first off you aren't giving the company a break. got some bad news for the both of you. the company doesn't care how much of a signing bonus you personally get and to be honest its non of their business. the union will negotiate a lump sum payment due to the union. it could be 10 milllion or a 100 million. then the UNION, our elected guys will divy up the money. they are the ones we need to be talking to and discussing this with. so even if the company gave the union 100 million dollars for the signing bonus you could still get the shaft if the union decided to give large sums of money to they guys who have been here over 8 years, and everyone else below that gets a stipened.

our elected officials are going to be the ones giving out the bonuses. i have heard some pretty fair things to some that make me go ygtbkm. so the best thing to do is to talk to they guys on the comittee and hope they aren't super senior pilots writing themselves a large bonus.

There are soo many factors that are involved between a signing bonus and the things you want in a contract. Think about it..... You COULD get a fat signing bonus and a lower hourly rate, no BOB, 50% DH/CXX, and you would be OK with that, but over the next 5 years you may actually LOSE a considerable amount of money over the timespan with a lower signing bonus but higher pay protections, pay rates, and QOL provisions. Keep in mind our pilot costs of the "industry average" caliber get sent right through to daddy DL, and being that we are relatively junior in the longevity area (average pay range of the pay scale of pilots) vs. other DCI's we are still going to be cheap at no cost to the company. As I have the situation understood a signing bonus comes out of the company's acct, so there is added benefit for all of us to have a pretty good contract instead of a massive lumpsum bonus. There is also many reasons (many tax related) as to why we and the company want a SIGNING BONUS vs. Retro. Signing bonus helps us both.


For specific questions call or email a rep, that why they volunteered!

Having only been here 2 years, I dont really care about a signing bonus, I havent been around long enough to deserve one. Those on the list prior to the amendable date are the guys that should get first crack at a bonus. If there's anything left by the time it hits my seniority number, great, if not, no big loss.

But in order to get a Yes vote from me, I need to see #1 Good Work Rules, #2, Industry average or better Pay, #3, Solid contract language. if I dont see at least those 3 things, it'll be a NO. My strike fund is well funded.

I agree on your 3. That's my same list except I have a #4 of good retirement match..

I don't want to burst any of your bubbles but...

PNCL Corp owes 110 million note due Feb 2010. They are trying to figure out how to pay that to keep the airline going, let alone giving the union a big lump sum. They have been selling Colgan SAAB Engines to raise money.

You guys should be happy with a slighty higher than industry average contract. That is what Phildo is going to offer, but certainly no big financial obligations due in the near term. They just don't have the money.

I disagree with that. FO's are taking the brunt of this horrible contract, our rates are $10,000 a year lower than most FO's at other regionals. Most FO's who don't have money coming in from family are either deeply in debt, living like hobos, or barely getting by. Captains on the other hand, may be getting paid less than average, but as a % compared to their peers, they are much better off than FO's. They were all able to upgrade in 1-2 years, and the impact of the low FO rates was minimal. This is no longer the case.

And Pinnacle does have the money for the bonds/lump sum, unfortunately it's still tied up in auction rate securities. The value of those securities is definitely not par value, but they do have value, they just are very illiquid at this point.

Let's not forget they're "getting back" roughly 15 million dollars on their bottom line for 1st quarter '09 that they thought they would have as a tax liability:

Pinnacle, IRS reach $3 million settlement - Triangle Business Journal:

They're not actually "getting" cash on hand for anything, but their balance sheet will look a little better

I don't want to see a massive bonus check that bankrupts the company, however the note due in Feb 2010 is not going to destroy the company...look at Mesa, who is in a way worse position than 9E--they renogotiated the terms of their debt...if Mesa can get creditors off it's back, I'm pretty sure Philly boy can. I know some people who have some unjustified fears that management will set up golden parachutes for themselves and willingly bankrupt/raid the company...I don't think that will happen at 9E, since most of our shareholders are institutional investors with large numbers of shares and legal clout who would literally go ape crazy if they saw something like that developing

For those who dont know the company has already set aside 15 mil for the bonuses, so thats already done. Its now just how the union splits it up between us all.

I didn't think you guys cared about the contract, after all you guys are going to leave as soon as you get your 1,000 hours PIC.

So I guess nothing matters to you guys except the signing bonus.:D

Seeing that pretty much all your posts about regionals are negative towards pinnacle and totally against ALPA I guess you really know what's going on.

Would you have bashed 9E and ALPA if the union signed off on the "last, best, final" offer a few years ago keeping the bar at a level barney could clear?