AND they get their Republic hire date....as they can't remember their Frontier DOH.

 

Don't forget their airplanes have bigger engines. Size matters.

 

Great, so now let's see.... based on recent history...
All those guys over there, who are all younger than me, hired after I came back from furlough can be put in front of me again, all courtesy of my MEC. SWEET!

 

It landed in MIA 2 days ago for induction into the fleet.

 

20 year fence to anything bigger than an A320. Just like the Republic guys got in the NWA merger.

Option to staple, no fences.

 

Why bother with the F9 labor at all?

This is ice cold, so I apologize if I'm about to offend anyone. But...

UAL buys F9 outright. It's owned by Indigo Partners so no public stock to mess with. Just a hypothetical cash/UAL stock purchase. UAL buys all their 58 planes/leases (does F9 own or lease?), gates, simulators, deice equipment, baggage carts. All of it.

But none of the labor.

Offer the current F9 pilots to reinterview for their previous job. Offer them a guaranteed interview, and once hired, offer say, half of the old seniority in pay rates (12 years at F9=6 yr pay at UAL) but only new hire seniority. They're already typed and current so potentially limited UAL training events. That ensures the best of the F9 pilots (say 300 or so 'new hires') to use the new acquired planes but without having to absorb the bottom of their talent pool as if it was a merger.

UAL uses F9s current 34 319-100s to take back UAX flying. ALPA's happy because scope creep is reduced, UAL pilots are cool because flying expands with mainline planes and no seniority list integration hassles, Indigo makes out by getting paid without the hassle of the IPO, current F9 pilots aren't paid from a potential IPO they negotiated for with the sale from Republic, DEN expands to prevent or reduce any potential 320 fleet displacements as they use the other 22 320-200s F9 has to expand the fleet.

I'm sure I'm missing a lot here. There would of course have to be a vacancy bid for the new planes and I think the UAL contract wouldn't allow new hires to only be 320 pilots but if the entire new hire training class (which just happened to be all former F9 pilots) were to only offer 320s..... And of course, this completely destroys the brothers and sisters at F9 but when has destroying pilot's lives ever been the concern of hedge funds?

All speculation of course, but......

 

This would be their counter proposal:

They would claim they don't care about our widebodies.
An airplane is an airplane.
Pilots prefer flying smaller airplanes and doing turns.
Jumbo isn't in merger policy.
Captains should be merged with Captains.
F9 pilots can't get stuck in a hotel room in Europe.
They fly to Mexico so they are also an International airline.
They were getting ready to open bases in ORD, LAX, EWR, IAH, CLE, GUM, SFO, and IAD anyway.

And then propose 1-for-1 integration citing our "extra pilots", effectively stapling 11,000 pilots behind their most junior FO.

Then if that didn't get implemented its only because we have a larger pilot group and we can get anything we ask for, even though we won't get what we asked for.

 

Well okay, that sums it up...here comes the furloughes....its gonna cost about 25.0 million in Fabreeze to get the cheap cigarette smell outa those flight decks....

 

I dont think any airline will buy aircraft to lower the loads. The people have spoken and they want cheap fares even if they have to sit in the middle seat. If they are indeed buying these AC, they are doing it because they think they can fill up every seat in them.

 

Since it's just speculation, you've hypothetically proven yourself to be a complete ass. With union friends like you, who needs enemies?

It is ironic that 29 years later, United Pilots are still having this discussion: United, Pilots Talk With Frontier On Line - tribunedigital-chicagotribune

What's also bizarre is that in 1986 United passed on the purchase of Frontier and it was bought by Texas Air along with the parent company People's Express. Of course Texas Air was renamed Continental which eventually merged with United to form UCH.

Anyway, well done APC forum for taking a rumor of capacity growth and turning it into a way to gut another union carrier's pilot scope clause. Stay classy.