Airline Pilot Central Forums - Important Take Action-US Customs in Abu Dhabi

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Quote:

Originally Posted by The Dominican (Post 1308363)

Wondering when airlines here in the US will address the actual advantage that other airlines abroad have, better service, plain and simple.

Completed the legislative action as well.

Dominican,

I don't disagree with you. However many of those airlines, especially mid-east ones, work with much larger cabin crews because they are state-supported and not as worried about the economics of overstaffing. Add in a culture of servitude as a woman's role, and weak or no unions and you laws that allow discrimination on the basis of age or weight and you got it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TANSTAAFL (Post 1308522)

. Add in a culture of servitude as a woman's role, and weak or no unions and you laws that allow discrimination on the basis of age or weight and you got it.

I understand your your point and it is valid, but as I said before, some of the airlines that are in the top ranking worldwide are airlines from highly regulated, unionized first world countries and not just from the Middle East, it is more a matter of company culture rather than just culture, the employees (due to the demoralizing campaign of turning the industry into the cheap) just don't care. I'm not blaming the pilots and certainly not blaming the CA's, we all know that they have been beaten down as much as anybody in the decade after 9/11, Delta (for all the cognac & breadstick crowd) does better than the others, but the overall experience of flying in one of these top ranking airlines (again, some of them burdened with first world countries structured costs and unions) just doesn't compare. My point is that to go back to the level of service that was created here in the US, the industry has to go back to investing on its people, not only money wise but getting the loom and gloom that has characterized the last decade behind and creating an environment that promotes pride in what they do, not just the urge to gather in the galley and complaint about scheduling.

I know this is off topic but-

Regarding the disparity between US and foreign carriers: Don't buy management's Bull Sh*t. The difference has very little to do with employee costs. I make about 100k USD as a 777 F/O. But EK pays for my house and utilities, private schools for the kids, medical for me and all the family etc. If you parrot the management line that we're successful due to lower costs, guess what their comeback will be?
It's also a copout to blame subsidies. We're not subsidised. Our fuel isn't free. There's no zero interest loan. We're a good carrier that takes advantage of geography. Force US airline management to do what they're paid for- manage. Increase employee morale, invest in people and product. Hot hosties are good for about 30 seconds- then you realise you won't be scoring with her, oh and you're married- after that it's attitude and product. That's where the foreign carriers kill you. Along those lines, I know the breadsticks and cognac was fairly 'toolish' and certainly deserved a nomination (which I think it received) the gist of the complaint is spot on. Go try and book a full-fare First or Business Class ticket from JFK to HKG for example. How much? I think the technical term for the amount of $$ is a sh**load. If that guy wants cognac and breadsticks, you should have it. Fly Emirates First or Business and we have a couple of litres of 20 year old Cognac and your meal will come with warm bread. Product matters.
Lazy management crying boohoo and blaming everything but their crap performance, that's the problem.
Oh by the way, the problem isn't a quick trip through customs in Abu Dhabi either.......

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Dominican (Post 1308466)

Maybe you have absolutely no point of reference, all that I experienced as recently as DL622 from NRT-MSP last week, I was quite surprised as to how bad the whole experience was

My point of reference is from the international flights that I work. I'm not denying that many foreign airlines have far superior in flight service. But I think your description of Us carriers is over dramatic. Next time I'm at work I'll have to see if we have dog barf on the menu. :rolleyes:

I'm trying to figure why Abu Dhabi instead of Dubai.

GF

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bucking Bar (Post 1308335)

This applies to just about every US based commercial pilot. I encourage everyone to participate in this call to action.

Source: ALPA

The U.S. and United Arab Emirates (UAE) governments are in talks to create a new U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) preclearance facility at Abu Dhabi International Airport—and Etihad Airways’ CEO is “confident” they will succeed. An Abu Dhabi CBP preclearance facility may be great news for state-owned Etihad, but for U.S. pilots, it means just another competitive advantage handed to foreign airlines by flawed U.S. policy. The good news is we have the ability to stop this proposal—by contacting the White House today and telling the administration that this proposal represents a serious threat to our jobs and the U.S. airline industry.

Why would a new preclearance facility in the UAE be so bad for U.S. pilots? By allowing passengers flying to the United States from Abu Dhabi to clear customs while still in the UAE, Etihad Airways provides a hefty convenience for its customers and an advantage over U.S. carriers competing with Etihad to attract the rapidly growing numbers of passengers flying from the Middle East and Asia. There is currently no service via a U.S. carrier to Abu Dhabi, meaning the new preclearance facility will only benefit Etihad—and that jeopardizes your career by strengthening a competitor and disadvantaging U.S. carriers. The United States already operates 15 preclearance locations in Canada, Ireland, and the Caribbean, but each of these airports are served by at least one U.S. airline and much of that traffic to the United States is flown by U.S. pilots.

What’s more, DHS is also seeking permission from Congress to provide more preclearance facilities to foreign governments that will pay. If successful, this “money talks” policy could lead to more U.S. handouts to our competitors. Tell the White House today to end this proposal for a CBP preclearance facility in Abu Dhabi and in other airports around the world that benefit our competitors and threaten the stability of the U.S. airline industry.

----

If your pilot association is communicating on this matter, participate. If you wish to communicate directly with the White House, here is a link:

Contact the White House | The White House

Possible opening of a US Immigration Pre-Clearance facility in any foreign nation has nothing to do with jobs of a US Airline pilots.

Any US airline can start a service to any airport in UAE and fly as many flights, in and out, of those airports as the local airlines do.

In this case; Delta, American, United can start service to Abu Dhabi and their passengers would benefit from those facilities just as well as Etihad’s passengers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Max Glide (Post 1308658)

When is ALPA going to start a Take-Action campaign on the RLA? Or a national seniority list? Then I'll get involved and send emails to my representatives. This issue hardly warrants an all pilot action. There are bigger fish to fry.

I hope it happens. Maybe if the kinks get worked out it will pave the way for more and more preclearance facilities. Keeping my fingers crossed....

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Dominican (Post 1308436)

Still you didn't address what that has to do with the level of service they provide, you are concentrating in airlines in Dubai and their structured cost, I'm talking about the level of service, Lufthansa has a higher structured cost than Emirates (as you pointed out in a quote from a magazine you once read) but they still have a high level of service, ANA is also taxed and regulated in Japan but they are one of the 10 best airlines year after year, Singapore airlines has some of the highest fuel costs and higher employee costs but still, their level of service is very high. I understand your point, don't get me wrong, I just don't think it is the reason as to why the service here in the US has gone down so much, it is not only the airlines from the UAE that have good service, as a matter of fact, some of the better airlines in the world also operate under a highly regulated, taxed environment.

In terms of "service" I don't have an answer for you. I would venture a guess that the last decade of abysmal financials had a lot to do with it. Many are just now starting to reinvest in their products.

Quote:

Originally Posted by satpak77 (Post 1308731)

I hope it happens. Maybe if the kinks get worked out it will pave the way for more and more preclearance facilities. Keeping my fingers crossed....

I'd much rather it happen at airports that are heavily served by US airlines and US citizen passengers before we start "helping out" foreign airlines and their citizens.