Changing to American branding

[john john]

How are they going to combine thicket counters and gates and baggage offices without a transition agreement with the agents?

 

[robbedagain]

John john I cant speak for ur stat but in mine we will be moving to c pier so the state can upgrade the security chkpoint similar to A and B n dl will lose 2 gates as they will connect intl to domestic pier after that I dont knw but id imagine theyll fig something out

 

[cltrat]

How are they going to combine thicket counters and gates and baggage offices without a transition agreement with the agents?

I don't know that they could, though I suspect they could change the signage.

 

[700UW]

How are they going to combine thicket counters and gates and baggage offices without a transition agreement with the agents?

They can combine areas and just have US agents work PMUS flights and AA Agents work PMAA flights.
 
And AA's CSA are non-union, they dont need an agreement for anything,they are employees at will and have to do what AA tells them.
 
And now that the merger is a go, the CWA will vote their TA and if it goes through, AA or a vendor can work US flights for CSA work.

 

[jimntx]

SLT was noticeably missing from the list of bases that DP/TH agreed to keep open for at least 3 years following the merger. But, then those of us at AA have known that SLT has been on the chopping block for years. They were just trying to find a way around the pilot base agreement they made with the former TW pilots at the time AA bought TW. As I understand it, abrogating the SLT pilot base agreement was one of the first things that AA asked of the BK court. (That may be incorrect. It's just what I was told by one of the SLT pilots.)

If the pilot base goes, it is guaranteed that the flight attendant base will close also. If the pilot base does not go, the f/a base is still in jeopardy.

 

[john john]

And now that the merger is a go, the CWA will vote their TA and if it goes through, AA or a vendor can work US flights for CSA work.

So you are saying the now defunct Passengers Service Transition Agreement is coming back to life? You know something we all don’t

 

[700UW]

Nope, just from what the CWA said, they said they put it on hold due to the lawsuit, no lawsuit, no reason to not vote it now.
 
Selectively quoting I see.
 

 

Bargaining Committee and Staff Work Toward Agreement
By Velvet Hawthorne
 
Since the start of bargaining in July 2011, the Bargaining Committee and staff have travelled almost monthly to either Phoenix, Charlotte, or Washington, DC, to meet—along with our fellow Teamster bargainers—with the company’s bargaining team.
 
It became clear in late 2012 that the company was not committed to reaching an agreement with us in the short term, in part because their focus had shifted to the merger with American Airlines. Bargaining progress slowed to a crawl as the merger process heated up earlier this year.
By last July, the Committee had agreed that if we could reach an interim agreement with the company to provide members with a much-deserved raise and other improvements, we could resume genuine bargaining after the merger.
 
The company offered a tentative Letter of Agreement (LOA) on July 30, 2013. However, the Bargaining Committee decided not to put the LOA forward for consideration by the membership after the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit on August 13th against US Airways and American Airlines in an effort to stop the merger. 
 
After the tentative LOA was circulated, members expressed their concerns about the AA vendor language. The Committee and staff understand those concerns and have communicated them to the company.
Management has asked for a meeting to discuss members’ concerns and the possibility of a new LOA, and the Committee has agreed that the bargaining chairs will participate in such a meeting. The Committee will continue to communicate with members about the process, and we welcome your constructive input as we work toward a fair letter of agreement.
 
However, the Bargaining Committee and staff cannot reach a fair contract on our own. We need the active, visible support of members at every station and reservations office to show the company that members are willing to stand up and fight for fairness and respect.
 

 

[john john]

Nope, just from what the CWA said, they said they put it on hold due to the lawsuit, no lawsuit, no reason to not vote it now.

After the tentative LOA was circulated, members expressed their concerns about the AA vendor language. The Committee and staff understand those concerns and have communicated them to the company.

Management has asked for a meeting to discuss members’ concerns and the possibility of a new LOA, and the Committee has agreed that the bargaining chairs will participate in such a meeting. The Committee will continue to communicate with members about the process, and we welcome your constructive input as we work toward a fair letter of agreement.

However, the Bargaining Committee and staff cannot reach a fair contract on our own. We need the active, visible support of members at every station and reservations office to show the company that members are willing to stand up and fight for fairness and respect.

 

[john john]

They can combine areas and just have US agents work PMUS flights and AA Agents work PMAA flights.

Exactly

 

[USFlyer]

Off topic, but I'm curious how many current US former PSA FFs still commute from SAN/LAX/SFO/SEA to PHL or CLT ... I'm guessing they will be happy if/when they will ever be able to transfer to LAX.

 

[USFlyer]

I suspect the rebranding will work similar to how prior mergers were handled, including the one between US and HP.  The US name will be dropped ASAP and planes repainted ASAP, even if that means slowing down the repainting of the existing AA fleet.  You may recall the HP fleet was repainted into US livery quite quickly.  DL did the same with NW.
 
Where it gets trickier is the rebranding at airports.  If you do it too quickly, it has the potential to cause a lot of passenger confusion.  I like how DL handled this with NW, where they posted the status of each airport in an online lookup so you could easily see what to expect at each airport.

 

[john john]

And AA's CSA are non-union, they dont need an agreement for anything,they are employees at will and have to do what AA tells them.

It is against the CWA Passenger Service Contract for AA agents and/or vendors to work US Ticket Counter Gates Baggage curbside and reservations

 

[700UW]

Did I say anything about AA's agents working US flights?

Last time I checked I didn't, and AA can tell their employees to to as AA sees fit and make the CWA grieve it.

My quote was AA' agents work PMAA flights and US' agents work PMUS flights.

 

[700UW]

And by the way, I didn't see US' agents checking bags curbside at CLT, that's skycaps.

 

[Kev3188]

They can combine areas and just have US agents work PMUS flights and AA Agents work PMAA flights.

Absent any sort of transition agreement, this is actually the easiest way to go. Obviously, at some airports will be easier to carry this out than at others...
 
 

I suspect the rebranding will work similar to how prior mergers were handled, including the one between US and HP.  The US name will be dropped ASAP and planes repainted ASAP, even if that means slowing down the repainting of the existing AA fleet.  You may recall the HP fleet was repainted into US livery quite quickly.  DL did the same with NW.
 
Where it gets trickier is the rebranding at airports.  If you do it too quickly, it has the potential to cause a lot of passenger confusion.  I like how DL handled this with NW, where they posted the status of each airport in an online lookup so you could easily see what to expect at each airport.

The DL/NW ethnic cleansing would literally happen overnight at each line station. Crews came in on 3rd shift, and changed everything to DL branding in time for the next morning's rush.

...And yes, it did cause quite a bit of confusion amongst the traveling public...