The East pilots claim they want to "burn it down" before they will accept their final and binding arbitration award. Right now, it looks like they will get to press to test that claim. LCC has not been able to operationally integrate the company and that is part of the reason why they face such an uncertain future.

The first officers complain their upgrades will be delayed a few years under the Nicolau award. I am not sure they will ever get the chance, at least not at a company called US Airways. Maybe they will get to see how the APA treats their merger partners.

The USAPA leaders is the one group capable of providing worse leadership skills than the old East MEC. They have allowed their pilots to drive themselves into a ditch. I don't think there is any recovery for them now. My first guess is a Chapter 11 or more likely 7. The next guess is a merger with AMR, and they shuck off about half the company. The last guess is a fragmentation or asset sales followed by Chapter 7. Either way, their future looks dark and they are partly to blame for their own troubles.

Sad, all the way around.

 

I know it is hard to understand, but when a person gives away their retirement and pay in order to save a company, seniority becomes the last stand. This is not merely a legal dilemma. It also has moral implications. So yes, the USAirways pilots must see this through to the end. The company lived to see another day, that lead to a merger (we must remain cognizant that we are referring to a merger) resulting in the very thing that was feared most- lost seniority. Add to this to the fact that the USAirways pilots have labored under a bankruptcy contract, for years, in defending this seniority. Their fellow pilots are not happy achieving with what their own airline had, what they earned, but are behaving as if the East pilots’ seniority was something to be plundered- Fellow pilots were not not considered colleagues, not brothers, not members of the same profession or union, not even human beings. Seniority was to be looted as if profits extracted as a result of the spoils of war.

 

There was no lost seniority. The problem the east pilots have is the total lack of leadership at both their MEC and now USAPA. Neither the MEC or USAPA has come clean with the east pilots. Your DOH determines your seniority number at the company in which you were hired, your DOH is not your seniority number. When airlines merge, seniority is integrated, not DOH. The failure of the leadership to stand up to the mob mentality which spawned USAPA has now probably doomed the airline. There are no principles that USAPA is upholding other the the tyranny of an abusive majority.

 

Ding, Ding, Ding. Weeeeee have a winner! It figures an Alfa guy would figure it out. Used to have a 62' myself. The Nic will be implemented for the Airways side and APA will eat USAPA for lunch. 40-70% of former US/AWA pilots go bye bye. Very sad, but it's probably the only way to save what's left of US Airways/AWA. Maybe I could get a recall to American in about 20 years.

 

APA-USAPA- two Different unions. McCaskill-Bond provision

 

Maybe so - but USAPA will show up to that fight with the Nicolau award already in hand. That's the list that will be merged with the current APA list.

 

Very true, however the Nic list would be the one worked from to integrate the USAIR pilots.

 

The list is already been accepted by USAIR management. It is the list at USAIR. It has no actual relevence until they have a joint contract since each side works only within their system.
The big hammer on USAPA to get a joint agreement will be how the damage award is structured. It could be ongoing until a new contract is signed which could lead to huge numbers.

 

Many people have posted about the east pilots voting down any contract with the merged list.

This implies that pilots have an absolute right to vote on a new contract.

For many years, at many airlines, pilots did not get to vote on the contracts. Only the MEC officers got a vote.

That has changed recently at most airlines, but my point is that there is nothing in the law that requires a membership vote to sign a new contract.

Joe

 

I have a buddy from the west side that is on furlough right now that shouldn't be and wouldn't be if it wasn't for this mess.