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Envoy Airlines Regional Airline

EAGLE Letter to management

Old 03-27-2014, 03:28 AM
  #21  
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Originally Posted by Bzzt View Post
Read both sides, the truth is somewhere in the middle. This is true with pretty much anything. There really is no trust between management and the pilots and there honestly shouldn't be considering all the stuff that has gone on since AMR declared bankruptcy. I for one am ready for all this garbage to be over, yes or no, it really doesn't matter.
I tell you what- when mgt point for point rebuts Gavin's points, we'll THEN have both sides and can <point for point> see where the middle is. But you see, mgt won't rebut it, because they can't. Facts are facts. BK filings are legal documents, as are Arbitrations and Awards.

You've obviously not been here long if you think the malfeasance started only during the bk.

I'm with you that I'll be glad when this is over. Thankfully I'll be tied up today getting taxes done so will be too busy for to participate in the full court press by the Stockholm Syndrome crowd.
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Old 03-27-2014, 03:33 AM
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Old 05-10-2019, 05:11 AM
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Default EAGLE Letter to management

Originally Posted by buddies8 View Post
We had holly's biased view, I figured this biased view was better.

Better written also;



Mr. Fábregas,



I am in receipt of your clarification letter dated March 13, 2014 which enclosed a ten page document of excuses, rationalizations, illogical conclusions and the usual threats that the American Eagle pilots have been constantly forced to endure by a management that has no vision, expertize or business plan.



After carefully reading your 10 page document I came to the conclusion that it is nothing more than cheap bribery and clumsy blackmail. Management is once again trying to bribe the American Eagle pilots with a career at American Airlines in exchange for a long term concessionary agreement, and if the pilots refuse to take the bribe, management has threatened to drawdown American Eagle Airlines and financially harm the pilots.



In 1997 American Eagle management demanded a sixteen-year (16-year), industry average, arbitrator amended agreement. If the pilots did not agree to the 16-year Agreement, management threatened to not deploy any regional jets at American Eagle Airlines and the Eagle pilots would not be entitled to “flow-through” to AA because a Flow-Through pilot had to be jet qualified. Management stated that the regional jets would be deployed at Mesa Airlines.



As justification for demanding a sixteen-year agreement management stated that labor peace and industry average pilot costs would allow for stability and growth and position American Eagle Airlines to be the leading regional airline in the United States. Page 2 of the Pilot Agreement still, to this day, states:



The Association and the airlines operating as American Eagle (the Company) are desirous of promoting harmony, trust and confidence in the workplace, and working together towards our common goals of stability, economic opportunity, growth and advancement.



The sixteen-year agreement had not even reached its full term when management forced American Eagle Airlines into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2011.



In each successive amendment round of the 16-year agreement, 2000, 2004, 2008, management demanded concessions and work rule changes. There was no stability, economic opportunity, growth or advancement, there was just decline. Even before the 16-year agreement’s final amendment round of 2012, management was demanding even more concessions from the pilots. It was called Plan B and it was in anticipation of the divestiture of American Eagle Airlines, so management claimed.



It was during the negotiations for Plan B that management transferred every American Eagle Airlines’ aircraft to American Airlines, no doubt a part of the planned imminent bankruptcy filing, and striped the American Eagle pilots of their Scope Protection which required that in the event operating assets were transferred away from American Eagle Airlines, the pilots operating those assets would be transferred with the assets. Every American Eagle pilot should have contractually transferred to American Airlines when the Eagle aircraft were transferred to AA.



While ALPA and management were actively promoting and selling Plan B, management placed American Eagle Airlines into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Management seized on the opportunity presented by the bankruptcy filing to extort further concessions from the American Eagle pilots. Management used the threat of a Section 1113 bankruptcy court filing to coerce the pilots into agreeing to the concessions demanded by management.



In its motion urging the bankruptcy court to accept the new concessionary CBA (Eight-Year Agreement) management testified as follows. Below are excerpts from bankruptcy court docket #5716.



“The New CBA consensually resolves numerous issues and provides for the implementation of a collective bargaining agreement that Eagle believes appropriately recognizes the concerns of Eagle’s pilots while providing the Debtors with the necessary savings essential to their long-term viability and profitability.”



