|
Guam shutdown
Rut roh!
United To Relocate Guam-Based Pilots The Guam Daily Post (9/4, Stole) reports United Airlines will be transferring its pilots stationed on Guam to “other airline bases in the U.S. in October because of discontinued flight service from Guam,” though no pilots will “lose their jobs because of the reduction in service to/from Guam.” The piece briefly quotes Dave Kelly, senior communications specialist for the United Master Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association, “Manning and staffing issues are rather delicate, and the company and ALPA tend to treat those matters as internal.” United officials said the airline is ending its service to Guam because “financial performance did not meet our expectations.” |
1 Capt and 1 F/O are being displaced from Guam.
|
1. There goes the IAD 777 seven-day Pacific odyssey!
2. Here comes DAL. 3. Bye-bye snakes. 4. Less weight on the island might affect its stability issues as the islands overall displacement is reduced. They may have to adjust CG. 5. Increased buoyancy ought to lower sea levels, not just on Guam, but worldwide. |
Is this for sure a done deal? I've got two questions:
- I thought GUM specifically and the Pacific in general were a big money maker for United. What happened? - Shutting the base down in October? Seems rather short notice to close and displace an entire hub, route structure and crew base. Thought of another question: -Any predictions on what the shuffle is going to look like seniority-wise? |
This is a newspaper getting hold of some information and going nuts with it. UA has already announced a small number of displacements from GUM because we are discontinuing 4-5 routes permanently because they weren't making money.
UA is actually in the process of refreshing the GUM 737 fleet. They are rotating out the old 737 and rotating in new ones(still old but new to GUM). They are retrofitting those aircraft with a new cabin and slimline seats specifically for the GUM operation. This newspaper is way out in left field. They are correct no pilot will lose their job, UA is discontinuing unprofitable routes and some pilots will be displaced. God help them if they had seen what happened to DEN, SEA, LAX and IAH! |
Originally Posted by MasterOfPuppets
(Post 1963873)
This is a newspaper getting hold of some information and going nuts with it. UA has already announced a small number of displacements from GUM because we are discontinuing 4-5 routes permanently because they weren't making money.
UA is actually in the process of refreshing the GUM 737 fleet. They are rotating out the old 737 and rotating in new ones(still old but new to GUM). They are retrofitting those aircraft with a new cabin and slimline seats specifically for the GUM operation. This newspaper is way out in left field. They are correct no pilot will lose their job, UA is discontinuing unprofitable routes and some pilots will be displaced. God help them if they had seen what happened to DEN, SEA, LAX and IAH! Article here |
FWIW....
September 4, 2015 Dear United Pilots: This morning's ALPA Daily aviation news feed led off with a news article from the Guam Daily Post titled, "United to Relocate Guam-Based Pilots." The article contains gross exaggerations and gave the misimpression that United is closing the Guam base. To be clear, there is no indication of closing the Guam base. The System Schedule Committee has been in discussions with the company for a while on what the company perceives as reserve overstaffing in Guam and the recent cancellation of two routes out of Guam. The company believes they are slightly overstaffed, however, no additional displacements have been mentioned by the company as of this date. While some Guam-based pilots will be relocated because of flight cutbacks to Guam, United will continue to have a presence in Guam, and pilots will continue to be based there represented by ALPA Council 173. Please be assured if Guam or any base was notified by the company of any plans for closure, ALPA would be sure to notify the pilots immediately. We're sorry that this news story has created unnecessary stress and concern to those who would be impacted if such a closing were to occur. Additionally, ALPA National has been asked to review such sensationalized articles with the MEC before publishing. Fraternally, Captain Jay Heppner Chairman, United Master Executive Council |
September 4, 2015
Dear United Pilots: This morning's ALPA Daily aviation news feed led off with a news article from the Guam Daily Post titled, "United to Relocate Guam-Based Pilots." The article contains gross exaggerations and gave the misimpression that United is closing the Guam base. To be clear, there is no indication of closing the Guam base. The System Schedule Committee has been in discussions with the company for a while on what the company perceives as reserve overstaffing in Guam and the recent cancellation of two routes out of Guam. The company believes they are slightly overstaffed, however, no additional displacements have been mentioned by the company as of this date. While some Guam-based pilots will be relocated because of flight cutbacks to Guam, United will continue to have a presence in Guam, and pilots will continue to be based there represented by ALPA Council 173. Please be assured if Guam or any base was notified by the company of any plans for closure, ALPA would be sure to notify the pilots immediately. We're sorry that this news story has created unnecessary stress and concern to those who would be impacted if such a closing were to occur. Additionally, ALPA National has been asked to review such sensationalized articles with the MEC before publishing. Fraternally, |
Ah yeah guys, I recommend looking at the top five articles on a daily basis for the Marinas Variety and Pacific Daily News. Any chance a reporter out there gets to not write about a machete incident or distribution of tax refunds from 3 years ago will cause he/she to crank up the journalistic interpretation.
|
I salut your healthy dose of pessimism! Unfortunately, its not unfounded.
