ok... I'm new to this arument and have never been a union member. However, I have done a little research on this subject. And, after applying a little logic, I have a question or two.

If a company such as trans states wants to keep pace with the rest of the industry and operate more profitable 70 seaters, how could it do this if its current contract with American prohibits it from operating an aircraft with more than 50 seats? Well, it could start another company in order to go around its contract with American and start operating the 70 seaters it wants to operate.

It seams to me that the purpose of creating Gojet was not to circumvent its contract with ALPA; it was to circumvent its contract with American. It seams to me, if Gojet were to combine the seniority list and treat both pilot groups as one, it would be defeating its entire purpose by admitting that it is basically the same company as TSA, and Trans States would then probably run into legal problems with TSA's contract with American, which prohibits it from operating 70 seaters.

Unless I am missing something (in which case I'm sure some of you will waist no time in pointing out), Trans States is between a rock and a hard place: If they make the pilot's happy they will be jeapordizing their ability to operate the planes they want, but if they take the steps necessary to operate the planes they want then they are ****ing off the pilot's. If I were them, in this case, I wouldn't worry about who I was ****ing off and would do what was in the company's best interest.

 

No, they could do exactly what Republic has done and operate different certificates with pilots on the same seniority list instead of paying much less to fly a larger jet on a contract that was signed YEARS after TSA's.

 

It doesn't. It only prevents them from operating jets with more than 50 for American...capiche?

 

Help me wrap my brain around this...

Trans States spent the money to create Gojet in order to screw TSA pilot's, right? Why then are they paying Gojet's pilots more money than TSA pilots?

TSA Pay Rate: Gojet Pay Rate:
Year CAPT FO Year CAPT FO
1 55 22 1 60 23
2 57 25 2 61 30
3 59 32 3 63 34
4 60 33 4 65 35
5 62 35 5 66 35

 

Because TSA's CBA was agreed to many years ago. Gojet's was in 2006. The teamsters local (one that represents gas station attendants in St. Louis) was only voted in after the original guys got tired of bare 121 time limitations and having their days off at outstations.

If you compare Gojet to other 70 seat operators they're far below. And block pay is only one small part of the equation. If you have a hard time wrapping your brain around that, you have a lot to learn.

 

I will conceed this point if you can point out other areas in Gojet's compensation package that are inferior to TSA'a.

 

This is not true according to the mediation board's investigation.

the board's report, under the section "statement of facts", says...

"TSA’s fleet is composed entirely of aircraft that fly 50 or fewer passengers. American has the right to terminate its contract with TSA if it operates any aircraft with more than 50 seats."

 

The fact that the contract is much newer yet has only slight raises is proof enough. The health bennefits are the same, and they are horrible at both airlines. For a contract that was ratified years after TSA's and lower than many 70 seat contracts signed during bankruptcies it's pretty pathetic.

 

what are you not getting man. republic operates for american as well, as chautauqua. then they operate 70 seaters under another certificate. but the pilot group is one whole group. not multiple groups, but one. maybe a judge ruled a certain way, but there are ethically and morally correct ways to operate a business. As a TSA pilot for more than 2 yrs now, I can tell you Trans States Holdings does nothing ethically or morally. creating gojets and more specifically not having tsa pilots fly them at comparable rates is just an example of that.

 

Or perhaps you could look at Pinnacle. They operate 70+ seat turbojets for Northwest which wouldn't be allowed by their codeshare with Continental. That's where Colgan comes in.