“This provision in the Settlement Letter was heavily negotiated and represents appropriate compensation for, inter alia, very significant work rule changes and contract modifications agreed to by the pilots.”



“The New CBA is fair and justified by the level of concessions and other restructuring benefits granted by the pilots. The New CBA will generate significant annual cost savings to Eagle (approximately $43.1 million, annually), coupled with many other provisions that substantially strengthen its operational and corporate flexibility.”



“For all of the reasons set forth above, Eagle’s decision to enter into the New CBA is in the best interests of Eagle, the other Debtors, and all of their economic stakeholders. The decision plainly reflects the sound business judgment of Eagle and the other Debtors. As noted, from the moment the New CBA becomes effective, these agreements will save Eagle and the other Debtors approximately $43.1 million a year and create significant operational efficiencies, which are vital to Eagle’s and the other Debtors’ transformation and long-term viability.”



More importantly, the New CBA, as management called it, has the following duration, also from the bankruptcy court filing by management.



“Eight years from the date of signing provided that, no earlier than February 1, 2016 but no later than March 1, 2016 (the “Amendment Round”), either party may serve written notice specifying which provisions of the CBA the party proposes to be deleted, added or amended, as provided in Section 30 of the New CBA.”



The “No earlier than February 1, 2016” did not last more than one year and management is back demanding further concessions. In less than one year the transformation, long-term viability and profitability of American Eagle Airlines that management testified to in bankruptcy court has evaporated, and management is back demanding more concessions and once again threatening the American Eagle pilots.



In your ten page document under the title of Flow Through and Job Security you patronizingly state:



“This agreement helps pilots achieve the lofty goal of flying for the top airline in the world – American- and consequently enjoying all the advantages and benefits that will bring (sic) to pilots and their families.”



Letter 3 had the same lofty goals and management violated Letter 3 at every opportunity it could, which resulted in numerous grievances and arbitrations. In 2010, thirteen years after agreeing to Letter 3, management was once again found, by an arbitrator, to have violated the terms and conditions of Letter 3.



In March 1997, the American Eagle pilots were assured by management that every American Eagle pilot, on the property at the time (1995 pilots), would transfer to AA in five years. In fifteen years, less than 500 pilots were given the opportunity to transfer to AA.



In note 2 of your document, when discussing why this new flow-through agreement (as you call it) is different from the last one, you state.



“Even prior to 9/11, the airline industry was having significant financial problems – the 9/11 terrorist attacks just accelerated and intensified them.”



This is complete nonsense. In the period prior to 9/11 American Airlines hired more than 2500 new-hire pilots off-the-street and placed 2300 TWA LLC pilots on the American Airlines Pilot Seniority List. One hundred and twenty four (124) American Eagle pilots transferred to AA and another approximately three hundred and eighty four (384) pilots were issued AA pilot seniority numbers.



The language, intent and assurances of Letter 3 was that a minimum of one out of every two new hire positions in a new hire class at AA would be offered to American Eagle pilots. Management grasped the benefits of the 16-Year Agreement, but when it came time to honor the commitment it made to the pilots under Letter 3, management violated Letter 3 continuously.



Note 4 of your document you state that “If pilots ratify this agreement, not only will our own pilots stop leaving for carriers other than American, but we will see more pilots apply for positions with Envoy.” Concessions are demanded from the American Eagle pilots because of management’s failure to staff American Eagle Airlines?



In your document you devote eight paragraphs to the fleet commitment as though this is something unique and unheard of in the airline industry. How do airlines, who wish to stay in business, not have long range fleet commitment? How else would you run a successful airline if there was not a fleet commitment?



In the bankruptcy court filing referred to above, management testified to the transformation and long-term viability and profitability of American Eagle Airlines. How exactly was management going to transform American Eagle Airlines to assure long-term viability and profitability without a fleet that served the regional airline market? I am sure management did not perjure itself in bankruptcy court by making numerous false statements.



Multiple documents exist wherein both management and ALPA assured the American Eagle pilots that if they ratified the 8-Year Agreement, American Eagle Airlines would be re-fleeted.



