CAL EWR

Today is Sunday, September 6, 2009 and this is a Special Edition of The Magenta Line. There is 1 item for discussion.





Item 1: Note to Management: If You Lie Down With Dogs…



In a devastating article appearing in today’s Buffalo News, the management of Colgan Air, the operator of Continental Connection 3407 which crashed in Buffalo on February 12th of this year, has been unmasked as a strong proponent of the “beatings will continue until morale improves” philosophy of airline operation.



While many of us are well aware of just what our fellow ALPA pilots at Colgan have been dealing with the past few years, it is because of our relationship with them as a Continental Connection carrier that what is done to them is done to us as well—and to our customers.



The article in The Buffalo News reads like a recounting of third-world sweatshop working conditions: the professional pilots of Colgan Air are harangued for their use of sick leave, threatened with termination for too many sick calls within a year, forced to provide doctors notes for routine illnesses—and browbeaten into flying tired; and sick and tired are exactly what Captain Marvin Renslow and First Officer Rebecca Shaw were before they left Newark for Buffalo last February 12th.



The Buffalo accident put Continental Airlines management at a crossroads—the warning sign said “Cliff Ahead! Turn Now!”, but our management has continued to drive straight ahead anyway. As management has shown us over and over, their sole concern is the bottom line—but, as is often the case, the bottom line has sharp teeth—and it can bite.



We, the professional pilots of Continental Airlines, have watched the former quality of our Continental Airlines brand disappear—just as our own mainline flying has disappeared to a multitude of Continental Connection “partners” like Gulfstream International. With each new downgrade, the managements we dealt with became seedier and seedier. We ate breakfast at Tiffany’s, lunch at Burger King, and dinner at the rescue mission. The only constant in this uncontrolled descent was the professionalism of the pilots of our Connection partners. Regardless of the ruthlessness of their respective management teams, the pilots, no matter the airline, were the one bright constant. We all, from Continental to Colgan, meet the same high standards; it’s management who feeds at ever-lower bottoms of the trough.



The Buffalo News article can be found here:

Colgan pilots say many felt pressure to work while ill : Home: The Buffalo News



Colgan pilots say many felt pressure to work while ill



While you read it, think about what is happening in our own Newark pilot base: we have been cut to about 1800 pilots—but management is adding 2 additional assistant chief pilots. Anyone want to guess why management needs more assistant disciplinarians for fewer pilots? Looks to us like they plan on continuing the beatings.





As we close this week, please remember our 147 hostages and their families.





Captain Jayson Baron, EWR Council 170 Chairman

[email protected]

610 442-3817



First Officer Tara Cook, EWR Council 170 Vice Chairman

[email protected]

610 220-8904



Captain Kaye Riggs, EWR Council 170 Secretary-Treasurer

[email protected]

830 431-0450

newarkblows

Continental hasnt cared about quality or anything close to quality in a long time. This isnt surprising in the least. They want cheap and that is what they are getting. Go back to 2000 when they sold the atr's because of an "all jet fleet" is what business travelers wanted. Now a more comfortable turbo-prop comes along and they go with the shadiest company they can find. I love how the q400's gear up landings, Buffalo crash, the wheel falling off on landing, the constant maintenance issues and cancellations, the fuel hedging loss,and the complete cluster from when chq started up in houston are all being ignored. There have been some monumental oversights by management.

This cheap cheap cheap mindset gets you nothing but headaches and ****ed off passengers.

I think there needs to be a come to jesus moment among US airlines where this outsourcing is banned or outlawed. If you want to use the name then 90% have to be flown, operated, handled, and represented by that name and company. Not like Midwest where it is the other way around.

nigelcobalt

I agree. Can I get an Amen!

BobBinkie

There is a specific number of fatal accidents that management is willing to put up with before any real and lasting changes will occur.


And we haven't gotten there yet. So they don't care.

tr disagree

Unfortunatly the low bidder will win these days. I did hear that Colgan failed their safety audit by the FAA which should say something. Now that Colgan is ALPA and in section 6 I hope that the union will force the company to stop working these pilots in sweat shop conditions. CAL had an almost all jet fleet for a long time and then backslid into running bigger turbo props to circumvent the pilot scope clause with CAL Managment know is the 3rd rail that I hope they never **** on.

wags3539

That makes me think of the Edward Norton Speech, from Fight Club, about how car manufacturers decide whether or not to issue a recall.

newarkblows

And the colgan pilots want our support in their "negotiations"

Their attempt at a real airline is laughable. If they can achieve half the work rules and even close to industry average pay then it will be a monumental step up for them but will still be a drop in the bucket for the massive decrease in pilot compensation they have imposed on the profession.

to the colgan lovers i am not defending xjt taking mainline flying or any jet regional operator but the constant farming out of flying to the lowest, crappiest bidder is like our profession swimming with a cinder block tied to its foot. We will never get anywhere without an end to this. Just wait for your next contract to be underbid by some shoddy operator with grandiose dreams.

shadyops

scope is never taken. it is given away.

SpiraMirabilis

Sometimes its taken, like in bankruptcy.

Clocks

It will happen, and I will enjoy reading the posts from the colgan folks.