I've been saying the same thing for the last two months and talking to the union and they basically said to shut up. They have not cared. I think you are right and they realize the DHL is not going to save the bottom 100 to 200 guys. I had an ACP say he has seen a manpower planning slide that puts us 300 fat with the 5 to 7% drawdown that is going to be announced in early Jan along with the movement of the MD to more Domestic flying. Most people still think it can't happen

 

UPS today said its third-quarter net income fell to $970 million, or 96 cents a share, from $1.08 billion, or $1.02 a share, from the year-ago period.

I'm not a smart man, but I'd say those are still pretty damn good numbers...no? Open time ban, cold and flu season, perhaps some Favres retire...I don't have zero worry but the threat seems pretty low on the radar right now...hope I'm right.

 

I hope you are right too ...

It seems that some of the discomfort from the junior crowd (ourselves included), is that our fears largely go ignored by the union. Just blanket statements that UPS has never furloughed before, the IPA will call for an open time ban, etc ... statements that don't address the facts of the situation in this economy.

In spite of those large earning numbers, if UPS feels they can run the airline with fewer pilots ... they will furlough. That's where the rubber meets the road !

 

I have some good friends over there and that'd be a real shame. Best of luck to ya!

 

ALPA pointed to a UPS website that “explains how DHL
customers can ensure that their packages will get to their destinations by
switching now to UPS.”
"This website reveals the true nature of this deal, which was never designed
to provide better package delivery services to the North American public,"
said Capt. John Prater, president of ALPA. "Congress needs to get to the
bottom of this deal, which is bad for the already struggling U.S. economy."

I friggin hate ALPA. I will be calling them today to tell them to stick it where the sun don't shine. I haven't paid ALPA dues in over a year and they still send me all their trash. I sent quite a few messages a year ago asking them to take me off their list. Of course, I was just an RJ guy so I was ignored. I now take a black marker, circle ALPA on the piece of media, draw an arrow to the side, and write "is a Joke". Then I write, "return to sender." They don't even care about that. They just continue to waste member's money by mailing me all their crap. Makes me feel better though .

 

What do you want the union to do?

 

Having been from the ALPA furlough class of '90 I can relate. The only two good things from ALPA at USAir for me was the drunken dinner they threw for us at (I think) a Cork n' Cleaver in PIT as a newhire in '89 (our class set the record for bar tab ) and the magazine after I was laid off. While the furlough was the result of USAir management and Gulf War I, USAir ALPA sold us out for senior pilot interests keeping us on the street five years longer than we should have been. Fortunately most of us found other jobs and didn't put any faith in what has traditionally been a captain's club revolving around UAL and DAL. While I see why some end up with them as opposed to Teamsters, I'll take IPA any day, magazine or not. If it comes down to that I think you'll be surprised at how we come together to keep guys on property...keep in mind a high percentage of us have already been there. But I do have to say the good numbers don't hurt, and by the end of November labor will get their first lesson in Barry 101 when he says "ALPA who?".

 

Me personally ? Nada ...

I've gotten the furlough t-shirt elsewhere. I realise there is nothing the IPA can do about it anyway.

I have witnessed how uneffective open time bans are. Furloughs and downgrades create a perfect storm for labor unrest and bickering amongst ourselves. Management's wet dream ... as if any labor group needs another reason to turn against one another in the current environment.

I was merely pointing out that apparently other junior members feel left out in the cold about the lack of info. Or maybe it is the denials about the possibility of a furlough. Maybe they just want the IPA to admit that UPS will furlough if faced with the wrong economic circumstances. That's all that I could expect from them ...

But what do I want the union to do for me ... enforce the contract, monitor MEF and contractor flying, etc, etc ... just the normal business of running the union.

I don't expect any sideshows and/or promises if a furlough is announced.

I am generally prepared for the worse ... and cautiously hope for the best.

Later, Brown CC

 

how about fully disclosing the relationship that IPA has with CAPA. CAPA is supporting blocking the deal between DHL-UPS. How is the "IPA" supporting you?

if the contract happens or doesn't happen, IPA- us- should not be supporting with our resources blocking this deal.

 

Well for starters they can get the toilet cleaned in the ANC gateway...

over 500 male pilots based there and 1 toilet for use. You can use your own imagination on what it looks like....

oh and enforce scope issues....."Yangtze River Express" so many cans you can't count them...