In your ten page document you claim that the reason that management is back demanding more concessions from the American Eagle pilots and a new 10-year Agreement is that “American’s merger with US Airways has completely changed the landscape. There is a management team in place with strategies and ideas that are different than what was put forward in bankruptcy.”



Airline labor agreements are governed by the Railway Labor Act and there is a specific procedure required for changing rates of pay, rules, and working conditions. Part of that procedure depends on the agreed amendment process. The American Eagle pilots have an 8-Year Agreement with an amendment round beginning no earlier than February 2016. The fact that a merger occurred and a new management team is in place, which has different strategies and ideas, is not a rational argument as to why management is once again demanding concessions and threatening the American Eagle pilots. It is an excuse by an opportunistic management team.



In your document, note 16 you ask “Why believe us?”



We do not! American Eagle Airlines’ management has violated every agreement it has signed. The current 10-year Tentative Agreement will be no different. History will repeat itself. The pilots only have to review the history of Letter 3, the 16-Year Agreement, Plan B and the 8-Year Agreement to understand that management will find some excuse, rationalization or illogical conclusion, when it suits management in the future, to once again demand concessions and changes to the 10-Year Pilot Agreement



I sincerely trust that the American Eagle pilots will not reward management’s duplicity and threatening behavior by ratifying the Tentative Agreement. It is time management lived up to its promises, assurances, commitments and signed agreements.



Sincerely,

Bump...

Great read. How factual was the above?

Can anyone explain the Plan B situation further.
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Old 05-10-2019, 07:49 AM
  #24  
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Just out of curiosity, when did I post that?
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Old 05-10-2019, 08:36 AM
  #25  
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Default EAGLE Letter to management

Originally Posted by buddies8 View Post
Just out of curiosity, when did I post that?


Back on 03/26/2014

Reading back for historical perspectives.
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Old 05-10-2019, 11:25 AM
  #26  
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Yeap, he wrote a good one.
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Old 05-10-2019, 12:01 PM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by buddies8 View Post
Yeap, he wrote a good one.
A stroll down memory (nightmare) lane....
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Old 05-11-2019, 12:16 PM
  #28  
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From: Xxxxx [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: '[email protected]'

Subject: Your "What's next" letter of February 20, 2014

Jim,

In your latest February 20, 2014 letter “What’s next?” addressed to “Attention all American Eagle Pilots” you concluded with “Please feel free to email or call with any questions or comments”. I have accepted your offer.

What you failed to address in your “What’s next” letter is the lack of trust and confidence the American Eagle pilots have in the former and current American Eagle Airlines management team.

A significant factor in the pilot’s vocal rejection of management’s latest 10-year demands is that lack of trust and confidence the majority of the pilots have in management.

In the second paragraph of your letter you state “While I don’t agree with the concept that 5 members of the MEC can make the determination of what is best for the entire pilot group, the company respects their decision to do so”. I found your statement to be ludicrous.

If you review the corporate governance of the American Airlines Group (AAG) you will find that eight (8) individuals, Douglas Parker, Scott Kirby, Robert Isom, Elise Eberwein, Beverley Goulet, Stephan Johnson, Derek Kerr, Maya Leibman and William Ris daily make the determination of what is best for the entire AAG employee group, more than one hundred thousand (100,000) individuals, as well as thousands of investors.

If you found fault with five (5) pilot elected members of the MEC, keeping within the by-laws of the Air Line Pilots Association, making the determination for 2800 pilots, I presume you similarly do not agree with the concept that 8 management individuals can make the determination of what is best for the entire employee group, as well as every investor.

The five (5) members of the MEC who made the determination for 2800 pilots had a legitimate reason for voting as they did; besides the unacceptability of management’s latest demands, they clearly recognized that management was engaged in a fear, uncertainty and doubt campaign and management, to force its demands on the pilots through coercion, was fomenting discord between the Eagle employee groups and creating a hostile work environment for the pilots.

The majority of the MEC were correct in rejecting management’s demands and repudiating management’s underhanded actions.

