FAs and other groups riding on our scope
 

Was talking with a United FA friend of mine the other day and she made a comment that blew my mind. "Things are really bad here, I wish you pilots wouldn't have allowed so many RJs!"

At first I agreed then it hit me... I have no knowledge of flight attendant (or other groups: dispatch and maintenance primarily) scope for those in the industry who are unionized. We as pilots make great sacrifices, expend enormous amounts of negotiating capital, and live and die by scope.

Are these other employee groups riding on our hard fought for scope? Do they even have meaningful scope sections in their contracts? If thats the case, I think its time they start paying for their share of the pie here... why should we negotiate for their job security out of our paychecks and QOL? I'm not sure how it should be done but I'd love to see some kind of "scope licensing fee" or even having a binding agreement between unions where we split it or something... for example, we negotiate a weight limit, they negotiate seat limit.

They can't they do not have that much pull. We do, and sadly she has a point.

Here at DAL they are the king's of Me 2 bennies.

If thats the problem, then we need to do what we can as pilots to educate these other employee groups that they are just as vital to getting flights to their destination as we are and help them flex their muscles during negotiations.

A work stoppage or slowdown by FAs, DX, or MX would hurt an airline just as much as one by pilots.

I agree, but many have made the practice of riding on our gains, and now just expect it. Just ask about unlimited Jumseats. Who got those for them? Companies gave the FA those after we fought for them and they did not want to get sued over it.
Everything has to be equal for all employee groups. Ergo they know it is in their best interest to work on pay etc as they really have no control over scope etc.

if you think the pay at the regional pilots is bad you should see how bad it is for the FA's at the regionals. in my base we have alot of former usair flight attendants who actually flew the 170's at mid atlantic. they are still making less than they did at mid atlantic and no where near what they were getting at mainline.

Depends on the airlines you're referencing. If the other labor groups are not unionized, what can they have in the way of pull? Of course, if the wake of 9/11 and the recent economic downturn, pull is a relative term.

To answer the question asked by another, not sure if UAL/AFA has scope provisions in their CBA.

UAL's IAM/AMFA CBA's had scope protections, not sure if it was gutted or not. It's been a while since I've seen one of those contracts.

But yes, there was language on who could load/unload/maintain/fix UAL aircraft.

All it does is illustrate a point. Although the pilot group is the highest paid, highest trained, most expensive labor group on property, we're not the ONLY labor group on property that can have careers disrupted by scope.

Many pilots stuck at the regionals feel the same way.

Regional pilots only fly what aircraft mainline scope clauses allow them to. The effect of decisions to relax scope made years ago continues to reverberate throughout the industry. Pilots, F/As, MX, etc. all continue to pay the price.

It's true that we all pay the price. Back in the late 90s and early 2000s, when the RJs really grew, what kind of push-back was there on the FA or MX side?

I know all about the pilot side, I'm curious if the FAs or MX were fighting it like the pilots were? (I was in cargo at the time, thus the question)

Only familiar with the UAL side of it, but there were pretty determined to keep as much as they could. Granted, just like pilots, there was some given away back them.

Hence some planes going to TIMCO in GSO as an example for checks, etc. Only to have them come back needing to be unscrewed from being screwed up by the outsourced MX.

FAs don't even know what scope is. Ask one. Their unions know this and have decided to use their negoitiating capital on the things that FAs understand, like raises and work rules. Then they cop out with a "me too" clause riding the pilot coat tails on everything else.