Straight from the CO website...

The jets going from Mesaba to Pinnacle is called an asset transfer. The current Mesaba Pilot contract provides for such a transfer as long as the Pilots operating the aircraft move with the aircraft. That means a subset of Mesaba Pilots would move to Pinnacle with the aircraft, not the entire Mesaba Pilot group. Who moves and how they move will be subject to negotiation with ALPA, and ALPA also will determine how these pilots will be integrated into Pinnacle’s seniority list. Management does not do that. Management only would determine the number of Pilots needed. We also will collaborate with Flight Attendant and Mechanic work groups at Mesaba to determine how to provide for a subset of Flight Attendants and Mechanics to move to Pinnacle with the jet aircraft.

Combining the airlines - Colgan and Mesaba People and assets - is a merger. All of the People, aircraft and assets at both organizations would become a single airline with the Mesaba name. While the airlines would merge, the outstanding People who make up the culture of these two great airlines are what’s most important to owning our future. The respective unions and labor contracts would determine how seniority is decided for People covered under union agreements. Management does not do that. For work groups at Mesaba and Colgan that have different unions (or no union at all), there are established regulatory procedures for how the employees of the combined work groups would determine which union should represent them, or the employees could elect to decertify an existing union. Management does not decide this.



I guess the Colgan guys will not be going to 9E unless some sort of single SLI is worked out and you can bid what your seniority holds...we shall see

 

Yeah its going to get bad for the mesaba guys when it comes time to choose whether they want to go to colgan or pinnacle (some wont have a choice based on their seniority). I think that their best chance for good seniority integration will be at colgan. I think the LOA is going to play out at pinnacle which is a 2 for 1. I have been at pinnacle for 5 years which means I will be senior to a mesaba guy that has been there 10 years. That way of intergration is not 100% going to happen but unfortunatley for the mesaba guys its an LOA that was signed and stamped by their own MEC. ALPA merger will go into effect at colgan. The jets are coming to pinnacle and a certain amount of pilots will be allowed to come with them, not everyone. Some people will be left at colgan. Or vice versa. Some may want colgan and be forced to go to pinnacle. I think the guys who will have it the best are the ones on furlough right now that will get a pinnacle bid number. They will be ahead of the game when all this plays out and we start hiring.

I think the majority will want to come to pinnacle and if you do and you are on furlough it would be best to come here now while you have a choice. If you want a msp, dtw, mem, or atl base then pinnacle is where you want to be. If you want a colgan base then head that way. Tough choices for the guys at colgan and I dont envy it one bit.

 

I am not in charge, all i can do is write my rep, which i will, but i just say we leave the past in the past and forget the loa - do a straight relative seniority integration on the pinnacle side. It will be the best for morale going forward.

 

I dont have a problem with that but ALOT of pinnacle pilots will. I would venture to say that only the top 25-30% of mesaba pilots will be able to come over to the pinnacle side. Most of them will want to stay on the jet and stay in their base. That means that anyone below the 30% line in pinnacle is going to get pushed down, and if we dont play our cards right, might even get pushed out when things slow down and we are once again "overstaffed". If that were to happen then all those pilots who are now back on reserve, back in the right seat, or on the street will wonder why our MEC decided to make a special deal that screwed them while there was already a deal in place that protected mesaba pilots if they grew and we shrunk and protected pinnacle pilots if we grew and mesaba shrunk. You already see how some are acting that mesaba pilots get to keep their longevity. Just wait till those same guys get pushed out of base or on the street. Things will really hit the fan then.

 

I'm trying to figure out where you get the 25-30%...Mesaba currently operates 60 jets, which on the low end would be about 550-650 pilots with current staffing at 9E i would think the number would be closer to 50-60% since we are around a 1000 pilot group now at XJ...not counting furloughs...I'de like to see a single SLI that regardless of how this integration puts you, you can go wherever your seniority can hold...

 

Best for morale of the Mesaba pilots, yes. Pinnalce pilots, definitely not. The list are different in size enough that the junior pilots at Pinnacle will be screwed with a relative seniority. Of course the senior Pinnacle pilots will benefit from it, so you know our MEC will vote it in. Heaven forbid we try to help the entire list for once.

That said, I don't know what I think is most fair. I have read the LOA and it is DEFINITELY NOT the way to go. It would drive this place apart. Plus, I don't think it was ever designed to be the exact way a reciprocal would play out. Taken directly from the LOA.

"G. RECIPROCAL AGREEMENT
In the event that a transaction such as the one which gave rise to this Letter of Agreement occurs in the future, where such transaction involves in a net loss of pilot positions at Mesaba and a net gain of pilot positions at Express, it is hereby agreed that the parties shall enter into a Letter of Agreement to provide for the transfer of Mesaba pilots to Express, under terms and conditions no less favorable than the terms and conditions of this Letter of Agreement."

Apparently there is a a big MEC meeting on the 29th of July. They will be discussing this among other things. The company is still trying to get "Transition Teams" together to steer this thing.

Let's all just sit back and relax until it plays out.

 

Before this whirlwinds out of control there has been no meeting or discussion in terms of getting the seniority/longevity worked out. The company still hasn't given any of the 3 MEC's their "idea" for the company at large for us to figure out the list issue. Anyone who is saying "what will happen" has no source or facts. You can throw LOA's and CBA's and MOU's and Allegheny/Mohawk around all day but this all will be worked out by the MEC's working together. We are still getting all the pieces of the puzzle together to figure out what the end result will look like.

 

Let's take a wait and see approach. I think relative seniority,DOH or some such will eventually prevail but what it will look like I have no idea. Obviously each group wants their own best interest. Mesaba pilots will transfer with the jets per their contract but what that actually will look like is anyones guess. If nothing happens for a year or two, who knows. Maybe a SLI will just allow anyone to bid anything and it'll be a complete shuffle. No idea. Wait and see.

 

Read that last line

under terms and conditions no less favorable than the terms and conditions of this Letter of Agreement...

no less favorable, so nothing is locked in both parties have to come into an agreement is the way i read that, but no worse than a 2-1...not to mention I think this LOA doesn't even apply to this situation, if it did wouldn't Mesaba had been taking guys from Pinnacle when MSP was growing over the last few years, regardless both parties will have to come to the table and agree on something, if not it will go to an arbitrator...

 

There wasn't a net loss of positions at pinnacle in msp.