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Old 04-14-2016 | 07:45 AM
  #13971  
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Last we heard was May new-hire classes were cancelled, presumably to get caught up on OE. Vacancy bid comes out on Friday, there's at least a 767 upgrade class in May.

Director of Training says no interviews until June, at least.

The stuff in the press about the merger being a "done deal" isn't true, at least with respect to the pilot groups. Our VP of Flight Ops claimed the union had sent in an Integrated Seniority List. Um, no.
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Old 04-14-2016 | 07:49 AM
  #13972  
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Originally Posted by captainv
Last we heard was May new-hire classes were cancelled, presumably to get caught up on OE. Vacancy bid comes out on Friday, there's at least a 767 upgrade class in May.

Director of Training says no interviews until June, at least.

The stuff in the press about the merger being a "done deal" isn't true, at least with respect to the pilot groups. Our VP of Flight Ops claimed the union had sent in an Integrated Seniority List. Um, no.
Thanks, feel free to pop up anything else you may hear around the water cooler.
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Old 04-14-2016 | 08:08 AM
  #13973  
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Originally Posted by captainv
Last we heard was May new-hire classes were cancelled, presumably to get caught up on OE. Vacancy bid comes out on Friday, there's at least a 767 upgrade class in May.

Director of Training says no interviews until June, at least.

The stuff in the press about the merger being a "done deal" isn't true, at least with respect to the pilot groups. Our VP of Flight Ops claimed the union had sent in an Integrated Seniority List. Um, no.
Thanks for the intel!
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Old 04-14-2016 | 09:05 AM
  #13974  
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Quiet because word is out on the conditions here and interest dried up. No clue on classes. Sounds like 767 class is still on pause. New bid out tomorrow, so we will see if that shows anything to report. 180+ still in the pool according to email from training.
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Old 04-14-2016 | 09:23 AM
  #13975  
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Latest message from ExCo Chair

Atlas Air and its Senior Vice President Flight Operations Captain Jeffrey Carlson stooped to new lows in their April 7 letter to you. They continue to desperately spin false information without trying to maintain even a modicum of consistency or truthfulness.

Captain Carlson states that AAWW has “completed” its acquisition of Southern Air Inc. and Florida West International Airways. Neither Captain Carlson nor AAWW explain what they mean when they say that the acquisition has been completed. It likely only means that the shareholders have voted to approve the acquisition. If that is all it means, that isn’t much.

It remains our understanding that the Department of Transportation is still evaluating and has not yet granted approval of AAWW’s request for approval of its request for the de facto transfer of its subsidiary carriers’ route authorities. This may be because the DOT, like many others, is concerned that the AAWW-SAI acquisition gives too much control over U.S. carriers by foreign entities – in this case, DHL and LAN Cargo.

The AAWW-SAI acquisition is much more complicated than Captain Carlson and AAWW’s Bill Flynn and John Dietrich have explained to the shareholders and the public. Shareholder approval of an acquisition based on incomplete information regarding those complexities attempts to strip the pilots of our contractual and statutory rights and protections, including our right to negotiate for amended collective bargaining agreements pursuant to the Railway Labor Act.

Captain Carlson’s attempted plea to you concerning the Atlas/Polar CBA successor and merger provisions in CBA Section 1 is full of inaccuracies that have no bearing on what actually is playing out. Captain Carlson says that AAWW intends to pursue a full operational merger of Atlas and Southern and that we are contractually required to terminate our RLA Section 6 contract negotiations and enter into a “finite process” to merge the labor contracts. He states that, after going through a “finite period” of direct negotiations, submitting all unresolved bargaining issues to binding arbitration, where a third-party arbitrator will impose terms on us (without any right for crew members to ratify or reject the terms negotiated) is somehow a fair way to merge multiple contracts that are very different from one another. What Captain Carlson means is that AAWW and its airline subsidiaries intend to obstruct the “finite period” of direct negotiations by refusing to agree to terms and then force a binding arbitration on us, knowing that an arbitrator will most likely impose contractual terms upon you. That is precisely what AAWW did with respect to our current contract and what they want to impose again. His goal and that of this management group is to continually deny us our legal rights to negotiate a CBA.

Captain Carlson and AAWW say that the Atlas contract requires this punitive process; however, he and AAWW are incorrect. The contract does not contemplate, let alone require, that we terminate our RLA Section 6 negotiations and submit to a bargaining charade that Captain Carlson has repeatedly stated is designed to force an arbitration and arbitrator-imposed terms on us. The CBA contemplates a complete operational merger of two carriers. AAWW has informed us that it intends to operationally merge the SAI companies consisting of three holding companies (SAI, Worldwide Air Holdings and Florida West International Holdings) and two carriers (Southern Air and Florida West) into its own holding company (AAWW) and its two certificated carriers (Atlas and Polar). The complexity of the corporate transaction is further compounded by the fact that two separate unions represent the affected pilots, namely the Teamsters and the management-friendly Florida West Pilots Association. When Captain Carlson tells you that management is merely following contractually required procedures, please keep in mind that they are not reading the contract as a whole, but are instead reading excerpts that Captain Carlson and management find convenient.