Notwithstanding the above I have attached two documents authored by you. The first is an undated letter “To All American Eagle and Executive Airlines Pilots”. As a rough guess as to the date you wrote the letter, I filed the letter on September 28, 2012.

The second document is a HI6 message from you dated October 11, 2012 similarly addressed to the “Attention All American Eagle and Executive Airlines Pilots”.

The first document, the letter (attached), was written by you when you were attempting to coerce the American Eagle pilots to vote for the bankruptcy restructuring Eight (8) Year Tentative Agreement and threatening a Section 1113 filing if the pilots did not agree to the eight-year concessionary bankruptcy tentative agreement.

On the first page, fourth paragraph, you stated “Each one of you needs to carefully examine the facts, and make your decision based off of what is best for you, and determine what is the best path to save jobs and increase flying opportunities for American Eagle”.

On the second page, first paragraph, you stated “American has already begun to diversify their regional feed, as they have repeatedly stated. We must be in a position to competitively bid for this flying, and we need to do this through a timely, consensual agreement. I don’t believe any of us wants a judge determining our fate”.

You cannot deny that when you said save jobs and increase flying opportunities for American Eagle and to competitively bid for this flying you were referring to GROWTH at American Eagle Airlines and the deployment of large regional jets.

At the time you were actively selling the Eight (8) Year Tentative Agreement, September 2012, American Airlines was not planning on the future deployment of small regional jets, so the flying to which you were referring when you said “increase flying opportunities” could only be referring to large regional jets.

Your reference to a judge determining the fate of the American Eagle pilots was a direct obtuse reference to the threatened Section 1113 filing.

The American Eagle pilots unfortunately, trusting in management, ratified the Eight (8) Year bankruptcy restructuring Agreement. Part of that agreement was the assurance, by you and other management personnel, of the deployment of large regional jets at American Eagle Airlines. Dan Garton, on March 21, 2012 stated, “But achieving competitive costs is absolutely necessary in order for us to justify American’s investment in new aircraft for Eagle to operate on its behalf” and on January 23, 2013, Dan Garton stated the following “Eagle is on track to achieve our own business plan, which projects the replacement of our smaller jets with larger equipment.”

Motions filed in bankruptcy court included affidavits by management personnel (Beverley Goulet and Cathy McCann) of the importance of American Eagle Airlines to the restructuring of American Airlines and why achieving the concessions contained in the management term sheets was imperative for the continued viability and increased growth of American Eagle Airlines. The Eight (8) Year Tentative Agreement ratified by the pilots was one of the concessionary agreements demanded by management for the successful restructuring of American Airlines.

In your October 11, 2012 HI6 message (attached) to the pilots you stated “I want to take this opportunity to thank each of you for your support of the recent ratification of our Tentative Agreement. This is an important part of our restructuring process, and with this foundation in place, Eagle will continue to be a primary provider of feed to AA and allow us to participate in their regional flying transition, as well as it positions us for growth”.

You cannot deny that when you said Eagle will continue to be a primary provider of feed to AA and allow us to participate in their regional flying transition, as well as it positions us for growth you were referring to the transition to larger regional jet equipment and growth at American Eagle Airlines. The regional flying transition at AA was not to smaller regional jet equipment, the status quo or the shrinking of American Eagle Airlines, it was to larger regional jet equipment and growth.

This brings me back to your latest letter dated February 20, 2014.

On the second page of your letter you state “I think those of you who spoke with Dee Temples or myself, while we were doing road shows, will recall that we stated that the CRJ’s will probably go away with either a yes or no vote. With a yes vote they would have gone away to be replaced by EMB 175’s, however, there would have been a net gain of aircraft as we would have taken in more EMBs than CRJs leaving the airline.”

How do you now truthfully justify and defend your remarks above, which indicate the contraction (less aircraft = less flying) of American Eagle Airlines when you, in 2012, while actively selling the Eight (8) Year bankruptcy Agreement, actively assured the American Eagle pilots that if they ratified the eight-year agreement it would save jobs and increase flying opportunities, allow Eagle to competitively bid for AA flying, continue Eagle as a primary provider of regional feed to AA, as well as position Eagle for growth? Your words not mine.

