There was a chart of commuter percentages and relative seniority by base floating around current through the SLI. Someone surely has it. Not sure I want to upload it to my personal server to feed it here though. ... lemme see what I can do.

Sorry for those now forced to commute by the merger as well as those Atlanta residents who will be forced to commute out of "the" hub to New York. Wish they had made this move at the same time as the 320 base start in ATL. Having the flying move to NYC just results in unwanted pin action. Lousy strategery on someone's part.

Guess I'm glad we are going to try to "win" somewhere. Wish we could trade with Alaska and "win" in some place like Portland, or Seattle instead of Jackson Heights & Queens.

 

I just got back from the MEM "road-show". Jim Graham, and Tim Hennie-Roed came over to brief the pilot group. Good presentation. Tim indicated that this AE is going to generate (best guess) slightly over 800 training events. Just thinking out loud, but, if the aircraft were painted Red-tail color, does anyone think this base would be closing? So, how is this not a result of the merger...OTOH, if the merger hadn't occurred, would any of us have jobs today. I dunno. But, if management would honor the entire "paid move" promises that were in the contract (the ones that expired last October), that would go a long way toward easing the pain of the base closure. Hoping that the company will do the right thing, but I'm "watching their lips"....

 

Ya know.. I know you hate all things ALPA, and far be it for me to try and defend it, but this is clearly an apples to bowling balls comparison. Their scope clause was negotiated.. rather... handed down, when they were a small Texas airline with little outside exposure and little prospect at the time for growing beyond what they were. *Poof*.. deregulation happened, and all of a sudden they were on a bigger stage. For years and years, Herb held true to the model that he developed and it served the airline well. They grew and grew and were able to do so within the boundaries set by that scope clause. Good for them. Had nothing to do with SWAPA being a great negotiator or any of the credit like that that you are so fond of giving credit for, but don't let that get in your way. Now they are on a much bigger stage, and we will see how well that scope clause serves them going forward. GK has put a dent in that vaunted culture that they are so proud of, and my bet is that going forward that if SWA wants to continue the high rate of growth to which they (and not inconsequentially Wall Street), had become accustomed, they are going to have to start looking outside the capabilities of 737s. OR.... joint ventures/code shares, etc... In other words.. they have reached critical mass. Let's see if their management puts that scope clause on the table in their next negotiations, or if SWAPA is willing to accept mediocre growth for their membership.. But let's turn this into a discussion of how incompetent ALPA is....

/no sarcasm necessary

 

It's okay, T. I know you have a burr up your butt about SWA.

In case you haven't been counting, deregulation happened a long time ago.

Oh... and ALPA IS incompetent. I don't hate them. I just don't think they have demonstrated an ability to appropriately represent us. That's my assessment. It's not personal... it's just business.

 

Maybe I do have some preconceptions about SWA, but the fact remains that they have been beneficiaries of a company that stayed within it's original model, and thus the scope restrictions that they got (before deregulation) have never been in any jeopardy. This merger proved that that may no longer be the case. Especially if management wants continued growth. I can't see management allowing their hands to be tied in this manner going forward, but ya never know. Maybe SWAPA will tell them to pack sand, and go on strike..

 

Okay. Fair enough. But just so we are clear... are you saying that keeping flying at mainline "ties management's hands" and that outsourcing is required for growth? You sound like Lee Moak!

Also, I just want to reemphasize that the mass outsourcing of our jobs occurred well after deregulation took effect. I recognize your point that DAL and SWA have had different business models and somewhat different circumstances.

 

Whipper snapper? That may be the nicest thing you've ever said to me

 

Don't put words in my mouth. When I talked about tying management's hands, the SWA/AT merger is proof that SWA's scope clause does just that. Why else would MANAGEMENT hand down the SLI proposal, AND put a gun to the heads of the AT pilots?

/digression

I was not talking about OUR situation. But you know that...

 

No, actually I didn't. Thanks for clarifying.

 

According to the Nov seniority list Mem has:

Age 60+ 12
Age 55-60 43
Age 50-55 46
Age 44-50 15