[edit: delete insult, flamebait] "Mainline" "sold" 70 seat scope during bankruptcy at the same time they ate 40% paycuts and parked 100+ jets, including widebodies. No promises there. Just the facts.

 

just some perspective - in its heyday ALPA took in 60 mill per year while the airline counterparts were losing 10 mill per day. money talks and the airlines have it. throw enough of the green stuff and things happen.

 

Air Wisconsin was bought by UAL in 1991, I believe. Sold in 1993. But once UAL owned AW, something had to be done about the Bae jets. The above specific scope clause (by tail number) was the result.

Also, UAL's scope is 70...not 76 seats.

 

I think JetBlue is satisfied with the E190, but the E190 was RAH's only option short of keeping the B717's which obviously wasn't going to happen. No way was BB going to keep shelling out the respectable wages for those. It was an aircraft that at the time had pretty low wages across the industry. They're a little better at JB now, but still terrible at UsAir due to BK. The E175 is a different animal, and I think management is happy with those.

The C-Series is due out several years, but the smallest configuration advertised is 110 seats for the CS100. It's able to be configured from 110-130 seats. I know a lot of guys think Legacy pilots will just sell out more scope for more $$$, but I think they're wrong. The first mistake of not taking the 50 seaters cut deep, and then bankruptcy cut deeper. Now with consolidation and mergers, guys are losing even more seniority and are realizing they'll never hit that 757 or WB left seat. You may argue that this will result in them selling more scope for more $$$, but what has happened is they have finally figured out that the higher payscales are worth SQUAT if they don't protect the seats. High wages are worthless without a place to put your butt.

UAL/CAL is going to happen IMO. I think one of the main reasons the UAL name is being kept is because of our current Commander in Chief coming from a seat in Chicago. Also, Asia is expected to provide a very large chunk of air travel over the next 15-20 years, and the UAL name is better known over there. My point being, there are big scars on the Legacy pilots of today, and the damage has run deep. Short of more bankruptcy filings, scope is staying where it's at. We may even see it tightened.

 

That's why you put in your contract that Codeshares must be agreed to buy the union. DAL already has this.

 

Ya know, I almost chuckled with you. But then I thought, with so many UAL guys on furlough flying RJ's and E120's for next to free why wouldn't they take back RJ flying? If wages were established that were equal to/better then whats offered to furloughs then why not do it? At least the flying would be done by guys on the mainline seniority list.

 

Really? Seems to me they've been crying broke for years. Scope ain't going anywhere. It's sad that so many regional pilots are rooting for further degredation of this industry just to grab a left seat faster.

What most fail to understand is that Legacy pilots are not in the mood to sell scope anymore. Pay rates are worthless if you don't have a job. More and more guys realize this everyday. Do you know how many guys I fly with that look at Compass and say, 'When I got hired at NWA we were operating 170 DC9's, and I held CA in less then 5 years.'? Many have seen the light, and are in NO mood to sell scope for $$$. As a matter of fact, many will demand their wages restored, plus scope restored. Just wait and see. It's happening. DAL is 12,000+ strong, and UAL is gonna be another 800 lb gorilla.

 

Then we can call it the "new old" regional contract! Code share is how regionals started in the 1980s and stayed that way through most of the 1990s. It is not very lucrative to share code, that is why the majors went to fee for departure. Why split revenue when you can have it all? Plus, most pilot groups have domestic code share restrictions in their cba.

 

I sincerely *hope* UAL & CAL pilots are able to hold the line on scope, letting the 50+ seat RJ contracts expire and then recapturing that flying for themselves.

Management, of course, is betting just the opposite will happen.

I know there's a lot of ****ed-off pilots at both airlines, many of whom are junior and got there via an RJ and understand why "large small jets" are such a threat...but sorry, there's nothing in the last decade-plus to show me pilots will be united enough (and willing to concede enough negotiating capital) to recapture that which is already gone.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong, for the betterment of everyone's career prospects...

 

I understand why you think that, I just don't agree. That being said, only time will tell which one of us is right.