America West pilots to brethren at US Airways: Be thankful

[EastUS]

"So sad. It took me 11 the first time. I was a captain for 6, back to f/o for 4 and after 21 years total getting the chance to fly captain again. Now I'm behind some young punk that wants my captain seat that was hired in 98. This is crazy. Thanks that I will be able to be captain again. Some that I know will never have the chance again
BTW Don't even think about touching that radar!"



Wasted typing sir...this kid still believes it's an organized "career"...with a safe/sane and predictable future to be had...for him anyway ="not to mention stagnating my career for yours. My upgrade moves from 3yrs away now to about 7yrs."

Hmm...my first airline "Career"?=Eastern, expected upgrade would have been at 18 years..then Lorenzo showed up. Second?=PSA...was 4 months from captain on the 146. USAir stepped in...and the next decade went by. I don't recall ever "signing on" for any of the previous deflation of my "career expectations"...perhaps this kid's really, really special in some way though. Sigh!....a whole 7 years for a 4th stripe...truly the pains of Hell itself.

 

[Phoenix]

There might be one or two out of 1850 that feel that way.

You waited all of six minutes to deny it.

How did you come to the conclusion that an additional 1849 pilots said they didn't hold that position, in six minutes.

 

[luvthe9]

Mr. Petersen won't ever be welcome on my aircraft!!!!!!!!!

 

[EastUS]

"There might be one or two out of 1850 that feel that way."

That "one or two" must spend their whole time posting to these boards under multiple names I guess.

 

[aquagreen73s]

You waited all of six minutes to deny it.

How did you come to the conclusion that an additional 1849 pilots said they didn't hold that position, in six minutes.

I read the article after speaking which is why I took the thread out of context. Had to search my memory banks to put a face to the name. What an embarrassment. I can't believe anyone is that stupid to email those thoughts to a journalist and then sign his friggin name. But when I figured out who it was, then it all made sense. Furthermore, he's way off base. This arbitration had nothing to do with one saving the other, but everything to with one merger committee totally f@cking up. Now all East pilots are paying the price. And that's not good for anybody. Like it or not, we're joined together in airline matrimony and we'll be spending a lot of time together. Normal jungle rules (I got mine) really has no place in this. We'll see how this plays out.

 

[AWA320]

Too bad. Your USAirways brother or sister just got their upgrade delayed to NEVER.

And YOU didn't save anyone. Remember that for the rest of your career.

Do you work here?? If you don't have a dog in this fight stay on the sidelines!!!

 

[EastUS]

"Do you work here?? If you don't have a dog in this fight stay on the sidelines!!!"

Yup...why allow the attention of any "outsiders" to whom this List is a clear obscenity? That might serve to undermine some of the self-righteousness so otherwise readilly apparent.

 

[Phoenix]

I read the article after speaking which is why I took the thread out of context. Had to search my memory banks to put a face to the name. What an embarrassment. ...

Oh. You're not Peterson? Perhaps you are T.J. Hvasta. B)

 

[N924PS]

Do you work here?? If you don't have a dog in this fight stay on the sidelines!!!

This is an open forum. One need not be employed to be a poster here.

I believe it's called freedom of speech.

 

[AWA320]

This is an open forum. One need not be employed to be a poster here.

I believe it's called freedom of speech.

You completely missed my point. It was never about free speech.

 

[lpbrian]

Divide and conquer. Oldest strategy in the manegment playbook...

 

[Art at ISP]

The truth is that America West would have had to go Chapter 11 if it had not gotten the investment dollars which came from the merger.

What part of "MERGER" doesn't this person get? The "purchase" of US Airways if you will was on paper only--it was a merger.

That said, it has not been well executed, and I will say that the jury is still out on whether or not in the end it will work. If the divisiveness between East and West continues, however, it is doomed to fail, and I think the outlook for this company is poor.

While I sympathize with labor and agree recent developments have been unfair to the east pilots, if you don't find a way to work together, it is more than likely that you'll ALL be out on the street in the not too distant future. What good will THAT do any of you?

From the outside looking in, as a customer, we are concerned that the divisiveness and anymosity between east and west can and will cause service interruptions and operational reliability, something this company can ill afford.

I am not going to say anything like "can't we all get along and work it out?", but is it POSSIBLE that this is still in everyone's best interest?

What will happen when the customers start booking away (already happening)?

My BEST to you all........

 

[Phoenix]

The truth is that America West would have had to go Chapter 11 if it had not gotten the investment dollars which came from the merger.

....If the divisiveness between East and West continues, however, it is doomed to fail, and I think the outlook for this company is poor.

While I sympathize with labor and agree recent developments have been unfair to the east pilots, if you don't find a way to work together, it is more than likely that you'll ALL be out on the street in the not too distant future. What good will THAT do any of you?

...I am not going to say anything like "can't we all get along and work it out?", but is it POSSIBLE that this is still in everyone's best interest?

What will happen when the customers start booking away (already happening)?

My BEST to you all........

Art, your level headed and polite thoughts are heard loud and clear.

As to your question, “Is it possible to be in everyone’s best interest to get along?â€￾

Consider that the job pay and working conditions at USAir have been degraded so much that the company is now sending out recall letters for the THIRD time. Recall letters went out to 1800 pilots and less than 300 accepted. These are pilots with anywhere from 3 to 16 years of service time in a company (with pay and retirement vesting commensurate to those years of service) that have been declining re-employment. And consider that was the result of recalls BEFORE the seniority list came out. Imagine the conditions now.

Right or wrong, a large number of pilots still employed passionately viewed their seniority as the only thing left that would get them some meager relief from their misery, finally before they retired.

Imagine a 24 year old wondergrad whistling Dixie and walking on air as he hangs his diploma (the ink isn’t even dry yet) on the wall of the corner office overlooking Central Park, while you look on in shock and horror at the realization that you will be relegated to your cubicle in the basement (for half the pay when you started) for the rest of your career.

Now multiply that experience by 3,000 and ask your question again.

Oh… And I would recommend having this contemplative conversations with yourself, while seated in an AA seat.


All the best.

 

[aquagreen73s]

Oh. You're not Peterson? Perhaps you are T.J. Hvasta. B)

Nope. Neither one......Chip is it?! Isn't that your name?

 

[Art at ISP]

Phoenix,

I understand your point, and thank you for your kind words. Based on what I have heard, however, is that there is more to this than meets the surface, and that when the East ALPA group agreed to binding arbitration they committed to following whatever was decided, regardless of whether it was fair or not.

I sympathize with the affected pilots, believe me I do. I am hoping somehow a new contract can either get around this award, OR place other compensation on the table for those who will be hurt by this.

Again I am no expert in this area, and I am trying to keep out of it until or unless it begins to affect customer service and operational reliability. My only point is that unless east and west stop the infighting, there's a good chance it won't make a difference if you get a unified contract or not because there won't be an airline.

That's it in a nutshell....I am not taking sides here, although I vehemently disagree with the original poster's hypothesis. There may be two operating certificates but it is one company--and we ALL have to deal with that fact. One side did not save the other--HP was in trouble at the time of the merger as well, as admitted by DP himself.

When you cut through the rhetoric, this company is either going to sink or swim, and right now, the employees are holding all the cards.

I wish you all the best, and whatever happens, you have our appreciation for what you have done for us all these years.....I just hope you can keep on doing it for the forseeable future.

And finally my friend Phoenix, I will be having the comtemplative conversation, but from a CO seat this week....

My BEST to you all.......