Mda To Call Wholly Owned Pilots

[PropPiedmont]

June 10--Flow Thru To Mid Atlantic Update

Date: June 10, 2004

Interoffice Correspondence To: Allegheny Pilots From: Keith D. Houk

Subject: Pilot Positions at MidAtlantic Airways (MDA)

Based on the response to date from US Airways pilots on the Affected Pilot List (APL) regarding MDA pilot positions, it is anticipated that pilot positions at MDA will soon be offered to pilots at Allegheny, Piedmont and PSA for July 2004 training classes.
This memo and the attachment provide an overview regarding these job opportunities and the process for indicating a preference for and being awarded such a position. As I think you are aware, the Restructuring Agreement signed between Allegheny and ALPA provides job opportunity provisions for Allegheny pilots, as well as pilots from the other Participating Wholly Owned Carriers, to pilot positions at MDA after all US Airways pilots on the Affected Pilot (APL) lists had been offered positions.
The order of eligibility for wholly owned pilots is determined by their order of seniority on the wholly owned Combined Eligibility List (CEL) , which has been produced by the MEC’s of Piedmont, Allegheny and PSA. The CEL only governs order of eligibility for pilot positions at MDA. In addition to the order of eligibility on the CEL, pilot positions will be offered based on a pilot’s indicated preference, which will be on file and function as a permanent bid for purposes of positions at MDA.
The CEL database will be online at www.usairways-express.com and pilots will be able to indicate, view, and update their preference. This site will be activated on June 11, 2004 and Allegheny pilots are encouraged to indicate their preference. Known class and bid closing dates will also be posted online. US Airways will notify pilots of class dates based on their CEL seniority and indicated preference.
Please be aware that pilots accepting job opportunities at MDA will become employees of MDA and will cease to be employees at their former Participating Wholly Owned Carrier. It is anticipated that the first MDA class of 12 First Officer vacancies for wholly owned pilots will commence Monday, July 5, 2004. Preferences on the CEL website will be frozen for that class at midnight on Sunday, June 20, 2004 and notifications will begin the next day. I recognize that there will probably be questions that are not covered by this memo or the attached pages. In order to consistently address questions, the CEL website will have a “Submit a Questionâ€￾ feature and responses will be posted on the website.

 

[Light Years]

This would probably be a pay-cut for alot of W/O pilots, but perhaps more stability? I like the idea of mainline and the different wholly-owned employees working together, as a single list.

Anyone know if the AFA is doing this for F/As? As a furloughed mainline F/A, I'd rather see MAA positions offered to the W/O F/As in seniority order than get new hires off the street.

 

[mweiss]

Wholly-owned pilots...now there's a loaded phrase if I ever heard one...

 

[FM2436]

Hummmmm...I wonder if this could mean the beginning of the end for Piedmont (meaning Piedmont since Allegheny was apparently mergered into Piedmont) as a the wholly-owned turboprop operator. Is Piedmont going to be able to hire new pilots to replace those who leave Piedmont to fly at Mid Atlantic???

 

[av8or]

Wholly-owned pilots...now there's a loaded phrase if I ever heard one...

what exactly are you implying here?

 

[USFlyer]

what exactly are you implying here?

US Airways, Inc. is technically a wholly owned company of US Airways Group, Inc. Just like Allegheny, Piedmont and PSA ...

 

[atlantis]

Anyone know if the AFA is doing this for F/As? As a furloughed mainline F/A, I'd rather see MAA positions offered to the W/O F/As in seniority order than get new hires off the street.

that would be good in a way but bad maybe ina nother way. those flight attednants at alleghany and peidmont have many more years senority then main line flight attednants right. this might cause problems do you think.? i mean their might be tension. see what i mean. ? but good idea. thanks.

 

[atlantis]

This would probably be a pay-cut for alot of W/O pilots, but perhaps more stability? I like the idea of mainline and the different wholly-owned employees working together, as a single list.

how much of paycut.? maybe they will just want to have a better future. ?

 

[Rico]

It does finally blur the differance between mainline and Express pilots inside of US Airways Group, as for the first time they will be flying in the same flight decks.

As for the future of ALG/PDT, they plan to hire 28 new pilots a month right now, and the oldest of the Dash-8/100's will still continue to be phased out. The dashes still produce a profit for US, so look for the DHC-8's to remain for the time being.

