Contract 2018
 

The unofficial, official Contract 2018 thread. What's the latest?

#MakeExpressJetGreatAgain

Perfect!!!

Some say EDV + 3%. CP said co spending $16M more on pilots. $16M equates to $11/hr raise across the board which is equal to the bonus at MMG. Which is it I wonder. Are they trying to OO us by just putting $10k in payrates and taking away the bonus?


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I've heard
 

LXJT is giving up the farm in order to secure the 175s

#mega

:)

To me the math is simple. Everyone at this company makes this year "x" amount of money plus 10,000 dollars bonus. Now take the bonus apart and divide it by 12 months, then divide it by 75 (minimum guarantee) and it gives you 11.11 per hour. ((10000÷12)÷75). So what it means to me is that if we were offered any amount less than 11 per hour increased, we would be making less money the following years than this year. That's without considering any benefit that the company may want us to give up, and / or, any concession they may want us to take. At a minimum, we should be offered 11 dollar across the board, and no concessions. If they want us to give up something, then it should be more than 11 and we can talk.

We got an email today that they're reducing our LTD plan because it's been unsustainable. They didn't give any details but the gist seemed to be that it will be more limited in duration.

They claimed it had no connection to contract negotiations though, and that the LTD gutting will happen regardless.

I have heard EDV +3%, and I have a hard time believing it. Also, like you said anything less than 11/hr is a break even like OO got in their most recent TA. A CP mentioned that the co was spending $16M more annually for this TA and that happens to even out to $10,000 per pilot/ year


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its unsustainable

but Can we see the email?

For the other side to see:

23 August 2018

For some time now, XJT ALPA has had concerns about the solvency of our current long-term disability (LTD) plan based on the way the program operates and the ever-shrinking number of pilots enrolled in and paying into the program. The current LTD plan that we enjoy at ExpressJet is structured not as an insurance plan, but instead as a trust fund that is paid into by both the pilots (45%) and the company (55%). Without pilot participation, there is no income into the fund.

As our pilot force has decreased, the income into the fund has also decreased. At the same time, the number of pilots receiving benefits from the plan has increased. Over the past few years, as the number of participating pilots decreased, premiums were increased to ensure the fund can pay out the benefits for current and future claims. Unfortunately, the premium increases have resulted in even more pilots opting out of the plan, which in turn requires even higher premiums. The cycle repeats until eventually (in the very near future) there will not be enough pilots paying into the fund to be able to pay the current beneficiaries. Your MEC has concluded that our current LTD plan will no longer be able to remain solvent.

For months your XJT Retirement and Insurance Committee, along with ALPA national and other resources, has been evaluating our plan and considering ways to address the issue. In the recent pilot survey, we asked a question about potential changes to the LTD program. We asked the survey question the way we did to understand, if we needed to make a change to the plan, whether the pilot group would be more interested in a zero-pilot-cost plan with a shorter term (similar to the current ASA plan and that of many other carriers) and an option to purchase supplemental coverage or a plan similar to our current plan with a longer coverage period in which the pilot pays a large percentage of the premium. The survey was intended to provide the committee with guidance as to which type of replacement plan to pursue.

As you know, we currently have one of the best LTD plans in the entire U.S. airline industry, but unfortunately our research has revealed that plans like ours, which provide benefits for "own occupation" until age 65, are no longer offered due to unsustainability. As a result, we have no choice but to change our current LTD plan to one with shorter coverage (at no cost to the pilot) with options for additional supplemental coverage.

To be absolutely clear, this required change has nothing to do with contract negotiations. Regardless of anything that happens with our negotiations, this change will have to take place because the fund is simply going to run out of money based on the number of pilots on LTD vs. the number of pilots paying into the program. The current program will simply become completely unaffordable for those paying into it. Once a replacement plan is selected and approved by the company and the association, our next goal will be to protect those pilots currently out on LTD the best we can for as long as we can.

This purpose of this message is to educate you on the current issues with our LTD plan so that, as we move through negotiations, this change does not get misinterpreted as a concession. We will keep you informed as we continue to search for a plan that is best for our pilot group.

We made more than that in retention. It was $13500 for FOs plus $1500 profit sharing, $15000 total. So it should be $16.67 additional per hour at least.

