How is fuel going to over $100/barrel "your" high costs? We also had a lower hourly pay rate that you guys so loved to crow about as well. There was growth on the east because that is where the money is, especially international. Be thankful that we bought you guys or you wouldn't have that 24% east flying that you do. That would be another 350 furloughs west. All of these are bad assumptions that Nicolau failed to take into account when he rendered his arbitration decision. Give you what is fair? - Me thinks DOH is fair.
Scott Kirby ......."NO"
They all say it is ripe because they want it to be ripe. The only ones with the lawful and legal opinion on ripeness is the ninth circuit court of appeals. You remember what they said right?
T-3,2,1.....abort!
You don't think the east pilots are treating you "firmly"?
Wow, cue the violins and hand out the hanky's.
Truth hurts....doesn't it.
...............And I will prove it for you. You see as soon as Mr Nicolau released the results of his arbitration ALPA realized that their merger policy was flawed and Mr Nicolau made a big mistake. Alpa changed their merger policy to include a length of service provision which as a direct result of the Nicolau arbitration was changed immediately. Alpa represents over 30000 airline pilots in the US and they believe that now because of Nicolau's mistake that they would now require three (3) arbitrators to make these decisions from now on. In fact, both United/Continental and Delta/Northwest mergers have and will now use the three arbitrator methodology and the new revised merger policy that obviously precluded a successful SLI integration at AWA/AAA. ALPA also saw the need to revise and mitigate Nicolau's flawed arbitration result and appointed a committee called the Rice commission. The west pilots would have no part of it - they told everyone that would listen that it would be "NIC OR NOTHING"! The arbitration results and the east/west JCBA were required to be voted upon to become ratified and used. This never occurred because east pilots were so disenfranchised by such an arbitration abomination that it never even came to be voted upon because so many told the union that it would be a waste of time and money to put forth a vote. In addition US Airways stonewalled JCBA negotiations that a vote was not in any means a forgone conclusion anytime soon. The flight attendants also were stonewalled in negotions as well so it wasn't just the pilots fault. In addition to Nicolau's failure to construct a valid and useable seniority list he made a lot of incorrect assumptions in construction of said list such as: 1 - Failure to see that the growth was to be in the east because of population and business density on the east, 2 - All east furloughees were in the process of being recalled and all would eventually be recalled in short order because the east had downsized more than any in its history. 3 - Price of fuel had risen to make the west mostly unprofitable and downsizing west was an option but since the east was growing 24% of east flying was transferred west to prevent another 350 furloughs on the west side. 4 Erosion of yield in the west because of competition from Southwest Airlines. 5 - Reduction of discretionary spending and resultant decrease in flying by the predominantly leisure low yield west market. So failing to forsee these 5 examples the fact remains that the prime reason that the NIC is proven to be unfair is because 30000 plus airline pilots saw the results and deemed the result so unfair that merger policy was changed and now three arbitrators are now used in SLI arbitrations to prevent a single arbitrator from making a mistake. Someone once told me that " Three neutral arbitrators decisions are powerful evidence of a fair arbitration". And over 30000 airline pilots that don't have a dog in this fight can't be all wrong either.
