Alpa has dropped the ball again with Pinnacle
 

Q400's for Colgan? Thats great, good for them. It has been a month now and there has yet to be an official response from our union on whether a scope clause was violated with the purchase of colgan and the awarding of these Q400's. Now I know that a bunch of you will come on here and tell me it takes time and they are doing their research and all this stuff, but the truth is is that there has not even been a response, nothing. I think they are too busy inflating giant rats to deal with the facts. I dont pay 2% to do informational pickets, I pay 2% to my union for them to help me in times like these, and in my humble opinion, I am getting ripped off right now. Even our own DTW LEC has expressed anger as to not having a response yet.

I challenge someone in ALPA to grow a pair and take care of business.

Hey, its ok. The press release states that Continental will foot the bill for all 15 Q400s. Pinnacle still has your money and they better give it to you, however we wouldn't mind a raise either.

Our talks resume tommorrow.. Supposedly an update on friday- I have high hopes and low expectations! We will just have to see what happens. Pncl is still hiring and colgan isnt taking PNCL flying. I know that this could just be the beginning, but these talks are the first since this whole Colgan purchase- this is the time that management needs to step up and do what they say, nobody will ever trust management but if we get some additional scope and they work with us towards our contract I think that will alleviate alot of tension within the "family".

First of all, I am hoping the union proves me wrong with the whole scope thing and we are able to merge the lists. If they do that, I will eat my words.
As far as our contract negotiations go, I respect your optimism that i once had, but I gaurantee you that friday you will read an update that says no progress was made and there are no further dates scheduled.

Not the same release I saw...from the AP:
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Pinnacle Airlines Corp. said Monday it will fly 15 turboprop planes for Continental Airlines Inc. under a new regional flying agreement.
Financial terms of the 10-year deal were not disclosed. Under the agreement, Pinnacle will buy the aircraft, and Continental will pay for fuel and handle scheduling

Don't forget that P.T.,the great deceiver, still loves you and always wants you to follow the "Guiding Principles."

You're an idiot.

Just because you don't see it on the outside doesn't mean things aren't going on behind the scenes. If you're so concerned, call your MEC, and your status reps. That will accomplish much more than bitching on APC.

Since when is a union a secrecy? Why should stuff have to go behind the scenes? I have called my MEC and their response is, We are still evaluating what has happened.

Pinnacle pilots will never get ahead because of the comment that you made about still hiring. There are 250 hour pilots running in there for jobs so they can build flight time. The only way to get control of managment is for people to refuse to take the job until they have a better contract. When the company does not have enough pilots then they will have to do something.

I cannot refute that fact. Heck with 1000 hours it was hard to look away from a quick upgrade and a domicile at home, but its not just pncl hiring the low time guys with a pulse- how can the industry as a whole raise the standard? This is a war that alpa was not prepared to fight and its the first time for there to be such a rush into the industry. Has there ever been a time where someone can say- "hey, let me take my intro flight today" and 6 months later a phone rings and says "mr/mrs. XXX, AAA company invites you to a new hire class next monday". And its nothing against ATP or gulfstream- as much as I did not feel pfj was my option, for many it makes sense and it gets them into the right seat of a 121 operator faster than any other way. But until there is either an incident with a low time pilot to blame at the regional level, or there is a more competitive supply of pilots causing more time to get to a regional the low time pilots are going to keep pay and QOL lower. After all, every carrier can stand up and not hire low timers, but a new one will pop up, operate it cheaper with low timers, and take flying from everyone else. Classic race to the bottom. As strange as it may sound, I almost wish the FAA would make an SIC requirement just as there is a PIC requirement- 500 hours at a bare minimum. Even just a few months instructing or banner towing, or pipeline patrol, or any other job that is entry level and a time builder will instill the idea that the next step (the first REAL airline job) should pay more with better QOL. I made more instructing part time in college than I do as a reserve holder flying a 50 seat jet. If nobody ever experienced something below a regional level they have no reference of the fact that each job to a bigger and faster machine requires a better work incentive- QOL/pay/benefits.


*you can call this my rant of the week- sorry to any offended, I am not poking at any company or background*