See TPA Exibit A

You're not actually suggesting that giving UAL Furloughees jobs at CAL was the wrong thing to do, are you? Or that in some way the CAL Pilots should be punished for doing so?

No good deed goes unpunished...on forums:confused:

Well you are certainly twisting my words there...

I'm saying those are UAL pilots flying UAL airplanes on UAL routes. Just because its the "CAL side" those pilots came back WELL after the October 1st 2010 merger date. Management wanted to expand the 737 flying, so absent a SLI it all had to be done on the CAL side. Hence the pilots coming back.

The problem is that there never should have been TWO sides. There should have been ONE starting Oct 1st 2010.

Its really clear to all the pilots at both airlines which side got lions share of the UAL combined flying. So trying to grab onto that and claim it as "organic growth, independent of the merger" is not going to work. Its a sore spot on the UAL side because we all can see that we are being punished. Every argument that claims that its not just drives a deeper wedge between the two groups.

You are right about one thing, the SLI ship has sailed, the arbitrators have all the info, and they are going to put a list together.

We will all know in late August probably, maybe early September.

LAX:

That seems to be a common misconception on both sides. Next time you get a chance, ask an IAH 756 Pilot how great their flying has been since the UAL IAH base opened, or try to find a 767 trip in the bid packet. Ask any UAL/CAL pilot about the 6,000 hours/month we are deadheading right now; total flying runs about 220k/month, so we are deadheading almost 3% of total flying for lack of an isl. The pain is spread pretty evenly.

I'm looking forward to Aug/Sep as well.


-Ben

Agreed about Aug/Sept, but how is the pain being spread evenly when a LCAL pilot here has posted that he has moved up from 72 to 59% of the list in the last 3 years since the merger? I have moved down as a total percentage in the same time period.

Despite the exhibits, aircraft orders are VERY difficult to consider for the mergers carrier. The CAL management team that took over has kept overall capacity basically flat since the merger. I don't see any reason why that wouldn't have been the case in a stand alone CAL. On the flip side, Tilton was widely quoted as saying he was getting ready to order NB 737 replacement jets in 2009. On both sides, what WOULD have happened with capacity in a standalone operation is merely speculation. What HAS happened is that LCAL has grown and LUAL has shrunk over the past 3 years. And thank God we got a contract and the SLI is almost done or it would have gotten much, much worse

The TPA is quite clear about aircraft deliveries prior to the merger, so I have to disagree with any speculation.

While I have moved up 14% since MAD, I move up 28% from '05 to '10; which allowed me to upgrade '08. I don't think that had anything to do with my blue-suited brethren.

I can't think of a worse way to have managed these two Pilot groups. I agree that we've still got at least 75 UAL hulls that need to be parked by next year, so things could have gotten much worse. I'm happy that the sli is rapidly approaching, and don't intend on wasting anymore brain cells on a process that is pretty much complete. Let the cards fall where they may. On the same token, I wouldn't hang my hat on the new UPA. When you run the staffing numbers, you should be very concerned about 4 words in LOA 26 "Implemented with combined CMS". Let's hope I'm wrong
Frats,

Ben

I guess we'll see how you really feel about unity when we read your first official missive after the ISL is released. It will be very telling since you appear to be painting yourself firmly in one corner with each additional forum post. IMO, the biggest threats to future unity are the high expectations the CAL ALPA leadership is creating for the junior sCAL pilots. Your further perpetuation of those arguments here is disturbing. You're going to have one helluva mess on your hands if this doesn't go your way.

I've made no predictions as to what the arbs hand back, as I've been through this a couple times before; UAL 2000, AmWest 2005. I've not attempted to fruitlessly argue the sli on this board. I'm very proud of how the IAH Pilots have handled themselves thus far; not much panic or excitement, threats of litigation or ALPA decertification threats over here. Thanks for the unsolicited advise, but my team and I will do just what we need to manage morale in IAH. And prepare for whatever outcome should arise.

Frats,

-Ben

The DELIVERIES, yes. But that's only half the story. The parking of airplanes can/does change overnight, as UAL demonstrated in 2008 with their 100 airplane announcement. Up until that very day they were upgrading and training based on having those airplanes in the fleet. Who knows what either airline would have done as a standalone situation. I suspect both would have seen relatively flat capacity based on the rest of the industry, but again, that's just speculation.

Genuine question: what are your concerns about the staffing numbers and the combined CMS?

Lastly, I have zero beef with you 28% improvement up until 2010, though it appears that the only Captain seat you could have held was Guam, which was way out of the stovepipe. It's the 14% since then that is in question

Understood, but I was a EWR Captain in '08, IAH CA last Summer.

Take a look at the block hours per side prior to UPA ratification. The 6,000 hours that we are waisting on DH will help, as will the 2% reduction. Now, go through LOA 26 and discern what has been implemented, and what remains (manpower negative) and Houston, we have a huge problem. It's a lot more complicated than I care to broach in a forum post, but I personally don't see the bodies to actually cash the check.

Talk to your own Rep first. If you wish to discuss it further, pm or call. Off to my redeye

-Ben
412/716-8208

I've been waiting for a JIT announcement saying they've agreed to relief from the Sept M5D for credit. I just don't see how current staffing levels on either side will support this even after the summer flying drawdown.