Any updates??? I want an update...hopefully we'll hear something (anything?) by Friday??? I know S.E. is going to let us know once something/anything happens, but I would at least like to know if they're still meeting anywhere, or if we're basically just sitting ducks waiting for the NMB to speak...

I haven't heard a peep on any of the usual channels.

They had to have given S.E. some sort of time frame i would think as to when they would get back to him.

There is the other issue of that little grey stuff called sealant along the leading edge of the wings. Check it out in your Configuration Deviation list. A total of only 24 inches of that stuff may be missing on any portion of the wing. Start taking a better look at that type of stuff. One would never want to fly an airplane with Missing parts. :cool:

according to the company conference call yesterday they were still negotiating as of yesterday, infact c.s. was not on the call becuase he was at a session.

Sucks that the company tells us that, but an e-mail that would take 1.0 minutes to write with one sentence doesn't come from our own side...not bashing the union, just sayin'

Couldnt agree with you more.

latest i am hearing is the NMB came back to the company and the union and said we plan on releasing you at the end of the month. you have till then to hammer it out before we make our announcement.

I hope that's true... 'cause then it's our turn next!

The NMB would never say that. It would completely disrupt the process.

Try again.

Yes, Mr. Kane has recommended to the board(NMB) that we be released. This would be why the company and union have been meeting this week.

I've also heard from a union rep that we have until the end of this month to get the deal done.

Im headed to the stop over store to buy some nice comfortable walking shoes as we speak.

you are wrong sir. this doesn't disrupt the process. this lets both sides know there is an end coming. remember a release isn't just for the pilots. its also for the company. we can go on strike and they can lock us out. the company doesn't want us to strike, and we dont want them to lock us out. but if both sides know that the choice is going to have to be made then they dont have to wait till the end of the 30 day cooling period to work extra hard to get the deal done. plus it might save some money and face for the company if this annoucement were not made. if everyone knew that their pinnacle flight might not operate next month it would cause a lot of headaches for daddy delta. headaches they dont need right now. we are down to the last thing in our contract to get resolved. that is what we and the company have been looking for. No one gets released with 50 things still left on the table. you get released when you are down to nearly nothing left. that way you can finish it up quickly with little left to discuss.

If they were going to release us, why wouldn't they just do it and say "you've got 30 days to get dual qual done." Why would they give us 30 days til release, then 30 more days til strike...doesn't make much sense...so we're basically in a "cooling off for the cooling off" period???

I have no idea where you got this rumor from.

Directly from the horses mouth. All I know is what Mr. Kane has recommended to his superiors. We are waiting on them.......

it for the reasons i said in my post. to finally drop the hammer and say you are in a cooling off period is no light matter. it will have an effect on stocks, passengers willingness to purchase tickets, and a handfull of other things that will eventually come when they give the go. its like when mesaba went on strike several years back. nwa and mesaba just started cancelling all their flights ahead of time to avoid it. the pilots still showed up to work but there were no flights for them to do because of all the pre-cancellations. just the threat of the strike caused that side of the red tail to come to a stop.

If you guys dont want these rumors flying around could you ask the powers that be to give a weekly update or something rather than 2 times a month. I didnt even know we were meeting with the company this week until i heard the company conference call.

There we all just got an email saying that there will be a full recap delivered this weekend. Thats what i am talking about. When there was no end in sight its ok to give bi-monthly updates but when its end game, i believe constant communication is key to stop preventing rumors. I will now sit back and wait for the email this weekend and i know i will get the info i am looking for.

so what all is left to hammer out? I know the dual-qual is seriously an issue, as are wages. Is anyone going to throw the BS flag on the "newly enhanced" non-rev bennies 9E got crammed with also? When will the 'pre-cooling' off period commence?

I like the line of thinking but ALWAYS remember to CYA!!!!! Mis-management in MEM is watching. Be 100% safe and legal with your write ups. DO NOT fly an aircraft with a known discrepancy to an outstation and write it up there. DO NOT fly a plane back to base and write it up there. If it happens to break or have an issue at an outstation, write it up at the outstation. Dont fly broken airplanes. The FAA frowns upon that. And dont think for a minute that those retards in MEM wont throw you under the bus should you give them an inch. Be careful out there.....

Any CRJ200 fleet often has missing/worn off HOT placards on the water drain.. The thrust levers often have missing/worn out white paint. Knobs get loose. Seatbelts get frays/tears.

There is no way to contractually negotiate pass travel, except for pass travel on company-operated aircraft. Not sure what this new TA will say regarding that section (I think it's section 26), but I'm hoping they'll at least allow our parents and spouses/partners to travel space-available on company-operated flights. Anything less is a de facto concession vs. the old contract.