Captain Carlson has told us that they do not have any idea how AAWW intends to fit Florida West into its operational merger. That is a critical piece of intentionally withheld information. How on earth can management claim in one breath that the acquisition has been completed and that we now have to integrate three separate seniority lists into one and merge three separate contracts into one when, in the next breath, the company says it does not know how Florida West will even fit into the mix? Your guess is as good as mine, but we can be sure that whatever the answer is, AAWW is up to no good for us, our jobs, and our contract.

And that may explain why Captain Carlson seems to be running far away from the term “amalgamation.” Captain Carlson says that the term “amalgamation” in not found in the Atlas and Southern contracts. Captain Carlson is correct that our CBA does not use the term “amalgamation.” The terms “amalgamation” and “merger” mean the same thing. Even if Captain Carlson does not know that, he is contradicting his boss. AAWW CEO Bill Flynn told the AAWW shareholders during the February 18, 2016 earnings call: “our goal is to merge Southern into Atlas, we will amalgamate Southern into Atlas and at the end of that process there will be one collective bargaining agreement and all pilots will be Atlas pilots.”

The term “amalgamation” is avoided because Captain Carlson is trying to make you forget that our current contract is the product of the same contract amalgamation process he and AAWW’s management team so desperately want to impose. He knows that the pilots are dissatisfied with the current amalgamated contract and he wants to trick us into thinking that AAWW’s current strategy of forcing a “merger” of multiple contracts is somehow going to produce the same results as a Section 6 negotiation.

While he tries to split and misuse words, Captain Carlson also lays another whopper out there, namely that the current amalgamated CBA contains arbitrator-imposed terms only with respect to a few “minor” issues, including Scope (job protection). We have heard this nonsense from his boss John Dietrich before. As you all know, Scope is not a minor issue. Along with scheduling and compensation, it forms the very foundation of our contract and greatly influences and protects our careers and our profession. The company forced the arbitrator to decide the scope provisions in our current contract, and it is should be no surprise to anyone that the arbitrator imposed very weak and outdated scope. Ironically, as weak as those scope provisions are, Captain Carlson and AAWW are not even willing to abide by them. The process is far more complicated than Captain Carlson and AAWW would have you believe. Captain Carlson and AAWW’s strategy is to force the same contractual terms upon us through an arbitration which is fraught with the same complicated and punitive issues. Their strategy does not provide a “clear and expeditious” path toward an “expeditious deal.” To the contrary, they promote a process that is long and detrimental all of us.

The union has twice presented AAWW with proposals to realistically achieve the “expeditious deal” that it says it wants, and AAWW has twice rejected them unilaterally. Captain Carlson says our proposals were not in the best interests of AAWW and its shareholders and that we undervalued the cost of those proposals by a factor of four. We strongly disagree and believe that AAWW is intentionally inflating the cost of our proposals by a factor of four. We have requested that Atlas’ financial experts provide us with data to support their claims and to sit down with our own financial experts to reconcile any costing differences. AAWW has refused to provide any financial data to us and our financial experts, despite the fact that fully executed non-disclosure agreements have been in place for quite a long time. I can only conclude that Captain Carlson and AAWW prefer to hide the truth.

And that is exactly what Captain Carlson leaves you with in his letter. He concludes by stating that, “Atlas values the significant contributions that each of you continue to make to the Company’s success and ongoing growth. Your new collective bargaining agreement should be the result of direct negotiations and will recognize your efforts by providing higher wages, continued quality health and welfare benefits, and enhanced quality of life provisions for all Atlas and Southern pilots.” These words are from the same person who has told us to our faces that he and AAWW’s objective is to short-circuit and terminate legitimate collective bargaining under RLA Section 6 by forcing us to submit to an arbitration where an arbitrator will impose contract terms on us that will favor the company and harm the pilots and that the pilots cannot even vote upon! Don’t be deceived by empty words; they want to trample your contractual rights and protections. Remember, Atlas has never had a legitimate Section 6 opportunity in its entire history. We must not let that happen, and we must not let them spread misinformation to support their ill-conceived and illegitimate objectives. I ask that you remain ever attentive and be on the lookout for more of same old, tired arguments designed to deceive you and thwart the legitimate Section 6 rights we deserve.

Fraternally,

Bob Kirchner
Atlas Executive Council Chairman
APA Teamsters Local 1224
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Old 04-14-2016 | 12:46 PM
  #13976  
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Looks like we just took another turn for the worse.....

