Omni Air Pilot Negotiations update
 

Latest update from the IBT lawyers about where the pilot group and company stand on negotiations. Same playbook every company uses.

Fellow Omni Pilots,

In our last update, we told you that the Company had walked away from the bargaining table. After making two ultimatums on what it was willing to pay you, the Company was done pretending to bargain. We discussed that the Company had ten days to file for mediation – and that if it did not file within those ten days, it would release both parties from their obligation to maintain the status quo. The company could implement a substandard contract and the pilots could strike.

Today – the last day of the NMB’s work week before the ten days expire – the company notified the union that it had applied for mediation. We don’t know why the company waited until the 11th hour to complete what is a simple application form – but it certainly has the appearance of further attempting to drag out the process and wear down the pilot group.

And that’s too bad. We've spoken with a number of Omni pilots who have delayed career moves based on a hope or expectation that our expedited negotiations would bear results. They just wanted to see if Omni would agree to fix their problems in a reasonable timeframe.

By applying for mediation today, the company has slammed the door shut on those efforts. We have no idea how long mediation will take. We can tell you that the Kalitta Air pilots just spent over three years in mediation – they filed for mediation in August 2013 and only started working under a new CBA in January 2017. If our mediation follows a similar trajectory, we’ll be done in 2020, with the company pocketing the savings gained by treating you worse than all of your peers during the delay.

Of course, the industry has changed since Kalitta entered mediation. As other carriers work with labor to improve their contracts to attract and retain pilots, Omni has chosen a different path.

We have significant resources in our union that we will be taking to mediation, and will continue our efforts to get you the contract that you deserve. We cannot and should not expect government involvement in our negotiations to solve our problems. Our success will continue to depend on the strength of this pilot group and our ability to speak with one voice.

We’ll share more news as it becomes available. In the meantime, stay strong, stay united – and if you have questions, ask a member of the Negotiating Committee or EXCO.

Fraternally,

Omni Air Negotiations Committee
APA Teamsters Local 1224

Career progression to where.... as a greeter at K-Mart? YGBSM:eek:

A First Officer at Omni could do better as a Regional Captain with regard to pay. A fifth year international widebody captain at Omni is about the same pay rate as an RJ captain!

The pilots at Omni are top notch when it comes to worldwide flying experience and other airlines have recognized this, so the experience level at Omni will be leaving. Time for Omni to go over their Risk Assessment levels of the operation and increase the insurance liability, because inability and lack of experience is going to show it's ugly head sooner then later.

I, for one, will admit that my job prospecting has become more active since last December. Omni has made it known just how much they value their experienced pilots with a bit of longevity with the company. The last 12 months of negotiations made it seem that positive changes were on the horizon, but to my dismay, I was wrong. All the pilots at Omni are top-notch and are worth every bit of industry standard pay and benefits. It's a damn shame that we all have to leave to achieve that.

Lately, several Omni guys have gone to UPS, Atlas and other carriers who like widebody international experience. One even has a class date at Lynden. That alone should tell you something.

I personally know several who were waiting out the contract. I expect all of them to leave now.

What the new hires here at Omni don't realize is that they will only get about 200-250 hours of flying a year. The rest of the time is spent doing nothing in hotel rooms. They need to consider this if they are trying to build time for the majors. Stay at the regionals to build up your time. People have been turned down because they don't get enough flight time in a year, typed or not.

Plus 2/3 of that time will be as "paper *****" and not at the controls. Your lucky to get 10 landings a year at Omni. No Duty Rig, no need to be crew efficient.

Plus.... when you go to work on day 1 of your trip, you will find the travel dept booked you last minute travel in a middle seat half way around the world. You will sit in a hotel for days on end. Then a 1 leg trip with a heavy crew will pop up, and someone other then you needs the landing. You will again sit in a hotel until the last minute middle seat is booked for your travel home.

The only good thing about sitting in a hotel in the middle of nowhere with all the other Short Call Omni pilots. It gives you a chance to talk about who is hiring and fill out those online applications and get the logbooks up to date. Things that you never have time to do at home.