Fraternal Brothers,

Through no fault of our own, we've been sidelined for over 10 years. All that time we've been tuning in and following along; the Forgotten, steaming up the windows from the outside looking in, full of what has turned out to be false hope and misplaced surety, confident that our Union of Bretheren were keepin' a weather eye out for us.

Now the decision has been made and we've been left disenfranchised; The Lost Boys of 2000-2001. The ones you neglected to remember when you smashed together these lists and stapled us behind the class of 2008.

It's alright; It's okay. We understand, and, most importantly (to you) it won't affect you and yours in any way.

The lads we'll take it out on is the lads behind us. No chance we'll be giving them any consideration or quarter; Why would we. We weren't given any. When the time comes....and it'll come, don't worry; we'll make selfish, me first decisions based on our own needs with no thought to what our juniors should get or deserve, same as you did. Well Done.

So here's to Fraternity; the lie of the Union; All for One and One for Number One.

See you in hell, Laddies,

The Disenfranchised

p.s. Despite all the setbacks, I'm young enough and healthy enough that I'll spit on all yer graves anyways, ya bastards.

 

Strong letter to follow?

Carl

 

When WHO smashed the lists together? You feel something horrible happened to you so you are going to do the same to others given the opportunity? My kids think that way. It doesn't help.

Your welcome for our families contributions to the furlough fund. Guess we left you high and dry there too

 

We actually did better for furloughed pilots than anyone else in history.

Furloughed placed with active was a major part of the SLI process for UAL pilots....and we got it.

It's definitely been a raw deal for all UAL pilots who were furloughed. Blaming your fellow pilots is kind of stupid though.

I'm about 3,000 numbers junior to the CAL pilots hired on the exact same day as me. We're all ****ed (especially since CAL was a last resort airline back in the 1990's and those guys now get super seniority). I guess we need to get over it.

 

You mean me as a 727 Captain in 2001 paying $300 per month in furlough assessment voluntarily so that those guys could have COBRA benefits?

 

Agree. A ton of friends of mine didn't get hired at UAL. DAL, etc but end up at CAL in the late 90s and it ends up being better than if they'd actually had their first choice airline.

 

While I respect your right to vent; you have been through a lot...
What in the Award did you see from the Arbitrators' thought process that would have gotten you what you wanted?
You did read it, right?

 

It definitely worked out for them, and that's fine.

The problem I have is the guys who act like CAL was the best airline all along. It's like none of us was around the industry from 1983-2000.

 

Well, for allot of folks CAL was their first choice airline. I only applied at one airline when I thought the time was right and for me it was CAL. I was treated and greeted very graciously on their jump seats and for that I was grateful. I thought the vision and energy of Gordon Bethune was contagious and it was allot of fun to be a part of a turn around. Allot of folks saw that UAL and CAL both had their share of scabs and that was sort of a "neutral offset." UAL was pushing hard for minority/females and so if you didn't fit that demographic you knew you should look elsewhere.

CAL was also attractive in the sense that if you looked at the ages (seniority age visualizer) you could predict that with modest growth one might be a Captain in 2 to 2.5 years. CAL had a unique age demographic with allot of senior bubba's and CAL was looking to backfill with youth. That was a combination of post Vietnam era hires and the older scabs that age 60 was mandating.

Meanwhile UAL had already hired a whole bunch of younger pilots in the mid 90's, so most folks thought a quicker upgrade would come at CAL. That has mostly been true to form, as most of the Captains at CAL lack grey hair or still have most of it left. Naturally, both airlines suffered the same setbacks post 9-11, albeit UAL suffered the most, and both pilot groups suffered the same setbacks in terms of upward mobility due to age 65.

I still think CAL was the better choice. Had friends hired at UAL around the same time and they didn't like it. It was fun, no HR boogie man in every room, good crews, Gordon had some hot girl friends, and we got for the most part prompt upgrades due to mandatory retirements.

 

Placing ANY UAL furloughed pilot behind a CAL furloughed pilot (based on the 2010 snapshot) is asinine.... then again, based on ALPA history... the guys on the bottom of the list don't really matter.