That is it exactly. I've seen more press in the last 6 months from ALPA about getting into the TSA in regards to CrewPass than I've ever heard from them about hitting every option in D.C. on changing the ridiculously irrelevent RLA.

 

There is some irony here. When the current contract was presented to the pilots in 1999, alot of people were upset that it was a 5 year agreement. At the road shows, the NC told everyone to consider it a 3 year agreement since the previous contract had 2 years left on it!

Also, this matter of changing the 401k over fidelity is history repeating itself. the 401ks were with Mass Mutual before Diversified.

 

If writing up a valid squawk, making sure manifests are correct, and insuring everything is done by the book inconveniences pax, so be it. I thought being safe, legal, and prudent was providing good service.

 

This will never happen at 9E, too many people would rather just fly a broken A/C back to MSP/MEM/DTW to get it fixed there...
This place is filled with to many Gulfstream/JetU people that really dont care about a good contract or what they get paid, they are just happy that they dont have to pay 9E to fly the plane. Most of them are re-treads from other careers and flying is just a hobby. 10$ or 1,000$ bucks an hour makes no mind to them, they are just thrilled to be JET CAPTS!

What ASA did, will never happen at 9E.

 

Dude I take Much Offense to this statement. I went to Gulfstream and I all I care about right now is this contract. I know that all the guys that fly here that were in my class at the stream and the classes before and after mine feel the same way. Ive been at 9E for five years now, and have gone through all the contract bs that the company has put us through. I do care about what I get payed and about a good contract with good scope and work rules. It doesnt matter where you were before this to want a good contract.

 

If someone feels they can do something better or wants to make a change there is a 2 step process for this.

1. Volunteer. Pick something you are interested and you will find at least 1 committee you can make a difference at.

2. Support the PAC. If you want political change you need to support the efforts. Even if you hate politics- you gotta pay to play.

There is a LONG way to go for regionals and ALPA. Do I blame ALPA?-somewhat. Too many people have the notion of "Hey, I'm only here a few years- let me just have a little raise and it's better than nothing". If we really are going to "take it back" there needs to be a national and international campaign where everyone is in the same boat. QOL and benefits should be the same regardless of if you have a family of 4 and work at Delta, or a family of 4 and work at an ALPA regional. Should you get paid more to operate a larger aircraft?- yes. Paid more for longer longevity?- yes. Some sort of national list to allow those who are furloughed to get the first dibs at another ALPA carrier?- yes (but that gets very complicated).

Personally, I want to see a payscale that is by weight. FO's should make 60% of the CA rate. The pilots should have equity in the company (through ALPA national) and a seat on the BOD. Profit sharing for all groups- management, shareholders, and employees. If everyone has some "skin in the game", everyone works together- regardless of the economic or political climate. I know where my opinions are with mgmt's decisions and also feel that many of the mistakes WOULD NOT have been allowed to happen if there were representatives of the various employee groups involved in the decisions from the beginning and the potential for gains in the execution phase would have been much greater with the strong starting foundation.

Currently the morale at my company is the lowest I have seen and I would venture to bet our performance numbers will show direct lineage to morale and the "extra effort" that was once put forth from the pride and desire of being Professionals- but not treated as such. Now it's all about "safety", just as it always has been- the difference is that the pilots (and other labor groups) are not going above and beyond to get the job done in leu of management's mistakes.

 

I've seen the UAW in action, and the day after the contract expired was the day the assembly line stopped. No RLA there!

 

If that can be done now, without delays, why would it suddenly cause delays? Are you saying that safety doesn't come first, right now, as performance numbers are high? If managemenet suddenly gives you an industry leading contract tomorrow, suddenly safety isn't so important - we'll get the flights out on time.

If you are going to dot every i and cross every t, while in negotiations, to send management a message, claiming safety, then why isn't every i being dotted, and ever t crossed, when not in negotiations. JMHO, but the way it comes across, if, until management gives us what we want, we are playing "safety first", and delaying flights, so our numbers decline, but as as soon as they give us a contract, we'll do whatever we have to, to get flights out on time. In the latter, did safety suddenly go out the window? Seems inconsistant to me.

 

Either you are mgmt, not a 121 pilot, or have not been paying attention for 5+ years.....


Troll?

 

Are you management or simply uneducated in the ways of applying the proper pressure during contract negotiations? You do not sound much like a line pilot to me.