Federal Court Grants US Airways' Request For an Expedited Hearing On A Preliminary Injunction Agains

[Monkee]

Is there not some burden of proof required in federal courts anymore? What proof is there that USAPA is even behind any of this?

Barring that particular "smoking gun," I doubt the judge will rule in favor of the company's petition.

Except for the USAPA's campaign for all pilots to carefully follow the Volant Model that the company has pounded into our brains for, lo, some 10 years plus, and follow company Standard Operating Procedures, Federal Aviation Regulations, our company-issued Pilot Handbook, and our company-mandated Flight Operations Manual, there is nothing to indict USAPA for any conjured up slow down.

There is a clandestine bunch of crap going on through email and phone texting, but I have seen NOTHING that leads me to believe that USAPA is behind it. Pilots are pissed off. Even a lot of east pilots are pissed off at USAPA for not "doing more." Everyone with a computer and a cell phone can start something like this; it's the new paradigm of over-connectedness. The emails and texts could be coming from the same Attorney Joseph in LAgos, Nigeria, who keeps telling me I should help him move $15 million to a bank in the US for him.

Who knows who is doing this? Unless the company can prove that THESE INSTANCES of yet-to-proven delays are at the behest of USAPA, I cannot imagine how a judge could rule in their favor. If said judge does enjoin USAPA, I would love to see if his/her thinking passes appeals court muster.

USAPA is the union, they have been asked to tell the pilots to knock it off, they didn't, that is all on record. Multiple regression analysis is a precise science, its not based upon subjective evidence, you can't tweak it to prejudice your opinion. You all are trying to hide behind the facts and divert attention. The buck stops with USAPA, the company has a clear paper trail back to the union and its failure to stop the shenanigans. USAPA painted themselves into a corner.

 

[traderjake]

A union is all about seniority = DOH.

Four pilot seniority abitrations in a row say that seniority is not DOH.

 

[cleardirect]

All this over some old coot making a bad judgement, and a group of turds trying to hold on to something they haven't earned or deserve. A union is all about seniority = DOH. You guys sound like a bunch of ass clowns trying to defend NIC.

And I always thought that unions were about improving working conditions, protecting the contract, improving the contract and helping pilots. No wonder usapa sucks as a union they have a single goal and that has failed.

 

[Res Judicata]

Wonder why he didn't list the pilot actions that caused the cancellations. He just said "pilot actions". Was it write ups? Was it refusing airplanes, what?
PILOTS DON'T CANCEL FLIGHTS.

I guess we are just going to have to quit writing those suckers up and fly them broken. That may not be the goal, but if the judge signs off on this, that is what he is advocating.

Think about it. If there is a write up and it is so damning that it caused a cancellation, how can you tell me it wasn't legit? So now I can't write up an airplane that has an obvious maintenance deficiency or the judge will come after me???

I can't WAIT to see how this unfolds...

Driver B)

BTW Mr. PHD or whatever you are. "cancelled" didn't pass the spell check.

Playing dumb won't work here so you can stop now. Perhaps USAPA will have some success scaring the hell out of the Judge regarding the lack of "safety" at Airways. However, given the fact that USAPA is utterly incompetent and an embarrassment to Aviation and Unionism, I wouldn't count on it.

 

[767jetz]

Ask Jetz about the United pilots refusing to volunteer for overtime, as allowed by their contract. As I recall, that was the primary offense claimed when the judge slapped ALPA with an injunction against illegal work actions.

I think USAPA is going to get a quick education in the responsibilities of being the recognized CBA. It's certainly more than making a lot of promises to a portion of the membership.

Jim

Yes. More specifically junior and senior manning. The company would go up the list from the bottom trying to get a line holder to take a trip. If they got to the top, they would work their way back down from top to bottom, offering a carrot. Kinda like "Let's Make A Deal." where a pilot is asked to cover a trip in excess of his line award usually in return for 1.5x normal pay. Sometimes they would offer a trip on a day with no coverage, for another trip a day or two later when there was coverage, in return for "pay protecting" the pilot. Basically the pilot would fly one trip and get paid for both. Other times they might get a 2 day trip in lieu of a 4 day trip, again being pay protected on the shorter trip for the pay of the longer trip. Then the pilot was free to pick up even more flying on other days that he would have been illegal for if he had flown the longer trip. All kinds of manpower tricks the company would use that result in more pay and more productivity for the pilot in exchange for whoring oneself out.

The injunction was not about pilots exercising their right to accept or turn such flying down, but the fact that a small group was using peer pressure tactics, text messages and the like (sound familiar?) to pressure other pilots to refuse the extra flying. Kinda like the "pink panty" campaign the USAPA pilots are accused of using. Armed with that and statistical data supporting it's effectiveness was all it took. Game over. Luckily UA did not seek damages.

