Spoilers

The times of quick upgrades and using the regionals as a stepping stone to move on are long gone. Regional airlines will continue to grow and replace more and more mainline flying. People are not looking at the big picture. There won't be any mainline jobs to move on to, and even if there are some major airlines hiring, there are thousands and thousands of pilots with more time, more type ratings and more experience than somone with his 1000 TPIC at Colgan.

All regional airlines suck, but some of them suck more than others. Bottom feeders like Colgan and Mesa is one of the reason we have such crappy wages. People went to these places because they were chasing the quick upgrade and blowing off and putting up with the BS and low pay. And now look at them, there is no movement, the pay and workrules are still absolutley horrendous, so now they voted in a Union in hopes of getting a fair contract. I personally don't see it happen anytime soon, just look at PNCL. But, there are still thousands of people lined up that want to go fly at Colgan. Even after the crash, all the bad press, they are hiring and getting more airplanes. The gov't, majors or passengers don't care about safety, all they care about is numbers, and if the Passenger can save $1 on a round-trip ticket, they will still get on a Colgan plane.

Lowlevel

I may have been unclear in my post. What I meant was; how many people are willing to stay an FO at Comair for at least 10 more years, and top out in pay, when they could go out and find other jobs (non-aviation or maybe at a corporate flying job) that pay the same, if not better. And as for the "former captains" of Comair, I am sure they are looking for other better things than a place that made them take a huge pay cut.

I know the argument will be that the economy is bad and there are no jobs out there....let's just say, for sake of argument, that there are jobs out there.

As for Colgan, one could only hope that their certificate is taken away (not anything against the pilots). And Mesa, well, that is just a matter of time until they go away.

I know the captain bid that came out is only for eligible pilots, but the attached seniority list is called "Pilot Seniority List 2/12/10"....it was nice of them to leave off the furloughed pilots like they are not even considered as employees (pilots) anymore

makersmarc

You are absolutely, positively 100% correct. Especially 'People are not looking at the big picture'. They think of the regionals as the rental apartment that they trash because they have no plan to stay.

Spoilers

That is obviously no longer the case. Regionals are not regionals anymore. The industry is pretty much at a standstill, more mainline flying being replaced by regionals and the regional pilot group getting more senior and experienced.

At this point, I really hope we the pilot group get a contract that we deserve and that management aknowledges the fact that we have taken PLENTY of concession over the past few years and that they recognize the experience level of our pilot group, and that we should be compensated for that properly.

TurboDog

Let's get the facts straight on this one(Roger Cohen.) Sorry had to say it.

Delta, nor Comair Management is ever going to feel sympathetic to Comair's Pilot group. They are NEVER going to hand you a better contract, or a pay raise because they feel your pain. If anything they are going to try to break you down even further. If you guys want to get a better contract or you want your concessions back, they are going to make you fight for it. I would get together with as many pilots as you can and get the message out there that your ALPA leadership better produce. ALPA at Comair is nothing more than a little boys club. They have lost their balls. You all need to tighten the ropes and hold your leadership accountable. If they don't produce, or you disagree with their style, then step up to the plate and make it happen.

Good luck with the upcoming negotiations! Remember, you are sleeping with the enemy if you are hoping the company will realize how much you all have been team players. They could care less.

Boomer

Here's how it works - Comair and Delta are one and the same when it comes to marching orders. ng4 will only offer what Delta says to offer, in this case paycuts and no more LC reserve. Then ng4 will bellyache that he has no wiggle room if we want Delta to let us live.

And we'll say "we want more pay to make up for contracts 05 and 07 where we've moved backwards."

And Comair will say "Hold on a minute...(they pick up a phone and murmur into it)... ATL says if you don't take another 15% cut they'll give your planes to SKW/ASA/Pinnacle/Mesaba."

And we'll say "Burn it down"

And they'll murmur into the phone and say "ATL says if you take a 12% cut you can keep the planes you already have except the ones scheduled to come off lease."

And we'll say "Show us the lease return schedule"

"Umm, we can't do that. We'll tell you what the schedule is after you sign the contract"

"That's good enough for us. But why should we take a pay cut if Delta is still going to shrink us?"

"Hold on... (more talk on phone)... ATL says you can have 20 more planes if you take a 12% cut. And we get to rewrite the reserve rules for 30 days after you sign the contract. Otherwise, your planes go to Mesa to make their $70 million lawsuit go away."

"30 days? That's not so long. That's good enough for us. But how can we be sure Delta will give us the planes? Give us guarantees to show the pilot group!"

"Well, if we..er, Delta doesn't give you 20 planes then in four years you can have your 07 pay scale back. But no retro pay."

"Four years? That's not so long. That's good enough for us. We see no loopholes in this deal. Let's take it to the pilots for a vote. We'll get back to you.

"Oh, and you'll drop all pending grievances..."

"Whatever. We have work to do. Can we get S3 priority back?"

"No. And min line value goes away..."

"Stop talking. We have what we came for. These negotiations are over."

captainv

Actually, Boomer, all they have to do is dangle the possibility of just thinking about maybe keeping CVG open as a crew base (maybe even for Comair!) and the senior guys will fold.

makersmarc

Correct me if I am wrong, but during negotiations isn't it against the rules to violate the status quo during sec. 6 negotiations?

STINKY

whats the latest with Comair

Spoilers

No news is good news, right? Yeaahhh...