One year six months later you are now singing a different tune and telling the pilots that American Eagle Airlines will “shrink” and there will be less aircraft which equates to less flying and less flying opportunities and American Airlines will now place the EMB 175’s at other regional airlines.

Not only did you assure the American Eagle pilots of the growth at the airline if they ratified the concessionary Eight (8) Year Tentative Agreement, numerous statements were made in the bankruptcy court assuring the judge that should all the unionized labor groups agree to the concessionary bankruptcy demands, American Eagle would retain much of its AA feed and also bid on new flying.

The mildest statement is from Docket 5336: “If restructuring is successful, however, Eagle will retain much of its AA flying and also intends to bid on new flying with more competitive costs. If it wins, it will help ensure the viability of the airline for the long haul and preserve jobs.”

There were numerous more forceful declarations made in the bankruptcy court. One year and six months later management has forgotten what it testified to in the Bankruptcy Court?

The excuses that there is a new management team at AAG and the regional airline industry is dynamic are weak and duplicitous and as such, intelligent people, such as the American Eagle pilots, will summarily reject those arguments, as was recently evidenced.

Management, you included, threatened the pilots and demanded they agree to the Eight (8) Year bankruptcy concessionary tentative agreement in exchange for the deployment of large regional jets and growth at American Eagle Airlines. Less than one year and six months later management is attempting to renege on its eight-year contractual commitments and assurances and because the pilots refuse to “buy” what they previously “bought” with the Eight (8) Year Agreement, management now adopts a pedantic, petulant and puerile attitude and finds fault with the majority of the pilots, and the majority of the elected members of the MEC for not casually discarding a signed eight-year contract and agreeing to a revised more concessionary ten-year contract.

If management wanted an eighteen (18) month or a two (2) year contract, management should have filed an eighteen (18) month or two (2) year term sheet in the bankruptcy court, and not demanded an eight (8) year contract because it suited management at the time. Collective Bargaining Agreements under the Railway Labor Act are a serious commitment and cannot be casually discarded at the whim of management.

Your contention, in your latest letter, “With a no vote, we do not expect to have the number of applicants we would have had with the EMB order and the enhanced flow-through to AA” is laughable. If pilots do not apply to work at American Eagle Airlines it has nothing to do with flying a shiny new tinny little jet or waiting for 10 years to flow-through to American Airlines, it is because they see no future at this airline, even in the short term, and that is a management failure, not a pilot failure. Even as a stepping stone, the uncertainty at American Eagle is not worth a new hire pilot wasting his or her time, in the event he or she is never hired at a major airline, when other regional airline managements are committed to running successful regional airlines for the long haul.

Until management works to restore the trust and confidence of the majority of the Eagle pilots, the continued threats of the demise of American Eagle Airlines will fall on deaf ears. The only pilots listening are new hire pilots looking for a flying career somewhere else. The majority of the Eagle pilots will gladly help management shut down American Eagle Airlines, if that is management’s goal.

Sincerely,

xxxxx xxxxxxxxx
Employee #xxxxxx
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Old 05-11-2019, 02:32 PM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by E190 Driver View Post
From: Xxxxx [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: '[email protected]'

Subject: Your "What's next" letter of February 20, 2014

Jim,

In your latest February 20, 2014 letter “What’s next?” addressed to “Attention all American Eagle Pilots” you concluded with “Please feel free to email or call with any questions or comments”. I have accepted your offer.

What you failed to address in your “What’s next” letter is the lack of trust and confidence the American Eagle pilots have in the former and current American Eagle Airlines management team.

A significant factor in the pilot’s vocal rejection of management’s latest 10-year demands is that lack of trust and confidence the majority of the pilots have in management.

In the second paragraph of your letter you state “While I don’t agree with the concept that 5 members of the MEC can make the determination of what is best for the entire pilot group, the company respects their decision to do so”. I found your statement to be ludicrous.

