Don't Buy into the Piedmont Propaganda
 

Right now Piedmont has a fairly quick upgrade time, they're advertising a "Flow Through" to mainline USAirways, and the Regional chief Pilot is telling the new hires about the aquisition of Q400's. Don't Buy it!
The quick upgrade is due to the large number of pilots leaving but MNGMT is not planning on changing the 3000hr min for upgrade. The training Dept. Is already saying that they'll be out of qualified upgrade canidates by Nov 08.
The Flow through is NOT a flow through. It's called the Preferential hiring agreement and all it does is penalize pilots who fly for PSA and Piedmont. If you want to fly at USAirways you may submit an application, but if you work at Piedmont, Airways has been instructed Not to call you until your seniority number comes up and when they do interview you, and if they hire you (Which many have not been) you'll be put on a list of canidates awaiting "Release" from Piedmont.(Which may take a year to two years) Meanwhile every other pilot on the globe is interviewing and being hired ahead of you.
Lastly, Piedmont is NOT getting ANY new aircraft in the near future. There are about ten points to emphasize but I'll cover a few.
LCC CEO Doug Parker has repeatedly stated that there will be no increase in capacity for the regional and domestic flying. (A Q400 would increase capacity at Piedmont substantially)
Piedmont operates at %57 load factor so Airways has no interest in increasing capacity.
When asked about the Q400, Airways FAQ said "We like the aircraft and if we purchased some they'd be used to replace the 50 seat Rj's" not dash-8's. Which means Piedmont would have to aquire additional flying to opperate them. Piedmont is currently flying 48 aircraft lines out of their 55 aircraft. (Others are "parked") Their goal is 50 in May.
Piedmont has still not gotten relief from the scope clause in the Mainline pilot contract forbidding them to operate RJ's and aircraft certified over 69 seats. (PSA has by the way)
These are just some of the reasons not to buy into Piedmont's sale to young pilots. If you're an aspiring pilot or a pilot interviewing, do yourself a favor, go to Compass, PSA, Republic, MESA, Sky West, ASA, Freedom, Go Jets, McDonald's, Wal-Mart, anywhere else. If you want to be a Dash-8 Captain and fly in and out of PHL and LGA while being treated like the red-headed step child for the forseeable future then by all means, come to Piedmont.

very interesting. nice post to those looking at piedmont.

Go to PSA! ATP mins for upgrade.

Haha, i love the QCarrot, they keep putting up the information on the company website...haha

Sadly, he's right.
 

I've been a Piedmont for longer than I'd like to think about. They've been using the same old "new equipment on the way", "flow to Airways" bovine scatology for years. Its absolute garbage.

Don't risk your career by getting caught up in the Piedmont Training (testing) vortex. They needlessly screw up new hire PRIA records to force them to stay with the airline to clean up that history, and do the same with senior pilots (they call it "special track"), so they can't go anywhere soon. They are bottom feeders. The lowest of the low.

Don't risk the career you are working so hard to obtain by working at Piedmont.

Yes they have. Its a stigma of the days of the some of the 300 hour pilots, some of whom couldn't figure out a 6-pack scan. There are some attitudes in the training department, I won't dispute that. Looking online at factual data from last year's QUAL (New hire) and CQ events, there are a handful, maybe 4-5 out of our 350ish pilots that either failed or were special tracked. Considering that this includes new hires, PDT is far from a PRIA wrecking ball. Study hard and study regularly, cooperate, and pass.

Do you mean Turbopropaganda?

Why would they need new aircraft? What they already fly is state-of-the art!

From their website:
The Dash 8 is a state-of-the-art turboprop aircraft that offers safe and comfortable transportation

You learn something new everyday.:D

+1 . Thanks for sharing the truth.

Too late, it passed by 77%

This is a necro post from 2008.

Info is way out of date.

.....Nice......

wow, I thought the forums would be blowing up more about this. Probably the kiss of death for Eagle

Piedmont Airlines pilots approve new contract | Dallas Morning News



Pilots at Piedmont Airlines, a regional carrier owned by American Airlines Group, have approved a tentative agreement, American said Tuesday.

American did not give a vote total.

“American is pleased pilots at Piedmont Airlines have voted to ratify a tentative agreement that was reached with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) on August 22,” American spokeswoman Martha Thomas said in a statement. “We look forward to working with Piedmont to add jet aircraft to their current fleet of turbo props to connect our customers in regional markets to American’s growing global network.”

With Tuesday’s decision, pilot unions at two of the three regional carriers under the AAG umbrella have approved revised contracts: Piedmont and PSA Airlines, both US Airways Express airlines.

