Bull@#$%! If compass airlines takes even one of our crj's, I think we should strike. I don't even care if we have the legal grounds to do so. You talk about Northwest's flying, and you are correct, but compass is not northwest. If Northwest wants to get 100 70 seat airlplanes thats cool, but give them to northwest, not compass. Northwest pilots should be so ticked off about this thing. If they want to keep their flying then they should do it, keep it with northwest. But if they want to accept it at Compass, then they are no longer northwest pilots, they are REGIONAL AIRLINE PILOTS like everyone at pinnacle and mesaba.

 

No they are not.

They have what you do not have, a mainline senority number. Do not forget that.

Why...? Does that make them better than you or something...?

No, but...

You are coming off as a HUGE hypocrite blasting the notion of anyone stealing "your" flying when it was their flying in the first place. You just justify this in your mind because you fly a CRJ on that route instead of a DC-9. But it was never about the plane, it was about the flying and it was about the JOBS.

Since he/she has that senority number, then he/she has much more of a right to that flying (and that job) than you do. Period.

If having a separate B-Scale contract (which is why it is being created as a separate company), with wages and work rules that mimic the competition for that flying (meaning you), is what it takes to regain that flying then so be it.

BTW, being junior enough to be furloughed from NWA (and then having to accept a position at Compass), does NOT make those pilots any less of a Northwest Pilot than sitting junior reserve at NWA would. But it does mean that they deserve a JOB in the operation that THEIR union created for them, a JOB in what will replace the DC-9 flying...

Now that we have set that straight, we will talk about the CRJ's.

First off, it has little to do with you, rather the need for Compass to keep the Independence certificate alive. The FAA will not allow a company to retain a operating certificate unless some flying is accomplished.

A good example of this was Mesa's flying a beech around on the Freedom certificate just to keep that alive (so they could use it later on, like today)

It is very expensive and time consuming to get a new certificate, thus it is worth the cost to just fly a plane around every now and then to keep an old certificate alive. All Northwest cares about is having that certificate ready when the planes they really want Compass to fly start to arrive.

Get it...?

But do not kid yourself that everything is hunky-dory just because of this. While the aircraft that Compass will operate are meant to replace DC-9's, they will also start to take over the flying that is now done by CRJ's.

Why lose money on a CRJ when you can replace it with a more comfortable and profitable EMB-175...?

Hey, it is the nature of the industry. Replacements will replace the replacements. Afterall, your company moved into routes that Mesaba had operated, that Mesaba moved into when your company was bought out from Brady a long time ago...

So build you time, and do what other pilots have had to do for years and years. Work to get that mainline senority number, because in the long run it is the only real difference between your career and theirs...


Good Luck

 

Whats the deal with compass? If they keep senority numbers does that mean they can flow thru to Northwest? I never payed much attention its just seemed like something else everyone has complained about.

 

Wow Savannahguy Im starting to think that you are either not in 121 or possibly not even a pilot at all.... First of all NO compass is NOT going to bring the regionals UP to the mainline level, if anything it will bring the mainline DOWN to the regional level and before we know it compass will probably be flying A-330's and 747's at a B pay scale. As for the seniority number... while yes there will be many number holding mainliners flying for compass there will also be many street hires working there as well. Yes the street hire will may have a chance at very eventual flow through to mainline they still will not have mainline seniority numbers making them guess what..... REGIONAL AIRLINE PILOTS.....NOT MAINLINERS and if you really want to go there yes there are tons of CRJ CA's here at 9E that are furloughed mainliners as well but I guess they should lose their CA spots here at 9E so they can go fly for compass possibly as FO's. As for the flow through having that program will not make the street hires at Compass mainliners any more than the flow through programs at AA and CO make the eagle and express jet guys mainliners. Bottom line Savannah GET A CLUE!

 

The people at Compass that are furloughed mainliners will get a called back in order of their seniority since they are still mainliners just like furloughees at any other airline. The flow through program only applies to those hired off the street. As for the seniority lists my guess is that the Compass and Mainline seniority lists will remain completely seperate.

 

Unions create jobs? That's a new one. How many jobs have unions created? Every union industry I look at is laying people off left and right.

 

Yawn...

Bored now.

 

I really really hope they don't approve this TA.

ALPA national doesn't seem to be doing much of anything with this situation, and it makes us ask- what are they good for?

SWA 737 Captains currently make more than the most senior captains at NWA. Labor is not the issue.

 

And their mainline seniority number means NOTHING at COMP-ASS Airlines. Just like it means nothing at any other company once you get furloughed. The only thing that being a furloughee will get those guys is preferential hiring- and even that will eventually go away when folks realize that it's no different than flying for any other REGIONAL AIRLINE.

Especially when people wake up and start to question how stable anything tied to NWA is. Folks are bailing from Pinnacle and Mesaba- not just because of the working conditions and pay, but also because of the uncertainty of being attached to a legacy carrier whose future is uncertain. If I was a NWA furloughee, I certainly wouldn't be putting anything tied to that company on the top of my list. It might be a fall back to keep food on the table, but to think that anybody at Compass is going to to have the same status as mainline pilots is a joke.

 

I will vote NO for the TA! Now for the scoop:

NWA furloughees will get preferential hiring. IF they accept the position, both Cpt & F/O will be typed. Cpt pay starts out at the 2nd yr pay, F/O at the 4th yr pay. IF you leave Compass (IE- recalled back to NWA or flat out quit) within the first 12 months, guess what.....YOU OWE COMPASS AIRLINES THE COST OF THE TYPE RATING!

If furloughed (wont be unless the sh*t totally hits the rotating oscilator),
I will look at it as a 2-4 month unpaid vacation. I say this because of where I sit on the seniority list.