If you review the corporate governance of the American Airlines Group (AAG) you will find that eight (8) individuals, Douglas Parker, Scott Kirby, Robert Isom, Elise Eberwein, Beverley Goulet, Stephan Johnson, Derek Kerr, Maya Leibman and William Ris daily make the determination of what is best for the entire AAG employee group, more than one hundred thousand (100,000) individuals, as well as thousands of investors.

If you found fault with five (5) pilot elected members of the MEC, keeping within the by-laws of the Air Line Pilots Association, making the determination for 2800 pilots, I presume you similarly do not agree with the concept that 8 management individuals can make the determination of what is best for the entire employee group, as well as every investor.

The five (5) members of the MEC who made the determination for 2800 pilots had a legitimate reason for voting as they did; besides the unacceptability of management’s latest demands, they clearly recognized that management was engaged in a fear, uncertainty and doubt campaign and management, to force its demands on the pilots through coercion, was fomenting discord between the Eagle employee groups and creating a hostile work environment for the pilots.

The majority of the MEC were correct in rejecting management’s demands and repudiating management’s underhanded actions.

Notwithstanding the above I have attached two documents authored by you. The first is an undated letter “To All American Eagle and Executive Airlines Pilots”. As a rough guess as to the date you wrote the letter, I filed the letter on September 28, 2012.

The second document is a HI6 message from you dated October 11, 2012 similarly addressed to the “Attention All American Eagle and Executive Airlines Pilots”.

The first document, the letter (attached), was written by you when you were attempting to coerce the American Eagle pilots to vote for the bankruptcy restructuring Eight (8) Year Tentative Agreement and threatening a Section 1113 filing if the pilots did not agree to the eight-year concessionary bankruptcy tentative agreement.

On the first page, fourth paragraph, you stated “Each one of you needs to carefully examine the facts, and make your decision based off of what is best for you, and determine what is the best path to save jobs and increase flying opportunities for American Eagle”.

On the second page, first paragraph, you stated “American has already begun to diversify their regional feed, as they have repeatedly stated. We must be in a position to competitively bid for this flying, and we need to do this through a timely, consensual agreement. I don’t believe any of us wants a judge determining our fate”.

You cannot deny that when you said save jobs and increase flying opportunities for American Eagle and to competitively bid for this flying you were referring to GROWTH at American Eagle Airlines and the deployment of large regional jets.

At the time you were actively selling the Eight (8) Year Tentative Agreement, September 2012, American Airlines was not planning on the future deployment of small regional jets, so the flying to which you were referring when you said “increase flying opportunities” could only be referring to large regional jets.

Your reference to a judge determining the fate of the American Eagle pilots was a direct obtuse reference to the threatened Section 1113 filing.

The American Eagle pilots unfortunately, trusting in management, ratified the Eight (8) Year bankruptcy restructuring Agreement. Part of that agreement was the assurance, by you and other management personnel, of the deployment of large regional jets at American Eagle Airlines. Dan Garton, on March 21, 2012 stated, “But achieving competitive costs is absolutely necessary in order for us to justify American’s investment in new aircraft for Eagle to operate on its behalf” and on January 23, 2013, Dan Garton stated the following “Eagle is on track to achieve our own business plan, which projects the replacement of our smaller jets with larger equipment.”

Motions filed in bankruptcy court included affidavits by management personnel (Beverley Goulet and Cathy McCann) of the importance of American Eagle Airlines to the restructuring of American Airlines and why achieving the concessions contained in the management term sheets was imperative for the continued viability and increased growth of American Eagle Airlines. The Eight (8) Year Tentative Agreement ratified by the pilots was one of the concessionary agreements demanded by management for the successful restructuring of American Airlines.

In your October 11, 2012 HI6 message (attached) to the pilots you stated “I want to take this opportunity to thank each of you for your support of the recent ratification of our Tentative Agreement. This is an important part of our restructuring process, and with this foundation in place, Eagle will continue to be a primary provider of feed to AA and allow us to participate in their regional flying transition, as well as it positions us for growth”.

You cannot deny that when you said Eagle will continue to be a primary provider of feed to AA and allow us to participate in their regional flying transition, as well as it positions us for growth you were referring to the transition to larger regional jet equipment and growth at American Eagle Airlines. The regional flying transition at AA was not to smaller regional jet equipment, the status quo or the shrinking of American Eagle Airlines, it was to larger regional jet equipment and growth.

