WOW. I hear the fishing is good there!

Why do you assume that "6 months will turn into 24?" I think you should call SE and talk to him about this, because it seems as though you need to learn a little bit more about the process. The MEC and NC have handled the process very well, from what I can see. They took the smart path of trying to correct the mistakes rather than trying to start from scratch. The latter path would have resulted in the 24 months that you're thinking (or more). The former path is the way to a deal sooner. I expect that you'll either have a deal or a release by late summer, and I think it will be a deal rather than a release.

Fly it and grieve it is the law of the land (RLA); it's not a concept dreamed up by your MEC. Every pilot group in this country has to live under the same rules. Don't like it? Contribute to ALPA-PAC so that we'll have a chance someday to fix the law.

This just indicates a lack of understanding of how the union is structured. SE has no vote. He simply works for the Status Reps and does as they direct. He can make recommendations to them, but they can ignore him and issue their own direction, and he has to follow.

Having known him for about 7 years, I think I can speak to this. Has he made mistakes? I'm sure. Everyone does, myself included. But is he a good MEC Chairman? Overall, I think he is. Although his predecessor had his strong points, I think SE was a monumental improvement. He understands the process, he works hard, and he's a true trade unionist. If you have concerns (such as communications), then you should call him and discuss those concerns, or show up at the next MEC meeting to tell him face-to-face. Complaining about it on a message board on the internet won't accomplish anything. Be proactive. I guarantee you that SE wants to do what's best for the pilot group. If you have good suggestions for improvements, I'm sure that he'd love to listen.

You have a benefit that many pilot groups do not: an MEC Chairman who is a true trade unionist and wants to do the right thing, rather than an opportunist who is only looking out for himself. Sadly, union work attracts far too many of the latter, and far too few of the former. Be glad that your MEC Chairman falls into the better category.

O.K. I have been gone for more than 2 years but am always interested in what is going on and how my friends are getting along at Pinnacle. As far as the fly it and grieve it mentality, that is an industry wide problem. As you probably remember a while back a few pilots decided to not fly an assignment that they knew was blatantly illegal per the contract. They were not given the contractually mandated rest period before an assignment if my memory serves me correctly. This was an extremely black and white issue with no DW comment about that is not how we interpret the contract. The company decided to fire all of them except the one smart F.O. who said he was fatigued. The company knew they did not have a leg to stand on but fired them all for insubordination. Even though the company knew they would lose this case and end up giving them all their jobs back with lost pay, the company chose to fire them for intimidation value alone. If I am not mistaken all pilots were eventually offered their jobs back and one person was smart and said I don't want it back. This is the management team that this pilot group is dealing with. I always had a lot of luck when getting an illegal assignment and being told to fly it and grieve it. I would simply put the ball right back in their court by stating: "I will not fly this assignment and grieve it later. You go ahead and issue me a "missed trip" and I will grieve the missed trip." For whatever reason schedulers were very reluctant to choose this path and would usually focus on another victim. Hang in their folks, you will eventually wear this crooked management team down and get an acceptable contract.

"Crooked Management" being the key word.

They will not give one dime to the pilot group unless forced to do so.

It's been that way from the beginning, the union just needs to realize that.

I agree, nothing will happen until you guys are released and a strike is imminent. I think Management will not want the wrath of Daddy Delta if and when a strike causes problems for the Delta operation.

The truth is Uncle Phil and his cronies are more powerful than SE and his cronies.

Phil wants to go 10 years without a pilot contract. They have no desire to give 9E a fair and reasonable contract. No desire for an industry average contract. They want the airline to be paid far below industry average in all forms and fashions.

TA1 was designed to fail. They were glad it did. TA2 is being designed to fail also. After 6 years of stalling, their only options are to have TA's fail to buy them more time.

TA2 will pass if it is ever makes it up for vote!

I think Pinch might be right. Consider this..

TA1 was really inadequate with things like..

Very little reserve relief

W2 bonus pay method

No hard payscales, just formulas for keeping the pay 'average'. Really? Not the best idea.

Meanwhile, Phil and others keep making bonuses and saving tons of interest on the pilot retro money that wasn't paid out.

The worst thing management did was the Auction Rate Securities that really supressed any growth going forward, but they have NEVER admitted that major mistake, just keep taking their bonuses and stock options.

TA1 should have never made it for a vote, plain and simple. You can't spin it any other way. It was inadequate.

CB