Please forgive me if it has already been discussed, but what was the date they used for the snapshot of the seniority lists. Was it the day merger was announced? Or the day the merger was finalized by the government? Just curious as to what to expect in the near future at AA.

Thanks

Your Lawyers, Airways lawyers, and America West's lawyers, and a group of arbitrators wlll determine how all that works.

Oh and the APC authority will have a chance to weigh in.

Being furloughed, I hope you get back to work soon and that every thing works out great for you and yours.

Cheers brother, and Good Luck!

Yup.

And we still don't know the exact date that the arbitrator will use in the UAL/CAL Merger as the issue is still in process.

Besides, what happens at UAL/CAL is being governed by ALPA Merger Policy while the AA/USAir merger is being arbitrated under a totally different process which may, or may not, ultimately end with similar results.

As I understand it, the AA/USAir unions have agreed to a process. I have not read it, but is the date --or the process of determining the date-- included in the agreement?

It's not totally up to the unions
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Less than a week after Lufthansa agreed to purchase 19% of Jet Blue, a struggling U.S. carrier, U.S. Senators Claire McCaskill and Kit Bond today secured a provision to the Senate’s omnibus spending bill to provide air carrier employees with a base level of protection during mergers. With 1,253 former TWA employees still at risk of losing recall rights five years after being laid off from TWA’s merger with American, McCaskill and Bond are seeking to prevent similar scenarios from occurring in the future.

The provision would ensure a merger process by which airline employee seniority lists can be integrated in a fair manner. If a dispute occurs, the parties can engage in binding arbitration. This provision would make it harder for one airline or union to add the employees of another airline or union to the bottom of the seniority list. Thousands of former TWA flight attendants lost their seniority after American Airlines acquired TWA and were furloughed after September 11. This provision would help prevent such occurrences in the future.

In addition to the recent news about the Lufthansa investment in Jet Blue, news reports are fanning rumors about the potential for other major commercial airlines to engage in mergers. McCaskill, who successfully offered a similar amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act in May, believed that the recent talk of mergers raised the level of urgency to sign such protections into law. She was pleased to work with Bond, along with U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Il), to ensure the provision was included in the omnibus spending bill. The bill is expected to pass in both chambers and to be signed into law by the holiday recess.

“This provision is an important piece of the puzzle to ensure workers in the future don't suffer the same fate as the TWA workers. I'm also hopeful it will aid in negotiations towards a final settlement for those workers,” McCaskill said.

“Our TWA workers were given promises and only got pink slips, this provision is a critical step in protecting airline workers from this fate in the future,” said Bond. “It was a pleasure to work with Senator McCaskill to secure these protections.”

Yeah, Bond/McCaskill bill dictates that SLI be "fair and equitable". You TELL ME what's fair and I'll TELL YOU what's equitable. Putting a 2002 Cal hire above a '97 UAL hire doesn't sound very fair nor equitable to me, but only the arbitrator gets to decide.

Then you're a DOH guy.

First there are no 2002 hires at CAL. But anyway, is putting a UAL 92 hire ahead of a CAL 87 hire fair or equitable?

I guess it depends on where you are sitting to what "fair" is. I know the CAL 87 hires and earlier would love to go along with your DOH or longevity based list. Wide body captains for all those CAL guys.

Remember "fair" is in the eye of the beholder. Was it "fair" that my cousin was going to be in the top 10 at Pan Am for a long portion of his career after being hired in the early 70's and now he is no where near that at his new airline. The list is long with these examples.

Don't get so wrapped up around this seniority list. Not one of us will have a say in it. Each of us will have to decide when the list comes out if we want to be miserable about it for the rest of our lives or move on and enjoy our lives. Both at home and at work. I'm sure more of us will be disappointed with the list than are happy about it.

I'm sure I'll be disappointed with the list, because I am a pilot and we love to complain. But I'm not going to let it destroy me. The sooner we all can do that the sooner we can get on with our lives and maybe even say hi to each other in the crew rooms

Truer words have never been written...
... until those.

Whoa there buckwheat! Might want to know what an '87 hire gets you at LUAL.

Craaaaaapy 757 captain, and lousey west coast flying, with 737 pay. Where exactly is that wide body pay?

Yep, arbitrators will decide. Putting a 99% 98 hire who can barely hold on to his/her job ahead of somebody either captain or very senior FO. That's sound fair.