This brings me back to your latest letter dated February 20, 2014.

On the second page of your letter you state “I think those of you who spoke with Dee Temples or myself, while we were doing road shows, will recall that we stated that the CRJ’s will probably go away with either a yes or no vote. With a yes vote they would have gone away to be replaced by EMB 175’s, however, there would have been a net gain of aircraft as we would have taken in more EMBs than CRJs leaving the airline.”

How do you now truthfully justify and defend your remarks above, which indicate the contraction (less aircraft = less flying) of American Eagle Airlines when you, in 2012, while actively selling the Eight (8) Year bankruptcy Agreement, actively assured the American Eagle pilots that if they ratified the eight-year agreement it would save jobs and increase flying opportunities, allow Eagle to competitively bid for AA flying, continue Eagle as a primary provider of regional feed to AA, as well as position Eagle for growth? Your words not mine.

One year six months later you are now singing a different tune and telling the pilots that American Eagle Airlines will “shrink” and there will be less aircraft which equates to less flying and less flying opportunities and American Airlines will now place the EMB 175’s at other regional airlines.

Not only did you assure the American Eagle pilots of the growth at the airline if they ratified the concessionary Eight (8) Year Tentative Agreement, numerous statements were made in the bankruptcy court assuring the judge that should all the unionized labor groups agree to the concessionary bankruptcy demands, American Eagle would retain much of its AA feed and also bid on new flying.

The mildest statement is from Docket 5336: “If restructuring is successful, however, Eagle will retain much of its AA flying and also intends to bid on new flying with more competitive costs. If it wins, it will help ensure the viability of the airline for the long haul and preserve jobs.”

There were numerous more forceful declarations made in the bankruptcy court. One year and six months later management has forgotten what it testified to in the Bankruptcy Court?

The excuses that there is a new management team at AAG and the regional airline industry is dynamic are weak and duplicitous and as such, intelligent people, such as the American Eagle pilots, will summarily reject those arguments, as was recently evidenced.

Management, you included, threatened the pilots and demanded they agree to the Eight (8) Year bankruptcy concessionary tentative agreement in exchange for the deployment of large regional jets and growth at American Eagle Airlines. Less than one year and six months later management is attempting to renege on its eight-year contractual commitments and assurances and because the pilots refuse to “buy” what they previously “bought” with the Eight (8) Year Agreement, management now adopts a pedantic, petulant and puerile attitude and finds fault with the majority of the pilots, and the majority of the elected members of the MEC for not casually discarding a signed eight-year contract and agreeing to a revised more concessionary ten-year contract.

If management wanted an eighteen (18) month or a two (2) year contract, management should have filed an eighteen (18) month or two (2) year term sheet in the bankruptcy court, and not demanded an eight (8) year contract because it suited management at the time. Collective Bargaining Agreements under the Railway Labor Act are a serious commitment and cannot be casually discarded at the whim of management.

Your contention, in your latest letter, “With a no vote, we do not expect to have the number of applicants we would have had with the EMB order and the enhanced flow-through to AA” is laughable. If pilots do not apply to work at American Eagle Airlines it has nothing to do with flying a shiny new tinny little jet or waiting for 10 years to flow-through to American Airlines, it is because they see no future at this airline, even in the short term, and that is a management failure, not a pilot failure. Even as a stepping stone, the uncertainty at American Eagle is not worth a new hire pilot wasting his or her time, in the event he or she is never hired at a major airline, when other regional airline managements are committed to running successful regional airlines for the long haul.

Until management works to restore the trust and confidence of the majority of the Eagle pilots, the continued threats of the demise of American Eagle Airlines will fall on deaf ears. The only pilots listening are new hire pilots looking for a flying career somewhere else. The majority of the Eagle pilots will gladly help management shut down American Eagle Airlines, if that is management’s goal.

Sincerely,

xxxxx xxxxxxxxx
Employee #xxxxxx
Damn near brought a tear to my eyes. Lol that was amazing.
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