Originally Posted by TodKindrsChikun

I remember a story about a company needing the pilots to 747-400s yet a pay rate had yet to be negotiated. The MEC Chairman at the time told the company to send the brand shiny new jets to the desert. Guess what, the union got their pay rates.

Stop playing the short game people. The company certainly isn’t.

Originally Posted by AlettaOcean

I’m at TK for CA Charm School. Scott was here in person to address the new hire class and our class in person.

Observations:

I’d never met him, but I think he legitimately wants UAL to be THE Powerhouse airline. He has the guts and the vision to really bring us where we all want to be. So, thumbs up there. His enthusiasm appears to me to be real and he was, I thought, very honest. He says the LIMFAC on us becoming the behemoth he wants us to be is training capacity. He desperately wants to expand it rapidly. (He didn’t say it, but that obviously gives ALPA HUGE Leverage.)

A few paraphrases of things he said WRT the TA:

1) The deal was done in 4 weeks. He called Mike Hamilton and said, “Let’s get this done.” (My take: amazing how quickly the company will strike a deal when they need something.)

2) He saw it as an opportunity to get more $$ into pilots’ pockets sooner.

3) He acknowledged there were a lot of things in it that were “burrs under the saddle.”

4) He said if he’d realized there’d be such negative response on items such as 10 AM Report and TK Instructors, he’d have done those (and other clauses) differently.

5) He said he hoped it passed because the constraint right now is TK Capacity

6) I then asked him if it didn’t pass, would there be a quick return to the bargaining table to fix it. He said that it was pretty much up to ALPA. If ALPA insists on an entire re-do, it probably wouldn’t happen quickly. But if ALPA is willing to address the major items that pilots find objectionable and not start from scratch, it could happen quickly.

My Two Cents:

United has a historic opportunity, but the company “needs” us to make it happen.
The competition for pilots in the industry is fierce (Scott said this more or less.)
That means We Pilots have a historic opportunity to get much closer back to wages, benefits and working conditions we had before bankruptcy.
We should NOT Fear voting this down. (The sense I got is the Company and MEC are already talking and contingency planning for a NO vote.)
Either way, things will be ok - but I think the company’s ready to really open its wallet to make sure UAL is the first choice of new hires.
Kudos to him for not trying to give us a BS sell job.
If anyone else was there today, please chime in with anything I may have missed, thanks!

*Copied from another forum*

Originally Posted by Hedley

Kirby hasn’t failed us with this TA. He’s doing exactly what he’s expected to do. He represents United Airlines and the shareholders, therefore his job is to manage cost and maximize profits. It is the MEC who has failed us by accepting this agreement and sending it out to vote. Kirby is doing his job, our union isn’t.

Having said that, I believe Kirby when he says that training is the constraint. He needs to attract and retain instructors and LCA’s to make his big expansion possible. He also knows that this can be quickly fixed and that 50.1% will vote yes if there are some fixes. If they bump the pay rates to cover inflation, no 0600 show for reserves, possibly make field standby or early shows optional with add pay if bid, maintain current widebody rules and landings class, pay LCA’s by the trip rather than the leg, and keep our current reassignment rules, this thing will pass. Basically if he increases the rates on our current book and makes changes to reserve rules he’ll get enough to pass, attract and retain instructors, and possibly fill captain vacancies. We want all of that plus retirement, sick leave accrual, vacation pay……….., but he knows that the majority will vote for less, and when polled the majority will provide ALPA with marching orders saying the same.

Originally Posted by UofM

Jesus. This can’t be real. You’re joking right?

Originally Posted by Merle Haggard

There's a classic story told around USAFA about the salt and pepper being removed from the dining hall tables. The cadets get up in arms about it and it becomes a whole entire thing. Long story short, the cadets take a hard line, eventually get their salt and pepper back and their leaders declare victory.

Scott went to school there. He's talking about giving you your salt and pepper back. That is not a gain.

Originally Posted by jaxsurf

If this deal happened in only four weeks, it’s astounding how easily your CEO had his way with your MEC and NC. Talk about amateur hour

Those people are an utter joke.