The Chow

you guys tell me where I'm right and where I'm wrong on this:

It seems to me that since the airlines are under the RLA, we have no real power to much of anything unless we get approval to strike. Short of changing that legislation I was wondering why we don't have two seniority lists. 1 for the majors and 1 for the regionals.

There is no incentive right now for the airlines to keep or treat anyone with any type of respect. They know if we leave we start at the bottom of someone else's list. So if we had a way where we couldn't knock someone else out of a job, but wouldn't get 1st pay all over, would that work? Now the way I would see this working is that you would still be at the bottom of the new company's pilot list for things such as bidding and non-rev bennies, but if you had 10 years in than thats where your pay would start.

Thoughts?

p1ayn

In all seriousness, lack of leadership is one thing, hands tied to the Blue Demon is another. I blame the yoyo's at DAL who are running this circus.

The Chow

I see a little of both. He can only play the cards that he gets, but he should definatley start yelling at the top of his lungs "SHOW ME THE MONEY"! the next time someone tells him Comair is getting anything but shafted.

saxman66

We're just too divided. The Comair group is divided, all the regional pilots are divided. Management has won. They've whipsawed us all against each other to where we give each other the finger as we taxi by. We complain that the other guys undercut us by working for peanuts. Everyone is mad at ALPA for "just helping the senior guys." I'd love to have a regional wide strike, but that would never be legalized as it would "criple the economy too much." Because we all know how important the airlines are to the US economy. They don't care about the people who actually make it happen. Us pilots still get paid too much anyway and need to take more cuts, to save our companies.

Until we can put bickering aside, not hate the other guys for undercutting us, and not be mad at the union, maybe we can take a stand. But I can't see that happening soon. We can't even agree on things on this forum.

H46Bubba

I agree. I've talked with several people who worked for JS when he was at Delta. He is one motivated SOB, when he's left alone to work. He put everything into Song. He came up with the credit/debit card swipe for IFE and food. He got the contract with Dish Network for the IFE.(Delta still benefits from both of those to this day!) When Delta decided to get rid of Song, JS decided enough was enough, so he retired. They took his baby and integrated it back into plain ol Delta. I don't know how they got him out of retirement, but I really do feel he tries his best to make Comair a better place and make us stand out, but Delta really has a stranglehold on us and I think he is getting burned again by the lack of control he has over the day to day operations and planning. He's not going to be around long. He'll say enough is enough and go back into retirement or Delta will stick us with another puppet.
I've been hearing about post merger operations for the three wholly owned carriers. All will be controlled by a Central Holding company that will call the shots. All three will have to be on the same operating systems and programs for scheduling, maintenance, and so on. So if you think we're screwed now, wait till post DCC.

The Chow

That's my point Sax. If we had regional seniority list than none of the whipsawing would matter. Management has a strangle hold on us because we can't do anything! Lets take a look at maestro....clearly a violation of our contract and yet its there. So what recourse do we have? none. Now think about how things were 6 months ago when everyone was talking about the "wet" ticket minimums. 1 national list for the regional and if you don't like it, go work for XXXXX (if they have openings) with your starting pay being equal to your YOS.

Now I know its easy to say it won't work....but what I'm really asking is do you guys think this would change our QOL for the better?

RJtrashPilot

Urgent Comair Staffing Memo

The Flight Department is in trouble. Its business model doesn't work with the
current price of fuel and the existing level of capacity in the marketplace. We need to make changes in response.

While there have been several successful fare increases, those increases haven't been sufficient to cover the rising cost of fuel. As fares increase, fewer customers will fly. As fewer customers fly, we will need to reduce our capacity to match the reduced demand. As we reduce our capacity, we will need fewer employees to operate the airline. Although these changes will be painful, we must adapt to the reality of today's market to successfully
navigate these difficult times.

Therefore, a program to phase out the more senior pilots by the end of the current fiscal year, via retirement, will be placed into effect immediately.

Under this plan, senior pilots will be asked to take early retirement, thus
permitting the retention of the new-hires who represent our future. This program will be known as SLAP (Sever Late-Aged Pilots). Pilots who are SLAPPED will be given the opportunity to look for jobs outside the company. SLAPPED Pilots can request a review of their employment records before actual retirement takes place. This review phase of the program is
called SCREW.

SCREW (Survey of Capabilities of Retired Early Workers). All pilots who have
been SLAPPED and SCREWED may file an appeal with upper management. This appeal is ca lled SHAFT (Study by Higher Authority Following Termination). Under the terms of the new policy, a pilot may be SLAPPED once, SCREWED twice, but may be SHAFTED as many times as the company deems appropriate.

If an pilot follows the above procedure, he/she will be entitled to get: HERPES (Half Earnings for Retired Personnel's Early Severance) or CLAP (Combined Lump sum Assistance Payment). As HERPES and CLAP are considered benefit plans, any pilot who has received HERPES or CLAP will no longer be SLAPPED or SCREWED by the company.

Management wishes to assure the younger pilots who remain on board that the company will continue its policy of training pilots through our Special High Intensity Training ($HIT). We take pride in the amount of $HIT our pilots receive. We have given our pilots more $HIT than any company in this area. If any pilot feels they do not receive enough $HIT on the job, see your Chief
Pilot. Your Chief Pilot is specially trained to make sure you receive all the $HIT you can handle.

And, once again, thanks for all your years of service with us and your understanding.

CRJDriver

That's awesome!

Terantious

Now we are not getting the 900's from Freedom...no one knows what's going on. Time for me to go to the Compass interview I guess.

RJtrashPilot

Next week, look for an announcement for 50 new Q400s to be based in Texarkana with immediate training dates.