I am not a Republic pilot, I am an ExpressJet pilot. I thank you guys/gals for the jumpseat rides you have given me over the years and I can sympathize with the misery that you have endured over the last 7 years working with a substandard pilot contract. I can understand that one would want positive changes in working conditions immediately. But I am going to ask you to realize what message you will be sending if this contract is ratified. The day after the brave pilots of Eagle voted down their agreement, a TA is reached that "[allows the company] to remain competitive as [management] pursues new business opportunities.”" Take a wildass guess at whose expense the new business opportunities are going to come from?
I will emphasize that as an ExpressJet pilot, I have absolutely no right to tell a Republic pilot how to vote on their contract that does not immediately affect me. However, I am going to ask you to please consider the events that you will be setting in motion if you were to ratify this deal. The Eagle pilot group has already been burned once in this situation before. Last summer, they were asked to take further concessions including a B scale. The pilot group refused admirably and had every expectation that no other pilot group would take such a crappy deal. However, they were wrong and PSA undercut them by signing a concessionary deal of their own, temporarily killing a movement in the regional industry to “stop the whipsaw.” Now yesterday, the Eagle/Envoy MEC again rejected another concessionary deal even though it meant the future of their jobs is in serious jeopardy. Collectively, Eagle and ExpressJet are comprise approximately 8,000 pilots and 50% of the regional airline industry – and we have said no to fear and concessions.
Improve the working conditions on the flying that you already possess, but please do not vote for this deal if it means growing your airline at the expense of Eagle’s destruction. With the reality of shorter term CPAs, the halted whipsaw is going to resume and the downward pressure on our wages will increase, most likely setting back the once in a generation opportunity to improve our working conditions. How can you expect to be able to look an Eagle guy/gal in the eye for the next decade to come if their company goes belly up? At a bare minimum ask your reps to coordinate some sort of special arrangement for the Eagle pilot group who stuck their necks out for the industry, if in the event your airline grows at their expense. If not, then they will be under genuine pressure to reexamine their concessionary AIP that they just turned down. If they accept cuts, then you will also be sucked into the same direction.
-an Acey pilot who gives a ****** about this fu***ng industry
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12-16-2017
AIRLINE
