It's time to bring back the ASA furloughees!
 

Same stuff at Comair brother, first wave went in October, next in November and 3rd in January and we've been short staffed since November 6th (the day after the 2nd round).

There have been over 150 Junior Manning events since the first of the year with a 3000 hour increase in flying IN JFK..yet they STILL won't call back people.

This summer is going to be atrocious for Comair's performance..i'm willing to bet comair will set all time low's for performance statistics.

I'm pulling for you guys though!

I am with you. There are about a dozen that resigned to go to GoJets and I know of 4 others personally who are pursuing other careers outside of aviation, including going back to school. Assuming there are others, I cant imagine they couldnt afford to bring back some of us (maybe 60-65 remaining?) Unfortunately, with ASA doing everything to cut as many costs as possible to save money, I just dont see it

Somehow, I think a safer bet will be this will turn into a 9 page argument between those who think we are understaffed, those who say we are still overstaffed and the generic miserable posters.

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Imagine the best way to fix things...then turn a 180 and go with that idea...welcome to ASA

No kidding join the rest of the regional airline clubs, ASA isn't the only place this is happening.

I'd love to see ASA bring back their furloughees, but I'd hate to see them furloughed again after the summer. Perhaps management is waiting to get some guidance from Delta on what the fall schedule looks like before deciding on any recalls.

I do hope the furloughees get back to ASA soon!

Mainline management have not problem with treating US "contract carriers" as seasonal regional pilots.

I really hope the furloughed guys get recalled, however all they need to do is build the lines up and that will solve this situation. SH is also going around saying that in order for the furlough to "make sense" financially, it has to last 18 - 24 months.

What about this forthcoming 2-for-1 swap for more 900s? That means a net loss of airframes again.

According to management if you're not junior manning, you're overstaffed. If even one reserve is sitting at home, you're overstaffed. Thats the way it was at my airline at least.

I know I don't see the big picture operationally but it seems to me that we are going to struggle to meet performance goals for summer flying if I was used on every day of availability this month except for one. I'm not even call me first and I made guarantee. My block hours were low but I was flying everyday. I'm really glad to have a job right now and I actually really enjoyed flying this month with some great captains. As a pilot though I have to whine about something so how about they fix whatever arbitrary number they have for minimum coverage so I can move some days off around!

We have the same problem at Mesa. I don't know if we are overstaffed as they say, properly staffed, or understaffed. It appears to be that we are understaffed as EVERYTHING is denied to min reserve coverage. It could be that we are indeed overstaffed, and that the company just can't manage their assets. That's probably the most likely thing.

Anyways, not to derail the thread. I just wanted to add that, and to say that as a fellow pilot living in Atlanta, I think about you ASAers a lot, and I hope for the best for you all. I know many folks there, and I think ASA is one of the best regionals, and certainly the best DCI carrier out there.

Thanks for the kind words, there is way to much negativity on APC

i think it is BS but they probably wont recall because that would be admitting that they made a mistake by furloughing. and we all know that no one at asa management is held accountable for anything.

there is no accountability in management in any industry right now. God knows bonehead SH would never say so. He is too busy putting his latest flavor of the week spin into RGT classes. Lets not forget this is the same guy who painted another regional as "a great, growing place to work" for us getting furloughed, some agreed, but to the masses it was a slap in the face. People would just rather get aroused to BH's weekly ourasa messages, telling people for the 27th week in a row how outstanding it is to be part of the ASA team and hard work pays off.

I think more than admitting a mistake, the probable reason for no call for the summer is because it might not make a ton of sense to bring people back, only to have them sitting around in the fall with another reduction in block hours, then possibly doing even less when the airplanes start going away. I hope this isnt the case, just playing of devils advocate.

Call me back! I'd gladly come back for 4-5 months and fly (until the fall cut in hours), all the while searching for somewhere else to go. It would beat unemployment (by a slim margin):D

And maybe get us another 6 months of non rev. :D

Lemme guess...you work for Pinnacle??

The other day my buddy was running 7 hours behind schedule. Upon arriving in ATL, my buddy, who is not on reserve, was informed that he was being rescheduled and that there was a plane full of people and rest of crew waiting for him. The flight was supposed to have departed 5 hours prior and the rest of his crew had been waiting for him for 3 hours. The flight eventually was cancelled, but could have been completed had it left earlier.:eek:

Maybe someone in crew planning/scheduling needs to join someone from our maintenance department in the unemployment line.:mad:

Apparently the amount Delta doesn't pay us for cancelled flights isn't enough to cover having to pay for adequate staffing. I really wish I could see the big picture here.:rolleyes: This is starting to get embarassing.

What I want to know then, is who left?

The furloughed seniority list still shows the 80 of us. No one has been removed.

That being said, I don't want to be recalled only to be kicked back to the curb in December. I'm sorry but I'm not some temp labor that hangs out at the local Home Depot looking for work.

I think the earliest any of us will be called back is spring 2010. The summer travel season is the busiest so they would have called us back by now if they really needed us. The fall is slow and they'll just JM their way through the holiday travel season till they lose the 20 -200s (net loss of 10). Then they'll probably furlough everyone else who isn't protected by the furlough protection clause (40 pilots not protected?) though management will probably find a way around the clause.

The fact of the matter is that next year this time we will be about 100-120 pilots fat again from the net loss of the 10 -200s. So unless we see some serious attrition (not likely) or the economy turns around then we are all going to be stuck on the street for awhile. We will be even fatter on pilots if PBS gets passed.

I think overall Skywest/ASA is in a strong position but what has me most concerned is ASA's exposure to the -200. I wish we had been able to get in on more -700s and -900s when they were being awarded by Delta or if we had looked into a new turboprop.

How many more years do we have left on our contract with Delta?

I agree with you about not wanting to be temp labor. I was told by one of the people in my class going to the gojet class that they had to send in a letter of resignation in order to accept the class there. anyone else confirm if that is fact/fiction?

I know someone who went there and they said that they were told to write it on the first day of class but no one came and collected it. I haven't talked to them in awhile so I don't know if they ever ended up having to mail it in or not.

If I remember what I heard correctly, they were told they would have to mail the letter upon completion of training.

Come on people, it's really not that hard. You were extended during IROPS and 60 aircraft parked for a paper error, correct? And that's reason to bring back furloughs? You haven't been around long enough. When line values go over 90 hours, all reserves are going over 75 hours and line holders get extended up to their max (3 times a month I think?), THEN you will see some recalls. If we get additional airframes, THEN you will see recalls. Until then, it's just the usual...pilot's b!tching about having to work under a contract we signed.

[QUOTE it's just the usual...pilot's b!tching about having to work under a contract we signed.[/QUOTE]

its a contract that you signed. the people that are furloughed, and more, did not get to vote on it. look at all the 'red arrow days'. we obviously need to recall. imagine how bad it will be in the summer.

The "red arrow days" are because they cut all lines below guarantee to prevent lineholders from flying over block, and thus save money. The unintended consequence of this was that they created more lines, and thus had less reserves available, creating the low coverage ("red arrow") days.

As said above, we are not understaffed. When we are understaffed, you'll see lines at 85-90 hours, reserves hitting 75, and people getting extended and junior manned on sunny days.

Expect to see slight improvement in May and much improvement in June. Don't expect to see recalls until late Spring 2010 if at all.

Exactly John. There is another 2 for 1 deal in the works.

I know you and you know me. I'm curious why you keep saying that. You seem to be the only one saying it publicly. ASA management knows nothing about it. I'd love for you to pm me what you know, and where you heard it (don't name names, just what department).

I think ASA and the furloughees have bigger problems than a call back date if your doom and gloom "if at all" predictions comes true for what equates to <80 people

Where would the 900s be coming from?

Probably the plant.

I thought the new scope agreement has it at 150-something which we're already at?

nope up to 255 total 70 and or 76 seat jets. 153 is the limit now until they got over 763 mailine jets. When they go over that it is three 76 seaters for each mainline jet up to a total of 255. Now they are only 32 away from the combo of 70 and 76 seat RJ's but they can trade in a 70 seater for a 76 seater if they so choose. Not sure if that will be economically feasible but they can do it.

Oh, they voted on it. They 'voted' to came work here and took the job by agreeing to the conditions set forth in the current contract. Red arrow days are not your best indication of staffing levels...

two excellent points

what about the total of ASA aircraft? Can it be changed depending on block hours?

Wonderful.

Negative Growth + PBS = many more people out of work. Throw the meat.

The "conditions" set forth in the current contract include the following statements:

1. "The Company will use best efforts to provide an adequate number of pilots (including reserves) to cover the scheduled time, vacations, training and known sick leave, military leave, and attrition."


I would put forth that with the current number of red arrow days, the Company is not putting forth their best effort to provide adequate pilots, for if they were, we wouldn't haven't furloughed in the first place. Since the furlough took place recently (in February), this should have been foreseeable, seeing that the company most likely had a good idea of anticipated flying for the months of March and April when they chose to furlough.


2. "All regular line holders will be permitted to bid to pick up and swap initial open time." and "If a day becomes designated at any time during the open time process as a restricted day, any swap request processed thereafter may be denied."

With the number of red arrow days currently displayed, the company is essentially preventing rather than permitting regular line holders to pick up and swap initial open time.

3. "The Company will determine the number and distribution of reserve on-call periods."

Every single Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are designated red arrow days this month. Once again the Company is not fulfilling its duty to properly determine the number and distribution of reserve on-call periods. If, as you say, red arrow days are not a good indication of levels of staffing, then perhaps someone from the Association needs to help them, as it is quite evident that weekends are either improperly staffed, or that the levels of reserve staffing required have been improperly calculated.

4. "If there are insufficient reserve pilots within any bucket, the Company may
create available reserve pilots by moving non-inviolate days off or by
modifying a trip to accommodate the available buckets."

Either we are short of reserve pilots, or we have too many working Monday through Thursday. If the latter is true, then the company is also not fulfilling its duty to create available reserve pilots by moving non-inviolate days off.