Obviously many senior (and not so senior) W/O pilots not keen (or able to endure) a paycut going over to right seat at MDA will stay at that merged operation as long as possible.

Hopefully MDA is as successful as the proimise it holds. Finally Express will be given the tools (re: aircraft) we need to not just compete, but outdo our competition. Rather than replace, it might allow the survival of mainline and stem the loss of our market share to our competition...

 

[Light Years]

that would be good in a way but bad maybe ina nother way. those flight attednants at alleghany and peidmont have many more years senority then main line flight attednants right. this might cause problems do you think.? i mean their might be tension. see what i mean. ? but good idea. thanks.

Generally a flow-thru works as a kind of staple job- I believe this is how they are doing it with pilots. So the seniority list would be mainline employees followed by a merged list of w/o employees. The most senior w/o follows the most junior mainline. The three carriers seniority lists would be merged as date-of-hire as if they had been a single carrier all along (CEL).

Any sort of integration of seniority lists is controversial. An example of a staple is American with TWA- resulting in a forty year TW F/A junior to a 2 week AA F/A, and all of TWA being furloughed. An example of date of hire is US Airways, where USAir/Allegheny, Piedmont, PSA, (the real ones) and Trump Shuttle employees all brought thier seniority date of that airline to the combined entity.

There is some F/A seniority at the w/os, but not that much. Allegheny and Piedmont seem to have more senior F/As than PSA does- in fact, with PSA's turbogrowth due to the RJs soon most of the F/As will be very junior. If there ever were to be a full-on merger, the w/o F/As wouldnt put that much of a dent into the seniority list, but I still dont see it it happening. All of the Group carriers are AFA, and AFA has a date-of-hire policy for mergers, but this wouldnt be considered one. Instead it would be considered a "flow-thru"- a step up to MAA/mainline with no interview needed, and likely a chance to keep company seniority but not bidding seniority.

Again, I'd much rather have our US Airways Group peers join us than new hires. They have the same dedication to the airline as we do, and are AFA brothers and sisters. They (w/o Express, not affiliates) are just as much US Airways as "mainline" people are.

Its all irrelevant at the moment anyway as we havent yet heard if this is being negotiated for F/As. Perhaps someone who works for Express might know? I'm also curious as to how many F/As each carrier has?

 

[mweiss]

what exactly are you implying here?

Nothing. The words can also be interpreted to mean pilots that are wholly-owned by the airline. For the humor impaired, it was a joke. Sorry it didn't come across...

 

[Hula Girl]

Well, if it is the end of the regional airline, Piedmont, then the name is open. Why not call usair 'Piedmont'? People still remember how good Piedmont was and a name change wouldn't hurt.

 

[TransatlanticFlyGuy]

Well, if it is the end of the regional airline, Piedmont, then the name is open. Why not call usair 'Piedmont'? People still remember how good Piedmont was and a name change wouldn't hurt.

Great idea! However im partial to good ole PSA.....US needs to come up with a funky new paint scheme......SLAP ON THOSE SMILES on the planes again, and come up with a new slogan! How about...."Catch our smile at US Airways" or " Let US Airways give you a lift!" Sound familiar? Man, sure do miss that airline!

 

[Light Years]

I've always thought they should incorporate the predeccessor names into the product somehow. Maybe call the US Airways Clubs Piedmont Clubs? Or maybe the fleet- they could call one type Grinningbirds and another type Pacemakers? Or call the RJs VistaJets? They should use thier unique and proud heritage to complement the current brand (which I think is classy and timeless).

"Catch Our Smile" and "PSA Gives You a Lift!" were great slogans. They could be used for US- IF the company refocuses on customer service and utilizes the great workforce.

 

[TransatlanticFlyGuy]

Good idea Light Years! Love the idea of the Piedmont Clubs and the Vistajets. Im proud of all the great airlines that have come together to make this airline. I wish management could come up with more ways to show that. I know the flying public would love it. So many people remember USAir/Allegheny,Piedmont,PSA,Mohawk,and Lake Central with pride!

P.S--anyone remember the hula orange lipstick/makeup that PSA FAs had to wear back in the 60s/70s? LOL