https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/i...PnK0y4-mOgZmZQ |
Originally Posted by Thor
(Post 1964139)
United is also committed to:
Shuttle by United Worldwide Cargo Ted/Cal Lite Business Jets In-House Maintenance Facilities ....the list goes on. When I saw the video with Jeff talking about how important Guam routes were to the network, I knew it was just a matter of time. With Japan in a 20 year recession and China falling on it's butt, what's the future? Are we really making a ton on EAS and DoD repositioning from Okinawa? bottled up in The Senate Arms Service Committee anyways. As for the Island flying, nobody else has the capabilities or resources to do it. There is plenty of money to be made doing the flying to HNL, Japan, HKG, and MNL that Guam currently has. This entire article was generated from 2 displacements, breath people. |
Originally Posted by intrepidcv11
(Post 1964183)
Very little of Guam traffic is related to Okinawa repositoning which is
bottled up in The Senate Arms Service Committee anyways. As for the Island flying, nobody else has the capabilities or resources to do it. There is plenty of money to be made doing the flying to HNL, Japan, HKG, and MNL that Guam currently has. This entire article was generated from 2 displacements, breath people. That is where the island flights will end up. Subbed out to Asia Pacific. Everything else can, and will be done by low cost carriers. I hope it doesn't happen, but I wouldn't bet on it. |
Originally Posted by Thor
(Post 1964254)
Cut EAS subsidy ( https://www.transportation.gov/sites...ommunities.pdf ) and how sustainable is Guam, really? If there's so much money on the Jap can routes, why did UA dump 3 Japanese city pairs and ICN?
As for Japan, again the weaker yen killed travel from secondary Japanese cities. Throw in a JV with ANA and it doesn't make much sense to run 150 people/week from Hiroshima to Guam on a nonstop. KIX, NGO, and NRT will do just fine 2X/day. As for ICN, Korean low cost carriers (including one owned by Korean Air) made a red eye to Guam a loser before we ever started.
Originally Posted by Thor
(Post 1964254)
2 published displacements, yes. But, the max on the min/max for the base has gone from the mid 90s to 65-ish in a year. If it wasn't it for the recent megabids, displacements would tell a much more accurate story of staffing Guam flying.
|
Originally Posted by Probe
(Post 1964264)
Guam used to fly dedicated cargo aircraft. Now, because the 737 can't carry enough, Asia Pacific is subcontracted to fly 727 cargo birds for the cargo we can't carry. They are expanding now, including buying 757's, which they already have 2 I think. The 757's are combi's. A 757 combi is the perfect jet for the island flights, including the Hopper.
That is where the island flights will end up. Subbed out to Asia Pacific. Everything else can, and will be done by low cost carriers. I hope it doesn't happen, but I wouldn't bet on it. |
Originally Posted by Thor
(Post 1964385)
On my 6th CEO and 5th base closure, I'm the last guy to put any faith in UA management. I'd love to fly GUM and I truely hope it grows, but never under estimate UAs ability to screw it up.
|
Originally Posted by Probe
(Post 1964264)
Guam used to fly dedicated cargo aircraft. Now, because the 737 can't carry enough, Asia Pacific is subcontracted to fly 727 cargo birds for the cargo we can't carry. They are expanding now, including buying 757's, which they already have 2 I think. The 757's are combi's. A 757 combi is the perfect jet for the island flights, including the Hopper.
That is where the island flights will end up. Subbed out to Asia Pacific. Everything else can, and will be done by low cost carriers. I hope it doesn't happen, but I wouldn't bet on it. I don't recall any dedicated cargo only flights, except perhaps out of Manilla for DHL. There have been combis, going back as far as DC-6 days. We did have a 757 base there for a short time, and if we had more of them, it seems like a good place for them now. The 757 is the only airplane that will do all the missions they have out of GUM without restrictions. We opened and closed Seoul a couple times because it was too far for a 727 to carry the load it needed., even with the big engines |
Originally Posted by Thor
(Post 1966916)
Make that my 7th CEO............ :roll eyes:
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. |
Originally Posted by Thor
(Post 1966980)
What else would a sitting member of the UCH board say? Time will indeed tell.
|
Originally Posted by gettinbumped
(Post 1967032)
Well the machinists union just came out and said the same..... that he has a good track record working with the IAM at CSX. We will see.
As for the F/As, from talking to them it seems as though they can't even come close to agreeing with each other, let alone the Company. |
Originally Posted by CousinEddie
(Post 1967121)
Any truth to our IAM Mechs insisting on having a defined benefit pension (ya know, the old traditional type like the one we lost forever) being reinstated as part of their negotiations? If they are drawing a line in the sand on that demand, I can see why the negotiations are going nowhere fast.
As for the F/As, from talking to them it seems as though they can't even come close to agreeing with each other, let alone the Company. |
Originally Posted by oldmako
(Post 1963844)
1. There goes the IAD 777 seven-day Pacific odyssey!
2. Here comes DAL. 3. Bye-bye snakes. 4. Less weight on the island might affect its stability issues as the islands overall displacement is reduced. They may have to adjust CG. 5. Increased buoyancy ought to lower sea levels, not just on Guam, but worldwide. |
| All times are GMT -8. The time now is 01:13 PM. |
Website Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands