Actually, most of the pilots whom I've spoken with that use Smartpref in the secondary tell me they love it. Now, how much is Atlanta willing to give me to vote in PBS is the real question...

 

Haha leverage. That's funny. If you don't work here, why do u care?

 

I would LOVE to see a contract with one set of rules (even flight line if that's what it took), by taking the best of both contracts and therefore no one taking a concession. That would truly benefit everyone. But it is flat out wrong to think it benefits everyone if 2/3 of the pilots are taking a concession to have one set of work rules. So I agree that we can agree to disagree.

One other thing, I advice everyone not to put all your eggs in the xjt basket. ESPECIALLY if you have kids! I know for me personally, I won't end up homeless or destitute if this place went under tomorrow. I also don't want to seen anyone lose their job but I can't carry that weight on my shoulders when voting no to concessions. Everyone must have personal responsibility for themselves. No one is owed a job in this society and therefore should always plan for the worst. Anyone that doesn't is playing with fire.



No, the ASA MEC made a deal and tried or are still trying to weasel out of it. They made this deal knowing that smartpref was untested, unproven, etc (which is no longer true). We didn't demand anything! The ASA MEC made a MUTUAL agreement with the XJT MEC and management. No one forced anybody to sign the PBS protocol agreement. So go ahead and try to rewrite history with your PBS discussion but it's certainly not helping the thread.



We do have leverage. How much is yet to be seen. But the fact that management is no longer looking for concessions, they are paying for ATPs, handing out bonuses, giving employment leaves of absences, handing out EFBs with no cost to the pilot (unlike the failed TA), giving moving benefits to pilots that contractually are not supposed to get them, etc is proof that we do have some leverage. Is it enough for best of both contracts TA? I don't know, but I certainly don't want to take ANY concessions on ANY part of my contract if we don't just to finish the merger. But that's because I have leverage by having a plan B. If everyone did, this industry would be vastly different.

 

I can finally agree with you Nevets. I hope to see something for us to vote on soon. I don't like the grandfather idea, but I will entertain it. If its the best we can do, I guess its better then nothing. Because I think if we turn down the next offer, that's what we'll have. Nothing.

I wish we had more leverage to get us a better deal, but we just don't. With other pilot groups taking concessions, mainline passing us up over and over again for flying to the cheaper, more "stable" regionals, pilots leaving to go to the growing regionals and the majors, no one showing up to class, and Skywest having all the planes and growing while we shrink, we have nothing to bargain with. Let's get it done then and start rebuilding. In the meantime, try to GTFO!

Maybe the new hires have leverage. Signing bonuses and such. EFBs were being worked years ago. And you have to pay for it when you leave. Plus it also helps the company. Maybe we get a retention bonus. These are all little things that are intended to be temporary. So when they get what they want, they can bend us over again. If they really valued us, they would have gotten us a contract already that was tops in the industry. Stagnant pilots at a shrinking regional have almost zero leverage.

 

The XJT vacation rules allow them to get far more days off than the ASA pilots. You aren't the first ASA pilot I've talked to that thinks their system is better than the XJT pilot's. Fact is the XJT pilots have huge leverage with their vacation rules and line bidding. It beats out most mainline groups using PBS as well.

If you really don't understand the leverage regional pilots hold, you can join all those other groups voting in concessions for pointless reasons. Good luck replacing the ASA and XJT pilot groups with any pilots other than ASA and XJT pilots.

 

Man, where the H$ll have you been lately??? Comair and Eagle thought the very same thing. We are contract lift, that's it. And the legacy's will choose the cheapest contract carrier for the same reasons people shop at Walmart. The 50 seat fleet will be reduced by 2/3 due to scope with the legacy's. So where exactly is all this leverage you speak of?

 

Reduce away then. Good luck flying all of our lift with the other airlines.
I still won't do this job for a nickle less.

 

You still don't get it. More lift is going back to mainline, where it should be. And some regional lift will be in larger CRJ's/Erj's reducing the number of 50 seat airframes. I'm not saying you should do your job for less. That's your choice. But the leverage won't be there until the get close to the fleet size they want

 

Exactly!!!!! Do these people live on some other planet?

 

Oh you mean how Republic got a bunch of 175s for United? Or how Skywest has new 175s for United and more orders? Or how TSA just got a lot of our old flying plus their orders for 175s? Or how growing regionals are having no problem filling classes. News flash... You done been replaced son!