas Morning News
01-26-2016 | 04:31 AM
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This wasn't even a "Delta pilot".
Last month, a Delta pilot returned to the gate in Minneapolis to enable a family to make it to a Memphis funeral after their Phoenix-Minneapolis flight was delayed. The pilot was widely praised. Although Wilson cited “obsession with D-zero door-slamming in his letter,” American CEO Doug Parker apparently said recently, at an employee meeting, that pilots have the ability to delay departures for cause,
Last month, a Delta pilot returned to the gate in Minneapolis to enable a family to make it to a Memphis funeral after their Phoenix-Minneapolis flight was delayed. The pilot was widely praised. Although Wilson cited “obsession with D-zero door-slamming in his letter,” American CEO Doug Parker apparently said recently, at an employee meeting, that pilots have the ability to delay departures for cause,
01-26-2016 | 04:42 AM
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Unity is gone and you get what you've got.
And you guys think its bad now, just wait until 2020. With one year gone by so far, no seniority list yet (and just wait and see what happens when it DOES get here) and implementing it along with PBS this fall or Spring of 2017 what leverage do we have then?
Pilot shortage? HAH! There's plenty of pilots to do your job flying for commuters. I can think of several ways to help this company pare down the need for pilots at anytime. Training everyone to seat swap (CQFO) is one way to say: you fly it or someone else will.
I'm ready for it and its coming. The APA is living in the 19th century.
01-26-2016 | 04:46 AM
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https://www.alliedpilots.org/AboutUs
"Minimize the impact of Chapter 11 reorganization on the career expectations of our (original APA) pilots."
Eat SH!T and suck it up APA pilots. I support the New American now.
"Minimize the impact of Chapter 11 reorganization on the career expectations of our (original APA) pilots."
Eat SH!T and suck it up APA pilots. I support the New American now.
01-26-2016 | 06:02 AM
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66, in reading the last two posts, you seem to be implying that unity is lost in significant part because AAPSIC won't place the interests of LUS pilots over LAA pilots in the seniority integration and thus there will never be the unity that could be if this was done ?
I think it's unrealistic for anyone to expect any of the three integration committee's to represent anyone other then their own pilots interests. The arbitrators will decide what is equitable, but even with that, many won't be satisfied. As for unity among AA pilots, that was lost a long time ago irrespective of the SLI as a result of a systemic absentee landlord reality within the APA leadership coupled with self-interest and apathy among many of the pilots. Reckless irresponsibility has only been intensified as the Cacheral incident demonstrated and that's a byproduct of what all three pilot groups bring to the new representational table.
All this SLI has done for LAA pilots and APA is put our depressing pre-merger representational situation on steroids considering the dysfunctionality brought from the LUS pilots which looking soberingly at the history there is even worse then pre-merger APA/AA pilots. Combined, it will prove to be an unmitigated disaster IMO. The Hatfields and McCoy's will almost certainly be in escalated warfare once the SLI comes out as one way or another, one of the two parties is going to get the hose by either inclusion of the pure Nic or absence of it and that bad blood alone among these two pre-merger LUS groups will fester for years until the old legacy East slowly vaporizes and that's from BOTH a representation and line pilot position. I think the next 7 years or so will actually be the worst before it starts to get better.
Since most pilots here are of the age and seniority where they'll be gone within 10 years, we are especially vulnerable to more bad then good, so IMO all should brace themselves for a disappointing and frustrating period and obsessing over what another integration committee proposed isn't going to be a healthy place. In true "bronze" fashion, we'll aim low and have a better chance of at least making the final 3 in the future (Delta -Gold, United - Silver, the new AA - Bronze). Personally, I think it will be interesting to watch Parker try to make the new AA into something that can compete and provide a comparable product to Delta let alone the increasing presence of foreign carriers (especially the Gulf carriers) considering what he's adding into the ingredient mix here and I don't see how he can do it with wrapping paper alone as he seems to be alienating far too many of the front line employees more as each day goes on. But, he's got a penchant for outsourcing, so perhaps that is his plan to compete in the future ?
As for "supporting the new American now", hey, that's great, but you do realize that as one of 100,000 front line employees, your efforts and support have zero impact on profitability, yes ? That being the case according to Parker, I guess it will have to remain an emotional support with no tangible, intrinsic benefit to you as I don't think you'll get one more dime of inclusion or compensation because of it.
Just my .02...........
I think it's unrealistic for anyone to expect any of the three integration committee's to represent anyone other then their own pilots interests. The arbitrators will decide what is equitable, but even with that, many won't be satisfied. As for unity among AA pilots, that was lost a long time ago irrespective of the SLI as a result of a systemic absentee landlord reality within the APA leadership coupled with self-interest and apathy among many of the pilots. Reckless irresponsibility has only been intensified as the Cacheral incident demonstrated and that's a byproduct of what all three pilot groups bring to the new representational table.
All this SLI has done for LAA pilots and APA is put our depressing pre-merger representational situation on steroids considering the dysfunctionality brought from the LUS pilots which looking soberingly at the history there is even worse then pre-merger APA/AA pilots. Combined, it will prove to be an unmitigated disaster IMO. The Hatfields and McCoy's will almost certainly be in escalated warfare once the SLI comes out as one way or another, one of the two parties is going to get the hose by either inclusion of the pure Nic or absence of it and that bad blood alone among these two pre-merger LUS groups will fester for years until the old legacy East slowly vaporizes and that's from BOTH a representation and line pilot position. I think the next 7 years or so will actually be the worst before it starts to get better.
Since most pilots here are of the age and seniority where they'll be gone within 10 years, we are especially vulnerable to more bad then good, so IMO all should brace themselves for a disappointing and frustrating period and obsessing over what another integration committee proposed isn't going to be a healthy place. In true "bronze" fashion, we'll aim low and have a better chance of at least making the final 3 in the future (Delta -Gold, United - Silver, the new AA - Bronze). Personally, I think it will be interesting to watch Parker try to make the new AA into something that can compete and provide a comparable product to Delta let alone the increasing presence of foreign carriers (especially the Gulf carriers) considering what he's adding into the ingredient mix here and I don't see how he can do it with wrapping paper alone as he seems to be alienating far too many of the front line employees more as each day goes on. But, he's got a penchant for outsourcing, so perhaps that is his plan to compete in the future ?
As for "supporting the new American now", hey, that's great, but you do realize that as one of 100,000 front line employees, your efforts and support have zero impact on profitability, yes ? That being the case according to Parker, I guess it will have to remain an emotional support with no tangible, intrinsic benefit to you as I don't think you'll get one more dime of inclusion or compensation because of it.
Just my .02...........
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