Here is my question and sorry if it has been answered already but I am not going through 6 pages. When does the 5-years start on the contract? If it doesn't start until your seniority date then there could be an issue for Republic here. If they kept delaying their class dates then that could be looked at by the court as RPA not holding up their end of the bargin. If the 5-years started when they became CFI, or if there was a set date that didn't change (i.e. Jan 2nd or your class date, whichever comes first) then I'm sorry but those students are going to pay their debt and probably much more.

Also, just my opinion but anybody who signs a 5-year contract for a measly $20,000 training stipend is probably not the sharpest tool in the shed to begin with. Unless you go into it fully expecting to pay it back if you don't fulfill the agreement, which these 12 students obviously didn't.

I don't think anyone signs the contract based on getting a 20,000 dollar training discount, or 7,000 dollar training allotment, etc. Republic has the program in order to bring in employees who will stay for a period of time, and applicants see the path forward as a guaranteed job after flight training.

The reality is that long delays are common in aviation from the time one interviews, to the time one is invited to class. While some job offers come the same day or on the spot, others may take substantially longer. I've been notified of a job offer the same day, and I've received an offer eight years after the interview. My current position was offered a year and a half after the interview. Pilots floating in hiring pools are common and have been for a long, long time. The applicant who completes his flight training and isn't given an immediate class date, and who runs to the competition in violation of his contract, jeopardizes his future, his reputation, and stands at risk of legal action. Gotta-have-it-all-this-very-second doesn't always play well, and isn't necessarily a good look.

On the other hand, do you really want the guy who just sits on his hands passively waiting for a phone call. Contract law is fairly cut and dry, so I’m sure this will be resolved quickly. The moral of the story is that there is no free lunch and if you are in a hurry to get somewhere don’t sign a contract that will limit your options. No need for questioning the integrity of folks you haven’t met over a contract you never read. That also goes for the folks attacking Republic management.

The only sure winners in a contract dispute are the lawyers.

The only sure winners in nearly any legal dispute, are the attorneys. They always get paid. The only thing the adjudication determines is where the pay comes from and if they get above their hourly rate.

Same reason I shied away from the bronc and bullriding in high school, and focused on the clown. The top rider makes a little more, but the clown always gets paid.

Yes; at least the guy who honors his commitments and shows up.

Airlines have hired tens of thousands of pilots who joined the pool and waited their turn. Being available when called has never been considered a negative.

If the stuents in this case were simply biding their time and then accepted the call when it came, I doubt they'd be the target of a lawsuit. They're being sued for contractual violation.

If, on the other hand, these students also signed a non-compete clause, they may be experiencing the fallout from that.

WINNER! RIGHT HERE.


This gent knows what he's talking about.

People in this thread pretending company's don't violate contracts every day and get nothing but a slap on the wrist and a "Don't do that again" from the grievance settlements.

And that has WHAT to do with this thread? This isn’t about philosophy, it’s about reality.

You think that someone is going to go easy on these guys for violating a contract because airline managements oftentimes violate a contract? Well, they aren’t.

Nor would these guys getting off magically stop airline managements from violating CBAs. We aren’t talking accrued lifetime karma here, we are talking about what actually happens in the real world. The company is going to do their level best to hammer these guys to discourage copycats. And they’ve got the money and the will to do it. And lawyers on retainer. And, in all probability, the law on their side, since their lawyers were the ones who drafted the contract and odds are not a single person signing it took it to a lawyer first.

Let's say you present that in court as your defense. The Judge will then ask when they violated the contract what did you do? Well, you will say you did the only thing you could do, file a grievance with the union. Then it was up to the union to bring the grievance up. Then he will asks if those steps were followed. If no, then it was on you or your representation. If yes, then you followed the legal process available to you. Then he will throw out your defense since it is irrelevant to the current contract dispute.

First off they weren’t protected by the contract or union so there’s no grievance process to follow. Secondly the point being made isn’t an excuse for the pilots being sued but rather more about how most people in this thread are defending a company that will take advantage of pilots every chance they get.

I’m not a lawyer but pretty sure precedent has been set you can’t indenture someone indefinitely. Don’t know the time frames in this particular case either but the fact that the airlines these people went to haven’t hired anyone in about a year and rpa just now wants to collect on their contract probably won’t bode well in court. If they were offered classes and dipped before starting it would be a different discussion.