Originally Posted by Jack Bauer (Post 1189064)

Listen, RA is a smart guy. He sees the on time numbers getting better, good write ups in Fortune, etc and the brand getting good recognition. The ability to get your employees on board where others are failing shows good leadership.

Let him/management know that things could get ugly (no more constructive engagement, letter writing, smooth/on time operations) if he doesn't step up and spend a few more dollars to do this right. The pilots are due. Its time. No more games.

I believe RA wants to keep the happy MOJO flowing forward and in fact it will be one of the keys to success. If he loses the pilots along the way the whole operation can jump the tracks. A lot of pilots I have flow with the past several years have worked hard to do all they could to be on time and make the customers happy with the idea there is a payout coming. If that doesn't happen everybody stops caring.

The problem is, the guys on the NC/ALPA have potentially gotten so cozy with management and caught up in the whole "we are setting history getting a deal done so fast" that they may not be willing to say "Hey this is an insult. You are about to have over 10,000 pi$$ed off pilots that can have a very negative effect on the bottom line and the goodwill created up until this point....you can still make billions of dollars even if you pay your pilots a wage that will keep them content along with work rules/scope they can live with.

Originally Posted by scambo1 (Post 1189059)

Bar;

I have to assume that this line of posting is either playing a devil's advocate role or that your ALPA love is getting the best of you.

You ask what force, some are made of carbon.

Originally Posted by Ball Breaker (Post 1188958)

The numbers mean far less to me than Scope and work rules.

If we fixed other areas (rigs, min day, vacation, training, reserve pay....) W2s could improve significantly. IMO, we've already gave up enough 76 seaters. Scope and work rules are difficult to recapture.

Originally Posted by finis72 (Post 1189073)

Scambo, Bar has a valid and big picture view. There are 3 other legacy carriers in extended negotiations with no end in sight. AA pilots on average will give up 45 k this year alone if the APA had accepted 5%/year when they started negotiations( compounding is a wonderful thing). Not saying I agree completely with Bar but if the company stonewalls us we could still be in negotiations when this TA is amendable and that's money you might never get back. Now if the NMB releases UCAl for self help and they're allowed to strike maybe we can make bigger gains. Personally I don't see that happening anytime soon.
If the TA comes to us we all get a say with our vote, hopefully it is better than rumored.

Originally Posted by forgot to bid (Post 1189072)

Thanks to the RLA time is never on our side, we have no leverage when it comes to time that I can think of.

We're being handed that leverage right now for a reason beyond what I'd care to contemplate about. Do we use it?

Hopefully we did already. I'm not buying into any numbers until it's published, it's frankly a waste of energy.

Originally Posted by scambo1 (Post 1189082)

Bar is generally very well thought out.

If the company stonewalls us, fine. It is their opportunity that brought us here and that is one element from which we draw leverage.

The rumored TA pay wont pass muster. If it is the best the NC could do with one day to negotiate, great. In that case, they should take more days, weeks or months.

Personally, I can't believe they would deliver this low of a payrate. As had been said before, RA is a smart guy. He opened this pandoras box of expedited negotiation, he can't close it on the cheap.

If this rumor is true and passes the MEC, not only will there be a loss of labor peace, but there will be painful upheaval in other areas.

I for one can't believe this rumor is accurate.