What they COULD do would be a clause stating "pilots and their families will receive the same or better travel benefit package as any other Pinnacle employee group, including management." This would at least prevent them from giving positive space biz class to management and their families (they are) and shafting us...it would also align management's incentive to negotiate a better deal with DAL with our interests. Why would M.G. and crew wrestle with DAL about pass travel when they're getting positive space biz class for them and theirs??? Contractual language preventing such a scenario would at least prevent them from shafting us and gilding themselves...everyone knows they had a choice with Delta, evidenced by inconsistencies in their communications regarding what Republic, CHQ, ASA, Skywest, Freedom, etc. were getting..

If I see things like 12 days off for rsvs/mo., significant QOL improvements and compensation elements, and severely-limited usage of phrases the company could abuse, I'd most likely cave on pass travel...if it's 10 or 11 days off for rsvs./mo., a dual qual system that could open the floodgates of senior ATL pilots to all the other bases, etc., and b.s. fatigue or sick policies, I'll prolllly go no!!!

The email finally came out late last night and it said absolutely nothing.

They keep hinting we are at the "end game" whatever the hell that means. Same crap, year 5. Company says they are ready to deal, get to the negotiating table and do a 180. P!ss on em. I hope we get released so we can STFD.

TRANSLATION......This means that Uncle Philly and Clive are double checking their golden parachutes and making sure they walk away without having to apply a single band aide.....You guy are not going to get a contract until your group caves. They are doing a great job at trying to wear you down kinda like George Forman putting you on the ropes and and taking moderate hits at your body until you say UNCLE...Management has only one end game...TO KEEP EVERY DOLLAR POSSIBLE to themselves even if it means NMB releases you and you walk because once you walk....9E is a cooked goose...Phil and Clive know it and they don't care either way.

Nah, they really are close. The only thing left to fix is the dual qual issue. If they can finish scope, then they surely can finish anything else.

you dont know uncle phil or aunt clive very well huh. They THRIVE off of being the ceo's of pinnacle. They love the attention they get here in memphis. the parties, the hangouts, ribbon cuttings, pictures on magazines, etc etc. they would literally fall apart if they weren't running in those circles and this place closed. yes they love their bonuses and are trying to build up as much money as they can, but it goes way deeper than that. their pride is on the line.

This is it...if we don't have an agreement by the end of the month, the we get released. If not, I think the pilots will be so disappointed that the drop in on time performance for June will look like child's play to what they will be in August.

Whatever happens, I wish all of you at Pinnacle the best of luck. Hopefully they'll actually give you the great contract you deserve after all of these years.

If they try and jerk you around:
1. Taxi slow
2. Walk slow
3. Don't use your cell phones
4. Write up EVERYTHING

Make those bastards pay for treating you like garbage. If I was closer to Memphis I'd join you on any picket line, but I'm furloughed and have no money, lol

If you are with Pinnacle, don't talk about what you are going to do on public message boards. Your management may be watching and can use that with the NMB to show that the pilot group isn't bargaining in good faith.

With that said. Fly the regs and your contract. If you truly follow both, that will cause delays all on their own. No airline's maintenance is that good. ;)

For any Pinnacle management reading I have two things to say:

1. I'm not Pinnacle (should be obvious by my username)
2. You probably have something much more important right now than reading an internet forum.

Good luck to everyone!

How long were you guys in negotiations with your management? Have we beat your record yet? We started official negotiations in 2005. Its been 5 years and a couple months.

Management IS watching.... I will be working the next 2 days... Come have a coffee with me... I would LOVE a face to face conversation!

it's 2009...2005+5 would = 2010. It has been 4 yrs, 2months.

You mean mis-management??

Can't wait til this safety audit company releases the results. It will be the same as the last time the company did their own survey. Pilots hate the place all the other uneducated (high school degree) people love it. Its not like its going to do anything. Mismanagement to FAA, look what we did.

Delays are causing a HUGE issues right now. Base management is scrambling to figure them all out.

I feel bad for the pax. But oh well, I just don't care anymore. No numbers? Not my job. Sit and wait.

I won't do another peoples jobs anymore.

Fly safe ladies and gentes.

Whoops, see what this place is doing to me, i can't even add anymore. By the way, was anyone else a little annoyed when we first got an email that said stand by for an important email this weekend and then wed didnt get the email until tuesday and it was another no progress email?

We kicked off Section 6 in December 2004 (6 months early as allowed). Some will say it was all smoke and mirrors as 1 year later (Dec 05) the company walked away from the table for 6 or so months.

My math comes up to 4 years 8 months. Of which we have had several breaks where there was ZERO negotiations. The actual time at the table is probably closer to 3 years.

for the giggles, the largest period of successful negotiations occurred in 2006. Not much before and not much after. Most of the language is already 3 years old.

Management watches closer than you think. Write a nasty about a specific person and within 8 hours you will get a phone call. They watch all the airline related forums and the Yahoo stock forum. Ask a LEC member about his post years back that almost got him canned.

1st amendment does not apply if you work for Pinnacle. Nor does the 5th...