I figure that Atlas, kalitta, and that one with the maple leaf are flying all the JAs we are passing up.

 

If everyone stopped picking up JAs, what would it do? Right now they can contract as much as they want. They will just contract more, we will lose more flying. Right now it’s 15 jets, they can easily find 15/20 more. Then we are getting sued by the company for a work action, how will that look to the mediator? The boxes will move regardless of JAs or not. Just a matter of who is doing the flying, an IPA pilot, a management pilot or an Atlas pilot. I would say fly as much as you want while they can subcontract as much as they can

 

That is unfortunately what I took from the previous video by BT since he addressed it directly, which was surprising.

 

Better wear Kevlar if you suggest that on the b&g

 

Well that’s the problem.

 

I actually like working here and like the cargo side of the industry. And if I’m going to fly cargo, this is still the place to be in my view. Am I annoyed by the recent shenanigans by the company? Yes. But I’m also confident our NC is going to get through this fight with an industry leading contract. Call me naive, but I think they will get the job done.

 

Fear. Uncertainty. Doubt.

Nearly every sentence in this argument assumes the company has unlimited freedom, unlimited subcontract capacity, and unlimited legal leverage — and that the pilot group has none.

“They’ll just contract more.”

They already are. That’s not a new threat — it’s the status quo. If the answer to subcontracting pressure is always “fly more so they don’t do it,” then the company has discovered a permanent cheat code: delay the contract indefinitely while pilots self-police their own leverage.

“We’ll lose more flying.”

Flying is already being lost. JAs don’t create subcontracting authority — management decisions do. Treating voluntary overtime as the dam holding back subcontracting is exactly the mindset the company benefits from.

“We’ll get sued for a work action.”

Declining voluntary flying is not a work action. No one is advocating sick-outs, slow-downs, or contract violations. Framing normal pilot choice as legally perilous is pure fear-based rhetoric.

“How will that look to the mediator?”

Mediators understand leverage. They also understand incentives. A pilot group absorbing unlimited extra flying while past amendable sends exactly one message: delay is profitable.

And yes — the boxes will move. They always do. The question isn’t whether the boxes move, it’s who bears the cost of keeping the system propped up while the company drags its feet.

Voluntary JAs are just that — voluntary. Choosing not to pick them up isn’t sabotage, it isn’t extremism, and it isn’t disloyalty. It’s pilots recognizing that time past amendable has a price — and that price is currently being paid entirely by the pilot group.

 

I agree with part of what you’re saying. I like the cargo side of the industry. And if I’m going to fly cargo, this is still the place to be — which is exactly why this situation matters.But calling what the company has been doing “shenanigans” is minimizing it to the point of distortion. Shenanigans implies harmless mischief. What we’ve seen since 2976 is a deliberate, strategic delay that saves the company millions while costing the pilot group millions. That’s not a word choice issue — that’s an accountability issue.

Same with calling this whole thing an “annoyance.” For some of us, this isn’t an annoyance. It’s lost compensation, lost leverage, and lost time we never get back. Every single day past amendable has a price tag attached to it, and that price is being paid by the pilot group, not the company.

We’re roughly 100 days past amendable now. That’s not noise. That’s not impatience. That’s real money.I also hope the NC gets us an industry-leading contract. I truly do. But history says “industry-leading” is usually fleeting. By the time this gets ratified, the legacies will already be lining up for their next round, and we’ll once again be locked into a long Section 6 stretch playing catch-up a decades after this contract.

That doesn’t mean the NC isn’t working hard. It means time matters — and delay is not neutral. Delay has a winner and a loser.

So yes, I’m frustrated. Not because I lack faith in the process — but because minimizing what’s happening as mere “shenanigans” or an “annoyance” glosses over the very real cost being borne by the pilot group every single day we wait.

 

The company does have unlimited freedom. In the last 4 months what has been stopped???? Nothing. Do I need to go through the list again? They change your schedule daily, they subcontract as much as they want, they don’t pay you correctly, they randomly change bid packets, they don’t do maintenance that cause planes to crash, your catering is screwed, your hotels are screwed, they don’t pay premiums, cancel commercials. They do whatever the F they want to do and there is absolutely NOTHING we can do. Again, you think if guys stop flying extra that will fix em. Read the JA list, there are probably 100/150 recurring names on there. That’s like 3/4%.

 

There are things you can do. Decline revisions (outside of 36 hours) when they refuse to pay the relevant premiums because the MD is grounded. Make your labor as expensive as possible. I have no problem with declining a revision today and working a JA tomorrow. If they revise your trip within 36 hours and you are fighting through fatigue to complete a much more exhausting trip than you bid, make the call in LBB or wherever. Sure, it sucks to get stuck out longer than planned, but that is language the company understands. The EB and NC are doing their best, but you don’t need to kill yourself moving boxes. The legal process will work itself out with regard to the company trampling the contract. In the meantime, don’t make yourself into a hostage or a statistic.