Midatlantic Staffing Letter

[Air conditioned]

I was just reading the letter from Michael Scarabola (sp?) about MidAtlantic staffing that was posted on the hub October 29th.
In the letter he said that MAA may be having two more flight attendant classes at the end of the year. Evidently they canceled the pilot classes for now.
I am glad that they posted something...anything...finally. :huh:

 

[atlantis]

when are they letting people know if they are in the class or not.
will people that were in october classes now in those class.
or will peple that wnanted to be in the decembre classes be in those classes.
does anyone know.>? thanks

 

[GroundedBoricua]

My best guess is going to be that they are going to go in sernority order for those who chose october, november, and december

 

[WSurf]

Are they having trouble staffing that place (MAA). I know of a few PDT FA's (Ex Mainline Furloughs) that wouldn't go there because the payrates were lower, and the insurance was higher!! Is this true????

 

[PITbull]

For those f/as that were scheduled in September will slip into the next class first.

Then they will go back to the "list".

 

[BostonTerrier]

Can someone please explain to me how anyone in their right mind would voluntarily elect to return to this company, at this time, with these problems?

Likewise, is there a minimum amount of time that you must spend at a company in order to collect UC? And with the general payscale for F/As at MDA, what can they expect to bring home from UC based on their earnings?

I'm very impressed with the F/As at MDA. But why would someone seek to enter this mess, particularly those that have already been furloughed once before by the same company? Am I wrong in my belief that if UAIR goes bye-bye, so does MDA? Do they have fragmentation rights specific to the E170?

As someone said to me the other day, "Friends don't let friends work at a financially insolvent airline." Makes sense to me.

 

[Light Years]

They are having NO TROUBLE whatsoever getting people to go back to MAA, and not very many have left. There are hundreds of furloughed mainline folks who bid for it but have yet to recieve a class date.

Why would they go back? Why wouldn't they? My friend has a block with 18 days off, plenty of time for her other job, and will have Thanksgiving and Christmas off. She works hard, but she picks the trips she wants and enjoys them. She says the crews are much better to fly with, because if they are there they really want to be there. There is no attitude about seniority because everyone is around the same seniority. The plane is a dream to work and she flies most trips with another friend of ours.

She works longer days for less hours, and brings home a bit less than at mainline. But she no longer has to pay for commuting to another base or worry about being on reserve, and gets the time off that she wants.

It might not be the ideal situation for everyone, but for alot it seems to be. And yes, there are F/As with families, single moms and everything else. These folks only had a two or three year career at mainline US Airways, where they sat on reserve making nothing and worried about being furloughed most of the time there. For the same pay give or take (there is no limit on hours flown as long as it's legal) and a block resulting in a better quality of life, with chance of huge growth, it's not hard to see the appeal.

It's not feasible for someone on A scale who is used to a higher level of pay and lifestyle, and that's what mgmt knows... the more senior the MAA offer goes, the less will bite. They have at MAA an in-house alter-ego airline using more junior, more willing, more positive, more cooperative, lower paid, and just as if not more qualified than thier senior counterparts who sold them out. The MAA F/As have nowhere to go but up. Offer them a JetBlue contract and they'd happily work the whole airline for you. Is it a good thing? No, but it was the remaining mainline folks who approved it and said it was OK (as in OK for a junior puke, but gosh, not for them!) What on earth were the F/As thinking when they agreed to let the company bring back mainline F/As at commuter contracts to fly 70 seaters (which become 116 seaters later in the family?) Especially at a short-haul, primarily 100 seater airline? Hello... dropped the ball on THAT one.

It's pretty much a case of you can't miss what you never had, and what wasn't protected for you.

MDA is on the US certificate as of now, and I don't know about thier fragementation rights. I do know they now have thier own AFA representation seperate from the mainline. The E170 is the hot new toy to have and US/MDA has more of them than any airline on the globe (less than five have them at all), along with fully trained pilots and flight attendants. Since they all came from US or a W/O, they make up what has to be the most experienced "regional" airline there is. It's no secret that the F/As there have a great reputation for professionalism and service, from both the company and the customers. My friend also said there's a much greater "team spirit" there than at mainline (pilots helping F/As clean planes, everyone working for quick turns,crews hanging out together, friendly with customer service and ramp co-workers etc). I don't doubt that the MDA planes, and thier crews would be the first thing to be snapped up. How many E170 pilots/F/As/trainers/mechanics are there in the world? NOt to mention ones with narrowbody and widebody experience? Not alot, and about 90% of them are at the "division." Those folks have not much to lose, and a whole lot to gain if Airways survives, and possibly if it doesn't.