*** URGENT NEGOTIATION UPDATE ***

Dear Fellow Atlas Crew Members,

There have been some recent developments regarding our collective bargaining negotiations. Yesterday afternoon, AAWW President and CEO Bill Flynn and Atlas Air’s Vice President of Flight Operations Jeff Carlson made an about face and informed us that AAWW does not intend to merge Florida West into a single operation with Southern Air and Atlas/Polar, and that it intends to operate Florida West separately from – and as a parallel operation to – Southern and Atlas. In other words, AAWW intends to operate Florida West as a double-breasted airline to whipsaw the Atlas/Polar and Southern pilots in order to reduce our wages, benefits and job protections.

Mr. Flynn’s announcement regarding Florida West is no less than a declaration of war against the Atlas and Southern Teamsters by AAWW and its leadership. Earlier this year, Mr. Flynn, in a face-to-face meeting with International Brotherhood of Teamsters President James P. Hoffa, stated that AAWW would not attempt to undermine the Teamster-represented Atlas/Polar and Southern pilots by operating any of its carriers, including Florida West, in a parallel, i.e., double-breasted operation. Mr. Flynn did not speak the truth to President Hoffa. His true intentions have now risen to the surface, and it is all too clear that AAWW not only intends to undermine our wages, benefits and other contractual protections, but will say and do anything to achieve their objective. As part of AAWW’s plan, Atlas Air, Inc.’s John Dietrich and Captain Carlson previously terminated our RLA Section 6 negotiations, and Mr. Flynn, in his letter today, has reiterated that this is AAWW’s position going forward.

It is truly disheartening that AAWW is proceeding down its amalgamation rabbit hole and seeking an arbitrator to rescue it from legitimate collective bargaining. AAWW has repeatedly stated that it seeks to avoid legitimate collective bargaining so that an arbitrator will impose contract terms on us. AAWW’s amalgamation–arbitration strategy is designed to deprive us of our right to vote on our next contract. We were deprived of the right to vote on our last contract and now they are attempting to do it again. We must learn from past history and be vigilant in our efforts to combat their strategy. Do not be misled when Messrs. Flynn, Dietrich, Carlson or anyone else tell you that they are following our contract. They are not following the contract and are instead ignoring its terms and the law by maneuvering to get an arbitrator to impose contract terms on you again, with no right to vote on the matter.

Faced with AAWW’s stubborn refusal to bargain with us directly in RLA Section 6 negotiations, we had no choice but to file for mediation with the National Mediation Board (NMB) late yesterday afternoon. This move was made to protect our rights to vote on the next CBA. It is clear that the company is unwilling to engage in any good faith direct negotiations with us; thus we invoked the NMB’s RLA jurisdiction. We steadfastly intend to bargain for an RLA sanctioned, new, amended and lawful contract as the law requires. We will not be deterred in our quest to make sure you are able to vote on the next CBA… that you vote on your future, that you get the chance to decide what is acceptable, and that your aviation career, future and your life not be decided by a third party or by a company that is simply interested in protecting its bottom line and disgustingly large salaries and bonuses for its corporate officers.

I ask you to consider why AAWW and Messrs. Flynn, Dietrich and Carlson are so afraid of giving their pilots a fair choice and a chance to decide on their future. Why do they persist on wasting time and money trying to avoid any legitimate bargaining and deprive us of our right to negotiate and vote upon the terms of our contract? I believe the answers to these questions are clear. The pilots are united in our cause for a fair, legitimate contract, and you fully recognize that AAWW wants to cheat you out of it. I ask you to look in the mirror and decide for yourself if you want to fight back or be left stranded by tyranny and greed. It is time to unite to become even stronger and with even more resolve. It will now take all of us to protect ourselves. Voting and deciding on your fate is an American right. Taking that right away for greed and self-aggrandizement is the opposite.

It is now more critical that all of you vote to give your leadership a complete 100% vote on the upcoming strike vote.

Fraternally,

Bob Kirchner
Atlas Executive Council Chairman
APA Teamsters Local 1224
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Old 04-14-2016 | 03:57 PM
  #13977  
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Once the whipsaw begins, Atlas will furlough while Florida West hires. Amazing how quickly a management team can completely destroy an airline.
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Old 04-14-2016 | 09:27 PM
  #13978  
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Default I would strongly reconsider

This place is Not what was advertised.
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Old 04-15-2016 | 01:58 AM
  #13979  
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From: B737 CA
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Originally Posted by C6vette088
I just sent in my resume! hope to hear back from them soon.
Check your PM
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Old 04-15-2016 | 04:24 AM
  #13980  
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It will be interesting to follow what happens next at Florida West. Can anyone shed some light? I looked at their website and it doesn't even suggest they have any employees or aircraft! Just looks like a shell company with no assets.
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