Pilots at Envoy Air, renamed from American Eagle Airlines in April, have rejected attempts to modify their current contract, a concessionary deal obtained under pressure from American management during American’s bankruptcy proceedings.

American and US Airways merged on Dec. 9.

Here’s a letter from Piedmont president and CEO Steve Farrow to Piedmont employees.

September 16, 2014

Fellow Employees:

I am very pleased to report our pilots have ratified the tentative agreement we reached with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) with a decisive 77 percent of the vote. As you know, this agreement, which will now become part of our Collective Bargaining Agreement with ALPA, significantly broadens our options for re-fleeting Piedmont Airlines and positions our company for future success in a highly competitive industry.

We would like to thank each pilot who took the time to read the document and carefully consider how this agreement would affect not only his or her own career, but the careers of fellow Piedmont pilots and co-workers. I don’t recall another vote that received so much attention outside of the pilot group. Thank you for voting your conscience with the eyes of your colleagues upon you.

With this foundation, we are beginning the process of preparing Piedmont for re-fleeting with regional jets. We have already started working with a consultant to add RJs to our certificate. I will share more information on the process in the weeks and months to come.

For those of you concerned with Dash 8 flying, rest assured that our turboprops aren’t going away any time soon. The Dash is an important part of the American Airlines’ route structure, and we expect to continue to fly both the -100s and -300s for the foreseeable future. Two of our Dash 8s have been painted in American Eagle livery; 23 more are scheduled to be painted over the next several months.

Please join me in congratulating our pilots, ALPA, Matt Berson and the ALPA negotiating committee, Captain Bruce Freedman and the Master Executive Council on a challenging job well done.

Steve Farrow

CEO/President

Piedmont Airlines

Nobody is really surprised, they seemed like kind of a weak group that would fold under a couple of fear grenades.

Besides, what did you expect after the PDT MEC Chair Bruce Freedman refused to sign the FFD no whipsaw agreement. That alone should have told everybody what kind of group they are.

http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/at...s-psa-ffd.jpeg

A weak group?? Keep telling yourself that. They seem like an employed group to me.

clearly he was implying they're, as you say, "employed" BECAUSE they're weak (weak because they knuckled under)

Don't Buy into the Piedmont Propaganda
 

After reading the rates, it looks like the new 175 rates (appendix A) for PDT are exactly $1.05more per hour starting than Republics 2007 rates. And by the way how is a 76 seat jet rate that starts out less than the dash 8 (appendixB) rate mean this is a great deal?

Republics 2007 rates:
Year Oct 1 2003 Oct 1, 2004 Oct 1, 2005 Oct 1, 2006 Oct 1, 2007
1 $ 21.00 $ 21.52 $ 22.06 $ 22.50 $ 22.95
2 $ 28.25 $ 28.96 $ 29.68 $ 30.27 $ 30.88
3 $ 32.50 $ 33.31 $ 34.15 $ 34.83 $ 35.52
4 $ 33.50 $ 34.34 $ 35.20 $ 35.90 $ 36.62

Republics failed TA rates:
Longevity DOS DOS+1 DOS+2 DOS+3 DOS+4*
1 $26.00 $26.26 $26.52 $26.79 $27.19
2 $36.00 $36.36 $36.72 $37.09 $37.65
3 $39.34 $39.74 $40.13 $40.54 $41.14
4 $40.56 $40.97 $41.38 $41.79 $42.42
5 $41.82 $42.24 $42.66 $43.09 $43.74
6 $43.12 $43.55 $43.99 $44.43 $45.09
7 $44.46 $44.90 $45.35 $45.80 $46.49
8 $45.84 $46.29 $46.76 $47.23 $47.93
9 $47.26 $47.73 $48.21 $48.69 $49.42

PIEDMONTS WONDERFUL NEW CAPPED RATES FOR THE 175

1
$24.00. 2014
$24.24
$24.66
$25.02
$25.27
$25.53
$25.78
$26.04
$26.30
$26.56. 2023

2
$34.81. 2014
$35.16
$35.77
$36.30
$36.66
$37.02
$37.39
$37.77
$38.15
$38.53. 2023

3
$37.76. 2014
$38.14
$38.80
$39.37
$39.76
$40.16
$40.56
$40.97
$41.38
$41.79. 2023

4
$39.10. 2014
$39.49
$40.17
$40.77
$41.18
$41.59
$42.00
$42.42
$42.85
$43.28



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Don't Buy into the Piedmont Propaganda
 

Summary for you prospective PDT FOs. Piedmonts new jet rate is 1.05 more per hour than RPAs 2007 50 seat jet rate. It also caps out in 2023 at $6 less per hour than RPAs rejected Rates. PDT lowered the bar today. The new management shell game is all about FLOW and Quick upgrade.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

What a shame!!! Shame on you guys!

