APC225

"This Labor day we wanted to reach out and say thank you for flying a safe airline. The summer presented a number of challenges and the vast majority of you have risen to meet those challenges with success and without fanfare.

We all know that the success of the day to day operation is often determined by your actions and decisions. United Airlines will stand alone as a great airline and you will play a large role in that success.

Thanks again for your leadership and we look forward to seeing you when we are out flying the line.

Bo and Steve- System Chief Pilots"

APC225

Chief Pilot blastmail
United Airlines NYC Base

August 20, 2012

1. Director meeting: I attended a series of meetings in ORD, one being a Chief Pilot Meeting and the other being a meeting with all Director Level leadership. I thought I would share with you some of the information that was shared with me. Getting the operation running correctly was the major theme of both meetings. I know I am not telling you anything that you don't already know when I tell you that our operation has suffered greatly recently and we are certainly are not running the type of airline that we could be and should be running. I know many of you have spoken to me and asked if upper management is aware of the state of our operation and do they have a plan to fix it. After these meetings, I can tell you the answer to both questions is YES. I don't want to dwell on how we got to where we are, because we need to focus on how we go from here, not on how we got here. But I think we need to look at the past to see how to alter our course in the future. In very simple terms, we put our desire to capture revenue synergies from the merger ahead of our ability to support those plans. We have flown more hours than we should to capture revenue, stressing the aircraft and crew. Our parts inventories and down line maintenance plans for supporting our redeployment has suffered as well. The problems are understood and there is a plan in place to get us back to being the kind of airline we all want to be. We have determined that with our fleet there is a maximum number of flights we can operate effectively. This summer we were significantly above that level. We are reducing our flying to a maintainable level, and have already made some reductions this week, there are two more reductions to made between now and the middle of September. This allows for more spare aircraft, more down time for the aircraft for maintenance and perhaps dearest to your hearts, more reasonable levels of flying for the crews. We are delaying some of our redeployment plans and are opening crew bases in ORD and DEN which will improve the quality of the pairings. We are increasing the connect time for passengers by leaving the aircraft on the ground longer. We have invested a large amount of money to reposition aircraft parts to the locations they are flying out of. Our redeployment flights out of IAD for us and EWR for s-UAL had been run like outstations in terms of support. We now are focusing on supporting these flights with parts as hub flying and not down line flying. With more aircraft available we are able to follow through on our plans to match aircraft, parts and mechanics to certain cities where the work needs to be done. All of this requires a great deal of money and the company is committed to make it happen. It is a cost of doing business and from Jeff on down we are committed to make this happen. I know our poor operational performance has been a large frustration for many of you. I am out flying as well and see the same problems you do. We as pilots, have our careers tied the closest to the success of this airline. We don't have the option of going to another company and enter at the same level we left behind. That is why running a good airline, one we all can be proud of, is important to all of us. I know it is easy to be frustrated want to give up when you feel that everyone around you is failing to support you. I ask that you do not give up. I ask that you continue to focus on doing your job to the best of your ability and control the things that you have control of to help turn this ship around. Continue to let us know when you feel that you are not being supported by the groups that you have no control over. I want to know about those cases. Don't give up and think that nothing happens when you bring this to our attention. This airline is like a super tanker at sea. It has a huge amount of momentum and can not be turned on a dime. We will fix our problems, we are focused at all levels to make it happen. The same energy that allowed us to reap the financial benefits of this merger are now focused on the operation. Hang in there. I know it has been tough. It will get better.

APC225

Hey, I'm not feeling supported.

Maybe if they slap us around enough they'll eventually find out the truth.

Sister Daughter Chinatown.flv - YouTube

SoCalGuy

Must say.....
Keep'in his Pimp forehand/backhand STRONG.
Maybe "James" can weigh in??

BTW....I heard that captain abbott asked this Leopard for a sick note, didn't workout too well....
True Story.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn0r88RJFD4

APC225

Now, where's the note from your doctor, you slacker pilot you.

pksocal

From our CEO(9/6/2012) at the airline investor conference:

"Jeff said that we are continuing our merger integration and laying the foundation for success, as we invest in our people, customers, product and technology; optimize our network; maintain capacity discipline; strengthen our balance sheet; with a goal to create economic value throughout the business cycle."

more lip service. just finished another 4 day trip. 4 legs cancelled. none on time. been like this all summer. jeff and his yes men are such an embarrassment.

flybynuts

Rumor alert...old McDonald was the originator of the first letter to us pesky pilots. Even Fred Abbott told him not to do this. He did and everyone basically blew it off. Petey got mad and now forced this on us. He's trying to posture for that injunction?
Came from IAH CP.

Airhoss

Pete and Jeffy and Fred and Bo and Steve all need to go to the neuroproctologist and have a group rectal craniotimy. They might see things bit clearer after that.

I'll bet the ole head"n"orfice Doctor would give them a heck of a group discount.

SpecialTracking

They only way to influence the workforce who doesn't buy into the process is through threats. If the employee can be held accountable, the whip works. What happens when they cannot be held accountable? The employee is your anchor.

SpecialTracking

That can't be true. Mr. Mcdonald respects pilots and values their professionalism as coworkers. Logic defies this rumor.