I can top that "logic" what if it passes and they dont come to the table for twelve years?

 

How about we reject the money and act like a crew force that doesnt trade it leverage for pennies.

 

What if you hit rotate speed, pull back on the yoke, and the left wing breaks off?

Grow a pair. This is our problem as a crew force - we are absolutely chicken$h1t!!!

PIPE

 

LMAO! Good one.

 

This is not fear-mongering?

 

Just a few comments that might be worth a mention.

1. The 2011 Federal Guideline for Food Stamps in 48 States is $2,150/mo. for a family of 5. Welcome aboard new hires. You qualify.

2. Although FX is based in MEM and many of the decision makers--on BOTH sides--rarely leave Shelby county, 60-70% of us commute. Also, many of us fly overseas. The following represent the loss in buying power for our international pilots during the currently contract:

1 USD/Japanese Yen: Jun '07 122.6. Now 82. Down 33%
1 USD/Euro: Jun '10 .83 Now .72 Down 13%
1 USD/Brazilian Real Jan '09 2.4 Now 1.65 Down 32%

The list goes on. Here are a few examples of this years daily Federal per diem Rates (Meals/Incidentals only): CDG $166, NRT $227, SIN $161, HKG $144, CAN $137. A .20/hr increase is--hold on--$4.80 a day. That's earth-shattering. Fred's gonna buy us half a Coke.

3. 4a2b. My blood pressure rises just thinking about it. It's now been bastardized into a scheduling tool. Too many stories out there of people taking $40k hits, or losing $75k by selling their house through the company program. Guys are highly ****ed off about this. We couldn't fix 4a2b, but found time to tweak the discipline section?

4. Seems the last of the good deals involves SIBA, int'l d/h's, and long layovers. Opening another FDA just means they go the way of the domestic double d/h weekend layover. Sure, I'd like to see the company do well, and the FDA guys need some relief. But somehow I think skeds will get a lot more than 3% out of us here. Yes, they can open it anyway under Section 6. Put new hires there, or do 4 or 5 failed bids again. The insurance company will love it. Whatever.

They say the growth is in international, but due to neglect it seems that we're to the point where there is now more money in domestic flying. In the end 4a2b is the deal killer for me.

 

Come on, talk about anything but the criminal TRAINING PAY, do you really expect our NC to try and waste capital on this? First year pay is about 60K, so for 6-8 weeks they have to tough it out at 2k. I agree, should be raised at least to the equivalent of 1st year at guarantee, but to spread stuff like you qualify for food stamps is childish. Why don't you go post that stuff on the regional board? It is definitely applicable for some of the pilots there, that is criminal.

It really dilutes your other concerns in my opinion.

 

It is not my intent to create fear. However, the fact that there is a lot of risk to the economy right now is just a fact. Calling that "fear mongering" would be like telling a building designer in Los Angeles to ignore considering earthquakes in their design because that would just be based on fear of an unknown event that might not happen in a hundred years! Do you call that "fear-mongering" also?

To ignore the clear risk to the economy when making decisions here on the TA is like building your home on a fault line without any consideration to earthquakes. In fact, the odds of a significant earthquake at any one location is significantly lower during any time period than the current risk of economic downturn.

 

WSJ quotes Warren Buffet and Birkshire Hathaway's MFG DEPT as doubling their PROFIT last year to $2.5 Billion in 2010. Several articles involving WB point to an improving economy. Our own CEO, FWS also points to an improving economy on our own website. But what do these two knuckleheads know?

Nevertheless, vote on what this contract has or has not. I see this contract as an FDA bump (because the previous low ball (best we can get) offer was insufficient incentive to get pilots to move to HKG and ultimately execute the business plan as it was designed. (4 bids that could not be filled (even under threat of furlough) and ultimately having to DH crews to theater First Class (burning 30 credit hrs round trip for the DH).....not exactly efficient.

This is being traded for a COLA.

The FDA is something the company wants because they have already experimented with the current FDA numbers and found out that they look great on paper (on the expense ledger), but it isn't enough to attract enough pilots to bid the FDA. They now know that they have to put more cheese on the rat trap to get pilots to take the bait.

I propose take the FDA enhancement out of the equation for a moment and see what remains.....Safety programs (we have to negotiate safety?) 4.A.2.b half hearted, band-aid, fix? 3% COLA (that with The Federal Reserve and QE and QE2, and projected inflation, might not be enough COLA?)

I am reminded of the mental image of the little old lady in the Wendy's hamburger commercials screaming, "Where's the BEEF???!!!!"


Sorry NC (FDX and ALPA), you can do better than this.

 

All those profit numbers are economic gains are obviously true. The real risk to the economy with the events in the middle east over the past month or so are also true. It will be many months before we know how 2011 will go.

I do want to make one comment on the safety programs. Have you read them?

Not all safety programs are created equal. AA and DL have set the benchmark. Most carriers have ASAP, but most are not on par with AA or DL, or even close. The ASAP in the TA would set a new, higher, bar. The company might come back in the future with a "boiler plate" ASAP and FOQA. The names the same, but it ends there.

So, should we consider the safety programs as part of this mix? In light of the above, I think we would be foolish not to.