The guys claiming it won't happen are living in denial.

 

[BoeingBoy]

Thanks for the details Jetz. I knew that the "voluntary overtime" was argued to be not of the union's doing and understood that accepting it was not contractually required, but that there was a spike in the number of pilots not "volunteering" and that was a factor in the injunction being issued. In other words, a judge doesn't necessarily have to be convinced that the union was involved, just that a work action is taking place.

Jim

 

[Res Judicata]

Geez, I really hope for USAPA's sake that nothing bad happens to the West operational metrics post injunction. Sounds like a few disgruntled West pilots could bankrupt the "union" pretty easily.

Let's keep our fingers crossed.

 

[im back..!!]

Geez, I really hope for USAPA's sake that nothing bad happens to the West operational metrics post injunction. Sounds like a few disgruntled West pilots could bankrupt the "union" pretty easily.

Let's keep our fingers crossed.

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how would the pay and benefits, working conditions etc. be if the Union is dissolved?

Say it is forced into recievership and or disolved, wouldnt all the pilots then be in an "at will" arrangement?

and isnt it ileagle to not have the same pay etc for different people doin the same job?

or am i mistaken?

 

[luvn737s]

There would be a representation vote with status quo remaining until the results are published. And the video of Cleary being hauled off would go viral on YouTube.

 

[usfliboi]

Thanks Jim,

That answers many questions. Looks like US Management is going to try very hard to B*tch Slap some sense into USAPA or at least their version of sense.

You have to hand it to Jerry Glass as whatever US pays him he earns his keep.

Think he'll get more $$$$ than Parker this year?

What is sad here is that Pilots "should be trusted" using their judgement regarding safety! What they have done is undermined that appearance of "safety first" in the name of their form of justice. I am a crewmember and I know for a fact what has happened with these meaningless "writeups"...I can tell you for a fact that my co workers have and will be the final nail for USAPA because they have caused a mis trust among fellow crew members. There use to be a trust we had when a Pilot said something needed attention. Now no one knows what is real or what is Politics. They have made their bed and should oust their leader who has placed them in major debt and more than likely will bankrupt USAPA!

 

[NoYellowNeck]

Awesome post.

 

[A320 Driver]

I know for a fact what has happened with these meaningless "writeups"...

Define "meaningless write ups" please. Give examples of write ups that were bogus or non existant.

Driver B)

 

[BoeingBoy]

and isnt it ileagle to not have the same pay etc for different people doin the same job?

or am i mistaken?

You're mistaken. Just look at your contract - do all 737 F/O's do the same job? Do all 737 F/O's make the same pay or is there a pay scale that increases pay rates for each year of longevity through 12 years? The same is true for every equipment/seat combination the airline has.

Jim

 

[im back..!!]

You're mistaken. Just look at your contract - do all 737 F/O's do the same job? Do all 737 F/O's make the same pay or is there a pay scale that increases pay rates for each year of longevity through 12 years? The same is true for every equipment/seat combination the airline has.

Jim

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so, then , your sayin that if we dont have a union, that a west pilot of the same years of service will continue to make more than an east pilot with the same years of service, on the same equipment, flyin the same hours etc....

you know what i was askin jim, dont act like you didnt...

now, answer the question, plz.....thank you

 

[Iclubbabyseals]

I am a crewmember and I know for a fact what has happened with these meaningless "writeups"

A logbook write up is simply an observation of an event. That is all. The error causing the event may no longer exist. That does not mean there was not a problem. If the company cannot cope with that then they, as a company, are incompetent.

Not certain what you mean by "meaningless". Are you saying that a write up is about a trivial problem, say, a dirty cockpit? Did you know that fires in the cockpit have occurred due to trash and dirt in the cockpit, not to mention that FAR's demand a clean work area. For that very reason. It actually gets more interesting than that. Should the foam on one of the airbus pilot seats be exposed and should some have crumbled off onto the floor or any intermediate area, then the aircraft is grounded until the remaining foam is covered up (only an approved covering can be used - no speed tape) and the entire pedestal disassembled and vacuumed out (fire hazard). I see this occasionally while jump seating. I only write it up if in command. Doesn't seem like much, does it? But it has ramifications that could cause injury or death.

Some times I take write ups in the cabin log (IMHO, a blatant attempt to circumvent FAR issues) and move them to the aircraft log, especially when it concerns safety of flight and the crew with which I work.

Please be specific because I think you really do not understand the purpose of the aircraft logbook, much less the entire concept of what a write up is. I am really curious as to what you consider "meaningless". If the mechanic considers it so, then he will be willing to put his John Hancock there to sign it off. Should not take more than a few minutes, right? So, what really is the problem?