If any union vote comes up, I will definitely vote YES!

However, ALPA sucks for regionals but our management is getting worse.

I'm very senior.

 

I don't think you could really do much worse without a union at several of the companies listed. Literally. The only benefit the union provided was saving the company from itself. And yes, it would have been worse in the short term for those affected. But a few of the unions you mentioned are actually hurting the ones they say they represent by not having the strength to be flexible.

 

Yeah. Maybe it's time to get out. Maybe guys at some of the growing regionals should read and watch carefully. Looks like about 30 years is the life expectancy of a regional airline not counting a decade or two in the desert. From birth to growth to top heavy pay scales and loosing it all. Half a dozen recent examples to look at. A couple of exceptions too. Hard to say which way this coin lands.

And there is plenty of money. For pay, work rules, reserve rules. Trust me. Management just has to spread it out a little. Not keep so much for themselves. And tell the shareholders it will improve the bottom line in the long run.

SkyWest work groups will need a union before any sale or merger. Maybe much sooner. We will see how this next pay package goes.

 

You honestly believe MESA would have kept their contract in tact when they went into Bk? PSA and PDT wouldn't have been asked if they wanted a flow thru or preferential interview in exchange for concessions. They would've just give them concessions. Same at places that are in negotiations like AWAC. I know for a fact, things would be worse at xjt. Stop kidding yourself.

As for flexibility? Sure, we can all be flexible. But in a union, we get asked to be flexible and not just told to do so. If they want something in the contract changed for flexibility, then they negotiate an LOA. It's a give and take and it happens all the time. We are on LOA 9 so far. The company is given what they want, the union negotiates something in return, and if the pilots decide it's worth it, then it's ratified. But we get to decide. We don't have small things here and there reinterpreted over the years without any recourse. Those are the types of things that get included in LOAs for the pilots to decide whether the risk is worth whatever reward or punishment we get. It's akin to being treated as a professional rather than a child who is told what they get.

 

Nevets, here is my problem with unions. Of course they have their place, but when did we decide that workers could dictate to their employers terms and conditions?

I prefer a company that wants to take care of their employees so that you don't need a union. That may change for us in the future, and many feel it already has. That is fine. But for me it's not there yet, granted I am new. It seems like every time you come here it's to argue about how we are at fault for not having a union.

I have been unionized, and I have watched as the lazy and the incompetent held and kept their jobs when they absolutely should have been fired.

Just my 2 cents

 

There are certain things that will always be management's rights. That's why there is an employee handbook and a Flight Operations Manual. But everyone dictates their terms and conditions. Even you to a small extent. When you are offered a job, you either negotiate your terms, conditions, benefits, fringe benefits, etc. Or if you are joining a unionized group, you agree to the employment contract or don't take the job. In your case, you take the terms and conditions that already exists as well. But it's not a contract, much less an enforceable contract. They just change your terms when it's convenient to them without making you whole, by changing the terms you originally agreed to. Having a contract that BOTH parties previously agreed to abide by is not dictating to employers.

It's no different if they tried to change the terms of your senior executive's employment contract. And if they want to "fire" one of them, they will negotiate a buyout. As for lazy and incompetent people, yes, that is a downside. But there is something to be said about having a neutral third party (arbitrator) deciding whether you were fired fairly, ie incompetence or negligence. Ask about DD to get an idea of the value in that.

 

Go read the writing on the wall, the one where BH hung his dogs playing poker picture in his now vacant office. If you don't think SKYW and DAL and UAL have something up their sleeves think again. Your chance of a combined SKYW seniority list is right up there with GennyLee being a real pilot. Brad came home for a reason, and it wasn't to fly the line. Limber up your plans B,C and D, you will likely need them....

 

Ask the crews based in SFO this summer that got put on reserve so the company didn't have to pay for cancellations. Ya, that's right a pilot that hasn't been on reserve for years were now on reserve and sitting at the airport for minimum daily guarantee. What did SAPA do for that?

No other airline did that to their crews.

Our policy manual is firmly enforced when it's good for the company and used as a guideline of possibilities when it's not.

I'm afraid with all the changes in upper management that in order to satisfy the almighty chipaway, things are just going to get worse.

 

Trust me, I'm not holding my breadth. The writing on the wall was written when the MEC caved in 2010 and put BH in charge of XJT. Which is why I added the qualifier at the end of that statement.

Plan B is in place and still working on plan C, thanks.

 

I assume you mean 100+ seaters at DCI or some seperate certificate trick code share fantasy, etc. I'm just not seeing DALPA or UALPA falling for that, especially in this highly positive environment.