Yes, we're possibly going to furlough, so I don't know where these fantasies are coming from. Perhaps ALPA is still spoon-feeding this to the pilots there ?

 

You sir are correct, allot of us here at Eagle would love to fly the narrow bodies at AA! You are also correct that allot of us (including you) here are talking rumors and need to face the facts.

1) AMR is has filled to restructure under CH11 protection
2) American and American Eagle's aircraft fleet is not competitive and isn't friendly towards customers (Small RJs, old T-Props and old S-80s)
3) Delta, US AIrways and other will attempt to not only acquire parts of AMR but also target our cornerstone hubs. Due to this AMR can't afford to shrink by a large percentage specially since most flight pass through the cornerstone hubs.

This is a quote from the last APA proposal:

"This presents a challenge and an opportunity for us. We need to be able to compete with network carriers who rely heavily on regional operators, as well as low-cost carriers. And to do that, we need to be able to economically operate smaller airplanes. But unlike our competitors, we propose solving this in a very different way. Rather than sourcing large regional jets, we propose that any incremental jet aircraft larger than 50 seats will be flown by AA pilots. To compete effectively, aircraft under 125 seats would also have special rates and work rules. (there's your B-scale)
This is a radically different approach than any of our legacy competitors are taking. It enables us to take advantage of our recent aircraft order, which allows us to source small narrowbodies (like the A319 and B737-700) at advantageous prices. It also helps us compete with the low-cost carriers and regional airlines whose low costs have driven us out of many markets over the last several years. Most importantly, it helps us create more jobs and more opportunity for pilots at our airline, while not displacing any of our current pilots under this new paradigm."

Special Jetwire from the company today:

"We are in the early days of this process and don't yet have all the answers. We are well into the first step process, which is negotiating with creditors and lessors to reduce our debt burden and optimize our fleet. This will result in some reduction in the size of our fleet as we ground some older, less efficient planes. At the same time we are working on our business plan to optimize the network with this new fleet plan. The objective is to create a plan which best serves our customers and does so producing the greatest revenue at the most efficient cost and capital structure. We will do this in a way that preserves our strategic strengths so that we can begin to grow with our big aircraft order when our restructuring is complete.

Also, as a key part of the business plan, we will put forward proposals for next-generation labor contracts for unionized groups alongside changes for all other work groups including management. While difficult, all of these changes will be grounded in our overall objective to become efficient and fully competitive in all aspects of our business. Just as we are carefully examining our fleet and network plans, we are looking at how we do our jobs, how we staff the airline, and what compensation, benefit and retirement packages will be going forward.

Of course in all of this, we will have input from other interested parties. The creditors committee and their advisors will be actively involved. We expect that the business plan and labor proposals will be coming together within the next few weeks. Just as soon as they are available we will update you on all of this."


This is public information from AMR. The unions haven't provided any information yet as they are just (to our knowledge) starting to negotiate and see what the company has to offer. Furloughs have happen at Eagle, we have 20 folks on the street and could have more (including myself) coming soon. We have 230ish Pilots who are on the AA seniority list, we also have around 25 plowbacks who are left at Eagle and are on the AA seniority list. We have an arbitration award (that has no cost to the company) for 824 slots out of the first 1648 new hires at American (in other words half of new hire classes). Then we have the "new flow" agreement that is not worth more than the paper it's written on. Rumors and speculations from us Pilot-Bloger-Managment-Backseat Drivers-Monday Morning Quarterbacks, but we don't know what the status of these agreements will be. Right the people who know what is happening at AMR ain't talking, and the ones that are don't know a whole lot. The next few weeks will tell the story. Right now Pinnacle is struggling, ASA/ExpressJet/SkyWest aren't making money or a whole lot of money, Republic is in the red, MESA just emerge from CH11 but is not doing so swell, then the rest of the small regionals aren't doing great neither. AMR has chased everyone for the last 10 years or so but the rest of the industry might be following AMR changes soon. What are those changes, we'll find out together here in the weeks to come!!!

 

There has been no negotiations at AA between labor and the company. First, their term-sheet (initial proposal) must be received. Until that happens, no info. Before that however, aircraft leases will have to be finalized including retention/rejection.

 

The APA proposal was prior to BK, sorry if I didn't make my self clear. And I stated that we haven't done any negotiations to our knowledge. Our current union at Eagle likes to do things with management behind close door at times when they shouldn't be doing them, like the new flow program trade for SCOPE!

 

You're complaining about something I didn't even say. I never said they had the correct pay rates posted, I said their contracts are posted there. Don't use the pay rate pages, there or here. As I said, the contracts are posted there. If you download the contract you can read the actual pay rate.

So, perhaps it is your reading comprehension that needs work, your credibility is already shot.

 

Wrong, the way I read that old TA they didn't want to reduce them to industry average longevity, they wanted to use the average of only the 3 regionals with the lowest longevity. That is less than industry average.

The entire concept of industry average is a crock anyway. As soon as just 1 airline takes a pay cut, then the industry average gets lowered by that amount. That means the "new" industry average for the next airline computing it is lower, which means they get reduced also. It's a declining cycle that continues unchecked because "industry average" sounds fair to arbiters and courts, but it's really a Mgt tool for reducing industry labor costs.

 

Yep......listen to Mason. Nine out of ten doctors recommend it.
EDIT: Actually not supposed to be sarcastic, cheeky, maybe.

 

Yes and the MEC at AE loved it because they thought they would go to AA and have to low pay scum at AE supplementing there jobs.

 

That sounds quite interesting.

Source?

 

The pay part is a fact, go look at the TA between our wonderful MEC and the company, they wanted to adjust longevity (not pay, but pay step) in 2014 and not by industry average but the average of the lower regionals that are of similarity to Eagle. The 401K matching is pure speculation, but it will probably be adjusted during negotiations.

This is a copy of that portion of the TA

(2) Longevity
o Benchmark group: a subset of large regional carriers that meet the following
criteria:
 Operate 150 aircraft or more with at least 44 seats
 Operate within the contiguous forty-eight (48) states of the United States
 Majority of aircraft are operated under capacity purchase agreements with
major airlines
 Are not in bankruptcy
 Excluding Eagle
 Note: Individual carriers subject to the control of a holding corporation shall
be aggregated for purposes of the measurement (e.g., “Skywest” includes
Skywest, ASA, and Express Jet)
o Measurement: Determine the average pilot longevity for the selected carriers (for
First Officers and Captains) and calculate the cost advantage or disadvantage relative to Eagle. If there are two, three, or four carriers meeting the above criteria, select the two carriers with the largest longevity gap relative to Eagle and take the simple average of those gaps to determine the Eagle longevity target. If there are five or more carriers meeting the above criteria, select the three carriers with the largest longevity gap relative to Eagle and take the simple average of those gaps to determine the Eagle longevity target. If there is only a single carrier meeting the criteria, that carrier’s gap relative to Eagle becomes the target.