I'm guessing you've not been involved with the process one single bit, so you have zero idea of the enormous effort that has been put forth to make this merger a reality. No one is patting themselves on the back, quite the opposite actually, the idea is to share a celebration of a new chapter. We are a very unified (93%) group with respect to ALPA, so maybe you sir, are a part of the 7%. Regardless, those involved will not separate you from the effort they'll continue to exert. Thanks for not coming tonight and being a negative vibe...maybe you can spend time on your treadmill instead.

 

Voting in ALPA is easy.
Getting our whipped pilot group to stand up to management will be impossible. They think we are a joke and in terms of the rest of the industry we are. Wake up and smell the coffee!

 

Truth.....

 

Yep. Very true. The pilot group is in desperate need of growing a pair. The fact I see guys still taxing around on one engine is incredible to me. At what point do you say enough is enough?

Of course there seems to be no interest from the BOD to rally the troops. More silence when we were promised better communications.

 

The LOA 67 interim pay proposal (NOT Section 6 but a LOA that happened when Indigo bought us) was a purely economic proposal. It took the Spreadsheet Kings at Indigo all of 2 seconds to know what impact it would have on their bottom line, but told us to wait until the end of last week for an answer.

The end of last week turned into "by mid week" this week. It's Thursday and we haven't heard squat. I, for one, am not surprised in the least, and expect to have to litigate the clear language in the LOA to see a cent - which will eventually be bundled into the Section 6 negotiations.

How do you keep a bunch of pilots in suspense? Promise quick upgrades and I'll tell you by mid week.

 

FAPA has already got a response. Once again, we have to wait...........

The quick upgrade thing is a farce (as you seem to know). You can upgrade at Delta just as fast as you can at Frontier these days. People need to wake up.

 

If 'LOA 67 interim pay' goes to arbitration and we win, would that involve retro-active pay? And with section 6 underway, could it be looked at as a "get" for which we would have to expend negotiating capital to receive?

 

I cannot wait to fly with a Tool like you! A newbie that thinks he has it all figured out. Thanks for donating your money for my food last night.

 

Given the mood of the arbitrators we've recently had the pleasure of using, I'd say - no retro. (side rant: if ANYBODY can provide me an example of a pilot group getting true retro pay after negotiations, not a "signing bonus", but got paid retroactive to the date the CBA became amendable at their new rate, I'd really like to know about it. This isn't a joke - I'm interested, and can't find a single instance of actual retro pay.)

The whole reason to have LOA 67 was to have a separate process that would reward the pilots for concessions if the bosses were raking in the cash prior to Section 6 negotiations coming to an end, leaving F9 pilots as the lowest paid pilots in the industry. Since the processes happen to be running concurrently, the company WILL likely argue that they should be merged. Again, the NMB (because I'm betting this will be a multi year mediated process that ends with either a strike or some new FUBARed management end run), will likely consider it. If nothing else, it will (if we get anything from LOA 67) change our starting point in Section 6 pay negotiations - which was the point of the LOA and a good thing.

I'm probably staying for the whole show, but today I can't see this place as anything but a stop on your way to something better for anyone under 55 in the bottom 60-70% of the list.

The economy could go T.U. in November, and airlines hire right up to the day they furlough, but with the retirements at the legacies - I'd be off like a prom dress at the first opportunity to get out of here if I were in a different personal position. (I'm actually crunching my own QOL metrics to see if moving on makes sense to ME, and I don't fit the demographic I just told to leave.)

The short answer Sulkair - Nobody can give you those answers, but assume the worst.

 

Spoken like a true single engine taxiing, hat wearing and extending the duty day to "get the folks home" kinda guy. People like you are why we leave $80 to $120 on the table every hour we fly. I'm sure there is a nasty seatback pocket you should be cleaning out for free somewhere. Get to it!