That seems reasonable

I guess you're counting the payout done at the beginning of the year for staying up to December 31. If so, yes you're right; however, for year pay purposes we are being paid 10k for this year. Tax purposes though, we made 15k as you stated. I guess you can see this issued in different ways, but at the end we all should agree that no concessions must be part of the contract negotiation.

Any updates from crew room visits?

Ok in that sense you're right. A better play: Endeaver 50 seat rates or no deal.

I’ve been told to not expect anything close to 9E. From management folk.

I heard from a CP that the company was investing $16m in this new contract. That’s $10k per pilot...which is just the retention bonus shuffled.


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I have heard from a CP that the company was investing $16M. That’s $10k per pilot which is just a shuffled retention bonus.


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Heard that we can expect to be in the top 3 best paid. Didn’t specify single or dual class. Again, management visit.

Dual class is going away... Only 50 seat ops..

I also heard that good rates would be offered, but that we may have to contribute more for insurance, LTD, reduce vacation, sick time, PBS. Company wants to show higher paying rates. Nominal rates can be 10, 12, 15 dollars more, but if we have to give up benefits or contribute more towards our benefits, the effective rate would be much lower. I'm not saying that everything is bad, but certainly when we vote, we need to make sure we'll do it consciously.

This is all sounding so familiar... (sounds just like a OO TA. “Top 3”, but make it only if you add your bonus into it.... PBS, ect... Don’t fall formit for 20 shiny new jets. Maybe ifnit was a total fleet replacement but not 20. That will only effect the top 180 pilots..

LTD is separate issue not related to current negotiations, according to ALPA. Everything else will prolong the negotiations and none of the parties want that now. Are they being being considered? Sure but I wouldn’t expect them in any upcoming TA.

As was told to me by some in the union, the idea is to ultimately switch to PBS, regulated by the union, and with Skywest's credit rules (4:12 min day, 2:1 duty rig, 4:1 trip rig) and increased vacation to partly compensate for the loss of vacation conflict. There's also the possibility of increased overtime pay similar to Endeavor (all OT at 150%, red flag at 200%).

The recent union emails made it seem like they intend to hold the line on insurance and 401k, but we'll see what the final offer is. I think worst case 401K and insurance could go from industry leading to industry standard. They could also do other little things, like increasing the trigger for downtown hotels.

Will obviously need to see the total package before making a decision either way.

Thanks for the update

For the L-XJT guys... what’s the talk among the pilot group on the latest update on the negotiations?

Last weeks agreement (mngmt & NC) was rejected by the MEC. Back to talks

Shouldn’t that be expected? Never take the first pass?


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Any idea if the agreement didn’t pass by a small margin or was it totally shot down?

Couldn't say exactly... maybe this will shed some light...

FYI, the smartpref LOA had 4:30 minimum daily average credit and 5:00 vacation award credit. Both needed to be higher than those numbers to maintain equal QOL (days off). As for industry standard for 401k, that would mean the elimination of the company contribution and reduction of the matching funds.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ei62rvc1da...azine.pdf?dl=0

Endeavor 401k is 12%, Republic is 6% company match. Why would we have to go down? They want contract to be able to bring people, going "standard" on this department is not reasonable.

Contract 2018
 

Endeavor’s is only higher after 10 YOS. You picked probably the only two other regionals out of another dozen who can say their matching is better. But just like there are only to other regionals with a B fund contribution (which are both lower than xjt), it doesn’t make it industry standard. I also forgot to mention in my previous post that industry standard in employee’s contribution to health insurance is also higher (higher premium costs) than at xjt.
My only point to the poster I quoted is that industry standard in these areas is going to be a concession in real dollars and cents.

quiet out here
 

Any feel for what is going on with the Negotiation front this week. Not getting much info on the LASA side... I know there is not much anyway.. but do the LXJT side guys have a feel for any of it?

The only thing we can tell is that it sounds like they're almost at a TA but did not give a definite time frame. They also continue to emphasize that they will not accept a low ball TA under the promise of new Ejets.

Thanks Arliss

Republic only matches 3% for the first 4-6 years there. Can't remember the actual time frame before it begins to increase and I don't have my contract handy...

I am hearing an agreement has been established between the company and MEC and the ball has already begun rolling to bring the 175s to XJT. Anyone have details?

That's all we know. An agreement in principle has been reach, it's non-concessionary, and our management notified the FAA of the intent to add the 175 to the certificate. Details of the TA to come next week.