From the West pilot group:
This morning Doug Parker announced a restructuring plan which aims to refocus the airline around its “core market.” Apparently if you're a mainline pilot, the core market doesn't include Las Vegas, LaGuardia or Boston as those three pilot domiciles are being cut. First off, we are quite dismayed that any mainline pilots are losing their jobs as nowhere in the restructuring announcement did we see anything related to the regionals being cut. This scenario has become all too familiar: mainline losses occurring as regionals either gain flying or are spared being cut. We don't wish to delve into the legitimacy of outsourced flying other than to point out that there is a finite amount of passengers needing to be flown at any particular airline. To divide flying among a mainline and any other group creates, at a minimum, a competition between pilot groups to fly those passengers. What is painfully obvious after fifteen years of sharing our flying with “Regional Jets” is that mainline pilots wind up with a Hobson's Choice: either engage in a “Name That Tune” type of bidding for outsourced flying to keep block hours, or protect mainline wages and benefits at the expense of pay and quality of life at the mainline. Theoretically nothing stops us under the RLA to bargain for both more flying (and why not all of the flying?) in addition to pay and scheduling improvements for mainline. But to be successful, such an effort would require that a union utilize all of its powers under Section 6 against the company, up to and including the right to withhold labor services. That in turn requires real union leadership.
Second, we at Leonidas are incredulous that the West would be taking any more furloughs given: (a) the block hour arbitration (TA10) result; and (b) the 147 furloughs we've already suffered. A lot is not adding up here. To make matters worse, we have no way of ascertaining what negotiations transpired between the company and USAPA, what the facts are (and by facts we don't mean what the company or USAPA profess as the actions by both parties since the merger, especially USAPA's leadership, strongly support our guarded suspicion), and how the company can justify a further reduction in the West. Sure LAS is being cut and we don't doubt that the company (and USAPA?) would prefer to limit the analysis to the geographic location of the base cut, but we all know there is a much more to pilot staffing – namely block hours. Not once has the company or USAPA allowed a third party audit of where the block hours are being cut, or the history of East versus West flying. What is not lost on any West pilot is that there are an awful lot of black tops parked at gates in Phoenix and Vegas – proportionally a lot more than there are West airplanes parked at PHL and CLT gates. All of this is on top of a DFR lawsuit that resulted in a jury unanimously finding that USAPA breached its duty to fairly represent the West in addition to the chain of highly suspicious actions by the company, albeit insufficient in the collective to prosecute a Hybrid DFR action in court.
Is it fair to say that the West pilot group is bit raw after more than four years of this? You bet. But that is why enough of you have supported this legal effort and it is because of this support that Leonidas can today speak to you frankly about our options as a pilot group. At a minimum, these additional furloughs add to the damages trial which will take place in the Spring. As with all of our furloughs on the West, none of these pilots would be on the street had there been a joint contract, and the harm being suffered by these pilots (and downgraded captains for that matter) arguably would not be occurring had there been a joint contract with the Nicolau Arbitration in place. In effect, the harm suffered is exactly the harm envisioned by the defendants, except now we're talking about 170 pilots instead of 147. We know many are wondering whether a second DFR is developing, and your question has already been posed to our attorneys. Suffice it to say that Leonidas and our attorneys are examining the situation closely. At this time we have no comment either way regarding a second DFR, but like you we and our attorneys are puzzled as to how the West can once again be taking any cuts in light of the 147 pilots already furloughed and the result of TA10.
Finally, we would ask all pilots to download and read two documents filed this week by Pulsinelli Sugart. This is our “Appellee's Brief” to USAPA's appeal to the Ninth Circuit. Essentially this is what would be called an “answer” at the trial level; we're responding to USAPA's claims that they were somehow prejudiced at the trial level. This was filed before the Ninth Circuit. Now for the second document, shift gears back to the trial court. This is our “reply” brief regarding our application for attorney's fees. The matter is before Judge Wake and it is his decision alone as to whether we receive attorney's fees. We strongly encourage pilots to read both of these documents as they are excellent reminders that despite all of the malfeasance by others during this merger, we have at least secured just results in both legal venues. In other words, the right people are paying attention and if it weren't for these professionals, then our careers would have surely been vaporized. We know that this doesn't make what's happening any more palatable, but we also are confident that the West pilots will grit their teeth and get through all of this just as they have for the past four and a half years.
Sincerely,
Leonidas, LLC