The difference is those airlines need to keep the facade of amiable labor relations intact in order to protect their public image which limits how much they can get away with. Unfortunately Indigo doesn’t have that problem.

 

Tough to tell on an Internet forum but I take this as a genuine question, so thanks for asking.

What can anybody do? Nothing rogue or lone-wolf style. Our union has been clear that only doing things under the guidance of the MEC is advisable. So what does that leave? Call your MEC and push for a coordinated letter writing campaign. I feel a letter from each ALPA MEC (especially the heavy hitters like Delta and United) to the NMB (or POTUS?) couldn’t hurt. A letter that emphasizes that we all do the same job, fly the same airplanes, and are all part of the same union so we all deserve to be bargained with in good faith. A letter from Delta or United saying even they think it’s F9’s turn would emphasize how insane this whole negotiation has been.

And Kirby, I’m sure you read my posts , the NMB is picking F9 as the winner right now. You want to compete with us but you can’t. Especially when F9 has such a huge labor discount. Why don’t you call your Senators, Congressmen, lobbyists, etc and get them to force the NMB to poop or get off the pot?

Moneybrains pointed out (correctly) that telling people to F— Off doesn’t help. So anything done needs to be organized and come from the top. I’m not on the F9 MEC and maybe they have a reason why this is a bad idea. But sitting idly for 3 months without a peep from the NMB is unreasonable.

 

I don't think it works like that for a publicly traded company. Labor disputes look more like mgmt failure than success.
The first thing Oscar did was extend the United deal with nice raises.
If you were a broker responsible for investing granny's money as a fiduciary you wouldn't buy into a disgruntled company with labor problems.

Indigo is trying to IPO their company and doesn't want to give the pilots its "equity" before the sell, so you have additionally motivated oweners who are trying to "cash out" on your backs.

I think hopefully after the Facebook IPO no reputable bank will touch Frontier to valuate an IPO price until a labor deal is done. Hopefully this sinks in and puts pressure on Indigo. On the other hand, the industry and company are doing well enough tokeep it is as a cash cow with a super good deal on Airbus labor.

 

I’ll ask my LEC reps to see what they can do

 

Two things: 1) Franke is NOT going to sell Frontier Airlines and 2) the NMB is NOT going to release the pilots to strike.

On an IPO... just do some fact finding and Google Bill Franke's outlook on the future of the ULCC model and you'll see there is no intention of spinning off F9 or any of his airlines.

On a strike... The NMB is appointed by the President. This President is business friendly, not labor friendly. He has no problem firing anybody who doesn't tow the line. Kyle Fortson and Gerald Fauth both know where their bread is buttered. While F9 ALPA does benefit from having Linda Puchala in the mix, she is the minority vote.

Just apply Occam's Razor to the aforementioned questions and the answers are pretty simple. Just follow the money.

Yep, it sucks, but it's reality. Plan accordingly.

 

Bingo
.............

 

....... Yup

 

With no vacations
It would be nice for all of the line holders to pick up ALL of the open time for AUG giving the 72 DEN reserves a MONTH off..... with pay

 

We can dream.... We have already seen a slow down this month since last with open trips. For a relief line guy that was kicked back to reserve I believe/hope I won’t be working that much. Company panics and is reactive vs proactive. I dont think many will be dropping down to the 50hrs anymore now that the VJAs stay within the top 10% and now only average 8hrs a day.

 

Ya I know...
But it would “send quite a message” of unity if they had to pay 72 X 2 pilots to sit at home and get paid......