Scott I apologize for the bad blood I have obviously created with you. Nothing I have said on any message board was intended as a personal attack, and with the exception of the "Not Staying Current" image (which was actually e-mailed to me by a friend who holds a sensitive position and couldn't post it), most of my posts have been nothing more than opinion-based venting and sharing my personal thoughts on issues. It is my way of dealing with the frustration of feeling like we're going through the same washing machine again and again and again...I'm sure you of all people are aware that accepting a leadership position entails being the focus of your constituency's frustrations, especially with no change in leadership throughout endless cycles of inflated hopes followed by crushing let-downs. The 2-term limit on Presidents in the US has probably been the main factor in the stability and success of our Democracy for over 200 years.

The "Staying Current" image was nothing more than a political cartoon--a sardonic rendering that probably did more to soothe tension in the pilot group than create it (political cartoons have a way of diffusing constituencies' anger towards some perceived injustice by turning a situation into a joke, no?).

That a few other members of the pilot group agree with me on things I have said in a couple of pointless online forums should not be taken as a "fragmentation of unity" elicited by me, it should be taken as a sign that we have a healthy discourse going in our pilot group. I certainly do not have your experience, but I do have different opinions. I'm not going to e-mail those opinions to you or the MEC, because I feel very confident they will get just as much attention as a hotel performance report on the company site.

If you're the President, I'm just a factory worker blaming my station in life on the President, when in fact the President has little direct control over how the factory treats/pays it's workers. I acknowledge that. However, it is a common and accepted tradition in American society to allow for discourse, debate, and disagreement with elected leaders. I don't think we need censorship or dictatorship in a union to get what we want--in fact, I think if you had a "town hall" meeting to address some of the disgruntled members of the pilot group, it would do worlds of good for the pilot group, if for nothing else just to vent the tension that has been building since TA1 came out and failed over a year ago.

I have done a solid amount of work this year to effect postive, real changes to benefit the pilot group via my work on the two committees I'm on. I am very hopeful we will have brought forth a major change in the way the company handles certain aspects of our benefits.

I will be tendering my resignation from those committees on Monday, because I have obviously overstepped my bounds. I'd rather be a company man than a red-headed step child.

I'm referring more to the industry in leu of the individualized financial and managerial blunders at Eastern alone. Once the industry saw that unity brought strength, the contracts flourished. We are all still trying to "take it back", it's not necessarily the direct contracts but instead the unity that fostered those contracts. I always had this mindset that unity was simply a "man hug" thing- where everyone shys away from it and thinks it is pointless. Once I started looking into it more and trying to determine why it (unity) is preached on the reality becomes that a union is solely based on solidarity among the group. The fact is that all 3 groups individually can be good places to work, or together be an amazing place to work. For the culture to change mgmt must change how they treat the pilot group- but that will not change until we can stand united and have a solid contract. Mesaba currently feels like things are "ok" and that is frankly NOT from their contract, but it's how their mgmt group administers the contract. Skywest notoriously has been treated "ok" and are non union- I am not saying their mgmt team is any better, but they obviously treat employees as their greatest asset. That has resulted in being the largest and most profitable regional- and even paying a pretty good wage. Just food for thought.

I have a good idea. How about all you MEC guys get off the public web boards. You cannot honestly think that petty arguing will accomplish anything in the end. Even better, why not use your time working to serve your pilots by delivering a TA rather than wasting your time arguing with your pilots. Both you and higney85 are in no way providing any sort of service to your pilots by your activities on this public forum.

Don't you think 5+ years of negotiations is enough? How will your activities online do anything to help get a new contract?

I agree with what nick has been saying, both here and on our own message board. Mr. Chairman, if you don't like it maybe you need to open your eyes and so something. Regardless of the work you do, us line guys don't see your day to day operation, much like you don't see our day to day operation. Why don't you get around the hubs more, have more meetings, phone calls anything to engage the pilots other than a weekly email communication that we had to beg for when ta1 failed? Other than the mem lec, the mec seems to follow the company's stance on communication. Scott, your a hard guy to understand. Nick is frustrated and is voicing his concerns much like I am. Most of the guys i run into or pass by in ops are always commenting on our mec and you. Wondering where are you and what is going on? With the exception of you being current, which I think you should be,
you should address this group more. You could start with the things I mentioned above: hub meetings or more conference calls and let people talk to you. Are you not on full time buy out? I'm sure you could find an hour in your busy month to address those you represent. Try leading this group and you'll be surprised with the outcome. Maybe you've never been in a leadership role but attitude reflects leadership and before you go around putting out the little fires within the group, you might want to start with the big fire on the mec level.

The management practices you speak of do ring true. Skywest and SWA have management teams that work to get the most from their employees...and they do. And it has paid off in dividends. Meanwhile, the "Dream Team" heading up our company (and others) can't think in terms beyond empty lip service and low wages. There needs to be a fundamental change in management practices at the top before we can expect any real, beneficial long term changes. Until then, it's going to be like trying to pound a square peg into a round hole...which isn't the MEC's fault mind you. Just my two cents...

Bro, pull your head out of your rear please. You sound like you were educated in the South. heeeeeeeeeee yuckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk :eek:

I disagree...at least they are attempting to communicate and not hiding.

More like defending poor decisions and inaction.

Has pinnacle had an all pilots conference call?

That will most likely come after this week's negotiations. All open items were sent to pilots in an email. Being that we had about 6 total items in our section 6 and this JCBA still has 40+ a call wasn't utilized. The MEC knows that communication must be stepped up. We have tried very hard to do that in MEM and personally I spend time on the various boards trying to make sure that everyone gets whatever facts they need. Having facts can solve issues before they become problems. If you want me to step away from the boards, I can do that. It is nothing more than yet another communication outlet.