No shame here. Life is good. My parents hugged me today. My dad (MBA, union leader, manager, 35 years of experience) said "nothing's ever perfect, but we should be proud to protect our careers, co-workers, and airline. My wife is content, and my airline friends are in support (Eagle, RAH, XJT, and PSA among them). No, I'm not kidding. I appreciate what I have, not what others think I should have. To each their own...

Doesn't awac fo's make nearly $40 on 2nd year pay on the 50 seater? You guys voted in $34 to fly 50% more airplane? That's horrid.

Wow!. Comair rates were higher than those for a 50 seater nearly 14 years ago......

Been out of the regionals for over 8 years now..... You all are really reaping some serious contract improvements....:rolleyes:

Dougie and Richard are finding lots of willing lemmings in there race to undermine the profession!

And where is Comair now?....Exactly...priced out of the market...

Let's move to the present day where we finally had 4 pilot groups that decided the constant downward spiral had to stop. Those 4 voted NO to any more concessions, but have been sold out/undermined by 2 self-centered pilot groups at PSA and PDT...
Finally, after years of downward pressure our profession had support from the new 117 regs, the new 121 ATP requirement, and age 65. If all refused concessions, then it would make it difficult for management to "price" anyone else "out of the market".

Thanks for helping management continue the degradation!

Is it safe to assume that you believe that "the market", be it job market or otherwise, is the be all, end all?

Thanks to attitudes like these, the 'market' is whatever management says it is. Good job, buddy.

Doesn't matter! If Piedmont's contract is so awful then people won't come to fly here. Many Pilots are still needed at Mesa, PSA, Envoy, Compass, Republic, and Whiskey. So if we are so much worse then all them it seems the market will take care of itself.

Like someone said, "Piedmont is still a crappy small airline that will never see a jet."

So if it's so crappy then nobody will come to newhire classes and our attrition rate should increase to the point we shut down.

Right??

It is interesting that Comair (as a public traded stock company) made money every year up to the year Delta bought it, from then on it was losing money (as a private entity).

The market has recently been artificially lowered due to PSA and PDT pilots capitulating to fear.

Fear is AAG's only weapon.

You should repost this here once a day. That's pretty much the content of this thread anyway.

Anyone remember Pay for Training? Yep many airlines did it. Comair, Conex, ACA, Commutair, ASA.... Then all the pilots started to go to the airlines that didn't have pay for training.

Same here... If a deal is really bad then pilots will go to Compass, Skywest, Mesa, Republic.

And then pay will go up just like how the airlines started to end the Pay for Training Era.

Market will make the change because ALPA sure the hell isn't going to.

Seems like a very simple logic, but people hear what they want to hear. You talking to the wrong crowd.

Can anyone point me in the right direction to see what all happened/Will happen with the new contract. Have been having a tough time finding what things will look like in the future. Thanks

Basically Piedmont signed a TA to survive. Look for a announcement Thursday by AAG of EMB-145's starting in June with 175's to follow March 2016. Then after Envoy's BK Contract expires look for a merger between PDT and Envoy.

That's about it.

Big announcement Thursday? Source?

Is there one?

I doubt it.

You can have the E140's good luck with the E175's. Personally I don't see both together in PDT future. Also envoy contract does not expire it is up for renegotiations in 6 years, an amendment round in two years.

Fellow Envoy Pilots:
Recently, ALPA pilots at Piedmont Airlines ratified a new agreement with 77 percent of the pilots voting in favor. Their new agreement is similar to the deal ratified by the PSA pilots last year and includes the cost structure the company demanded from us in return for aircraft and flow through to AA.
A video was released by ALPA National last week that drives home the message that the industry has a “pay shortage, not a pilot shortage”. You can view it here, and I encourage us all to watch it. The MEC believes it does not make sense to advocate and support an agreement that validates poor compensation by locking in an agreement for 10 years with no method of improving it.
What does this mean for us? AAG has indicated that PDT’s new agreement provides another avenue to operate the EMB 175s within the wholly owned family at a lower compensation model. We fully expect an announcement that AAG will commit those 175’s to Piedmont. Coupled with the announced movement of our CRJs to PSA, it’s easy to form a clear picture of AAG’s plans for our carrier. We haven’t been notified of displacements or downgrades as of yet, but we will advise you when we have.
This is a very stressful time for our group. Please maintain the level of professionalism we are known for as we transition to this new reality.
Fly Safe.
Bill Sprague
MEC Chairman