Cactus,

Do you think then Teamster President Ron Carey had a personal vendetta against UPS in 1997? Carey and his father both worked for UPS. Carey held a one day strike when UPS increased weight limits to 150 lbs.. 75% of the Union members crossed the picket lines and worked that time. Then Carey led the first national strike against UPS in 1997. Did you know that the the main hangup in negotiations was the Multi Employer pension fund that was Teamster controlled? UPS wanted to set up a separate pension fund for UPS members and would not have to pay for pensions of competitors such as Considated Freightways (out of business since then) Roadway, Yellow (both had to merge and filed bankruptcy). You can see where I'm going with this. The Teamsters were faced with a major problem if UPS funded a separate pension from the multiemployer pension fund the union wanted. UPS was the largest source of funding for the Teamster Mulit Employer Pension fund.

UPS ended up paying the union $6.1 billion dollars to get out of the multi employer pension fund that they contributed on average over $4 billion per year. The multiemployer Union pension fund accounting was based on last man standing paid for the fund account. Have a look at how many Union trucking companies have gone out of business. UPS has had to fund their pensions until they were able to get out of the multi employer pension fund that was Teamster controlled.

What I meant "Great Opportunity" was when the Union struck UPS could have changed the way they did business, hired scabs and became essentially a non union workforce. Think of how many people would have jumped at a truck driving job making 60k plus. Instead the srike was settled after 17 days and UPS created more union jobs. When UPS bought Overnite, Overnite was a non union shop. The Teamsters spent years trying to organize Overnite with very marginal success. After UPS purchasing Overnight and converting it to UPS Freight, Overnight became a union shop and they are now Teamster drivers making more than what they did.


I along with you have seen different unions, we have something in common with the Steel Workers Union.

 

Agree on parking the 727/classic 747.
UPS chooses to turn down profitable business that FedEX, Atlas, Polar, Southern, et all grab. UPS just doesn't like the profit margin. Some of this business is cost plus guaranteed profits with capability to write off extra expenses.

UPS could have kept DC-8's on the property that already had the expensive heavy checks completed. The $150 million write off for the shutdown was plenty of cash to do the heavy checks on the rest with cash to spare.

Management chose to turn away profitable business, furlough employees, and hamstring themselves on lift capability for business that they readily turn down.

As a leader, not simply a manager, one would question why ones competitors are ramping up to grab marketshare and UPS is selectively reducing capabilty to respond to the market.

UPS management failed to capitalize on the opportunity with the IPA. The IPA was willing to hand over the cash. The opportunity to extrapolate that cooperation could have produced hundreds of millions in savings for our company through the following years. That opportunity is forever lost because management pulled the rug out.

UPS could have had pilots like Southwest, but UPS chose to furlough instead. The junior 300 were the biggest fans of UPS and the most loyal until they realized they had been played.

Perhaps one can argue that turning down lower yield, but very profitable business is smart.

One can argue that furloughing fathers on Father's Day is good management.

Perhaps one can argue that shrinking to profitably is clever why competitors (FedEx) grab market share and secure the capital equipment (777's) to capture the rebounding market internationally.

Perhaps we lowly line pilots are missing the big picture, but I look at our customers as the source of my paycheck, same source for managers. I look at the financials, and follow our customers choices. Add it up, and management has made some poor calculations. Who are the leaders and who are the managers?

If I were running the airline, would lead it, not simply manage it. Would remove the barriers to the lower level management FQS and give them more authority. Instead, UPS limits them to narrow lanes. Talent abounds throughout the ranks, but the unions are looked at with suspicion, and now even the most loyal UPS pilots were, and are, being furloughed.
Not a good business environment. Am sure FedEx account execs loves telling
UPS customers that we are shrinking fleet capabilty and furloughing, while they brag about reduced transit times and motivated crews.

Leadership anyone?

 

back button blues

 

Emphasis The airline argues that those numbers are misleading and largely irrelevant

It also explains that the third-quarter 2007 figures reflect tax and impairment charges "from the retirement and sale of our classic fleets."

$117.5 million loss for the 12 months ended Sept. 30, 2007

Care to explain the 12 month loss? International is a separate division. The Airline gets paid for hauling between countries. There are more profiatable options such as Atlas and Kalitta but it would impact customers. Do you know how long International took to become profitable? Do you know how much money was lost during that time?

Do you know how a package picked up in Hong Kong and delivered to Los Angeles is divided up amongst UPS International, UPS Airlines, UPS Corporate (Tracking, Technology, Ect) All the UPS ground Centers that handle the package, customs? I'm sure I missed some on that packages trip.

Just because the airline has a package onboard doesn't mean that the airline gets all the revenue and profit from that package. It is divided amongst many.

Remember a few years ago when the IPA had the campaign about UPS using China Airlines?

IPA Press Release 10/25/2004

72 Percent of Americans Oppose UPS Outsourcing Pilot Labor to China Airlines

Louisville, Oct 25, 2004 – “Why would UPS, which owns the safest airline in the world, outsource the flying of cargo from the Far East into Middle America on one of the world’s most dangerous airlines,” asked Captain Tom Nicholson, President of the Independent Pilots Association.

The IPA recently discovered that UPS Supply Chain Solutions has been outsourcing more than 300 flights a year, on a single route, from its own airline to China Airlines. Six times a week, under the cover of darkness, a China Airlines 747 arrives in Nashville to deliver 60 tons of cargo to one of America’s largest computer manufacturers. Until August 2001, these flights were made by FedEx, but that’s when UPS Supply Chain Solutions won the contract and created a freight forwarding package that outsourced the flying to China Airlines.

“The 2,500 UPS pilots have an unblemished safety record. China Airlines uses foreign aircrews that are not required to go through the same background checks as American pilots,” said Capt. Nicholson. He went on to say, “China Airlines is not a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization.”

In the last decade, China Airlines has lost four wide-body jets at the cost of 688 lives. China Airlines’ latest crash in May of 2002 was a Boeing 747 bound for Hong Kong that broke up in mid-flight, killing all 225 aboard.

“Night after night China Airlines flies cargo into America that has not been screened to the to the U.S. standard, if it has been screened at all,” said Capt. Nicholson.

A survey of more than 1,000 American adults conducted earlier this month revealed that 83 percent of Americans are opposed to allowing China Airlines to fly their cargo planes into the United States. The survey also found that more than 72 percent of Americans are opposed to UPS outsourcing pilot labor to China Airlines.

Survey methodology: Random sample of 1,016 American adults aged 18 and older. Margin of error is +/- 3% at the 95% confidence level. Interviews were conducted by telephone from Oct 6 through 10, 2004. Interviews were completed by International Communications Research of Media, Pennsylvania at the direction of FrederickPolls, LLC, an Arlington, Virginia-based opinion research firm.

The IPA is the collective bargaining unit for the 2,500 professional pilots who fly the 268 heavy jet UPS fleet. IPA pilots fly more than 1,890 UPS flight segments every day to multiple points over five continents. In addition to being the world’s largest transportation company, UPS is also the world’s eleventh largest airline.

UPS SCS has their own P&L that they are responsable for. If it is not profitable to ship via UPS Airlines they will use other carriers. UPS Airlines dictates what is to be charged in order to fill space and make profit. UPS SCS is a broker among other things. They have to compete and be profitable in order to stay in business.

The IPA failed to mention that the China Airlines flights wereACMI flown by an American Company by American Pilots operated under the Dynasty call sign. There was no outsourcing to forign labor like the IPA stated. The IPA painted this horrible picture which wasn't the case at all. These flights were operated for Dell Computers.

 

A unique perspective ... perhaps.

But absolutely no insight to the recent past, present or future workings of UPS Airlines. Other than second hand info.

That explains a lot ...

 

You've proved my point. When the next hiring "wave" begins at UPS one will be best served to avoid them. You never know what they will outsource next and how many jobs they will eliminate to improve management bonuses. The pride of wearing the brown uniform doesn't mean a thing. As soon as they get out of sight of the customer it could be anyone handling your package.

The growth will be at UPS contract carriers. That's where I would apply.

 

My user name explains alot "Soyathink"= "So you Think"

I had seen long before UPS became an airline and used contractors. Where were you?

All I'm saying is it has been this way long before there was a UPS Airlines. The company will make the union look bad and the union will make the company look bad. Who are the ones caught in the middle?

 

Where were you before 1988? UPS used contractors then. UPS used other airlines before that. Why would they go back?

Again economy, FAA Age 65 and hiring. I'd swear some of you think UPS can predict the future.

 

Depends ... Probably working on a dock/warehouse loading trucks to pay for college/flight training.

Just like I will be in a few months (if I am lucky enough to find work). Wishing I had stayed at an "unstable" passenger airline.

 

No, they SWEAR they have the future predicted out to 2015.