Why would they go back? From what I figure they are situated in the best position in the whole company.

 

[Light Years]

One more thing... the MDA F/As make either 19-something or 17-something depending on thier ML seniority (they started at $20 at mainline, and were making between $22-$26 when they left.)

What type of starting pay is Piedmont making? Maybe PDT's new hire pay is higher than MDA's (which is the same as PSA's), but MDA has no new hires, so those former US/PDT would be making either $17 or $19.

 

[PITbull]

LY,

And the MAA MEC President is the BEST there is.

She's the right person for the job, and has become very saavy on the contract. She doesn't let anything pass by, and the f/as depend on her for any c/s issues that are not abided by. She is always available. The MAA officers have established committees for scheduling and Safety.

They have already had 2 crew scheduling meetings with management for clarification on the sheduling issues. Things are resolving nicely. They also have a new inflight director and manager that are really great, and have established a great repore with the f/as and the union.


They're on the ball.

 

[Light Years]

PITbull-

My friend said that the MEC has gotten some improvements to the AE contract, including some no one thought would happen, and is constantly in communication with the F/As through email and personally, so she must be doing something right!

 

[Jonnyd]

I happened to be talking to a pilot yesterday while pushing him back, and he said he was working at Best Buy for a little over a year before they called him for MDA. He's just happy to be up in the skies and flying again. All the crews I've met have been extremely pleasant and happy.

 

[atlantis]

i think that many people still wnat to come back to midatlatnic. from what i have heard people their are very happy and glad to have a job back again. i just hope that the compnay sticks around so people that want to come back have a chance to come back. maybe they will get more planes again one day if the company begs. then maybe embrear to let them send more.

 

[Air conditioned]

I know of a few PDT FA's (Ex Mainline Furloughs) that wouldn't go there because the payrates were lower, and the insurance was higher!!

[post="196920"][/post]​

With all due respect to the fine employees at Piedegheny, I would rather fly a shiny new E-170 any day of the week than a raggedy, old (not to mention eardrum-blowing) Dash 8. That just doesn't sound like any fun to me.

If those PDT ex-Mainline furloughees choose not to return, then good for them. That leaves more room for others that would like to. h34r:

 

[MAABoss]

They are having NO TROUBLE whatsoever getting people to go back to MAA, and not very many have left. There are hundreds of furloughed mainline folks who bid for it but have yet to recieve a class date.

Why would they go back? Why wouldn't they? My friend has a block with 18 days off, plenty of time for her other job, and will have Thanksgiving and Christmas off. She works hard, but she picks the trips she wants and enjoys them. She says the crews are much better to fly with, because if they are there they really want to be there. There is no attitude about seniority because everyone is around the same seniority. The plane is a dream to work and she flies most trips with another friend of ours.

She works longer days for less hours, and brings home a bit less than at mainline. But she no longer has to pay for commuting to another base or worry about being on reserve, and gets the time off that she wants.

It might not be the ideal situation for everyone, but for alot it seems to be. And yes, there are F/As with families, single moms and everything else. These folks only had a two or three year career at mainline US Airways, where they sat on reserve making nothing and worried about being furloughed most of the time there. For the same pay give or take (there is no limit on hours flown as long as it's legal) and a block resulting in a better quality of life, with chance of huge growth, it's not hard to see the appeal.

It's not feasible for someone on A scale who is used to a higher level of pay and lifestyle, and that's what mgmt knows... the more senior the MAA offer goes, the less will bite. They have at MAA an in-house alter-ego airline using more junior, more willing, more positive, more cooperative, lower paid, and just as if not more qualified than thier senior counterparts who sold them out. The MAA F/As have nowhere to go but up. Offer them a JetBlue contract and they'd happily work the whole airline for you. Is it a good thing? No, but it was the remaining mainline folks who approved it and said it was OK (as in OK for a junior puke, but gosh, not for them!) What on earth were the F/As thinking when they agreed to let the company bring back mainline F/As at commuter contracts to fly 70 seaters (which become 116 seaters later in the family?) Especially at a short-haul, primarily 100 seater airline? Hello... dropped the ball on THAT one.

It's pretty much a case of you can't miss what you never had, and what wasn't protected for you.

MDA is on the US certificate as of now, and I don't know about thier fragementation rights. I do know they now have thier own AFA representation seperate from the mainline. The E170 is the hot new toy to have and US/MDA has more of them than any airline on the globe (less than five have them at all), along with fully trained pilots and flight attendants. Since they all came from US or a W/O, they make up what has to be the most experienced "regional" airline there is. It's no secret that the F/As there have a great reputation for professionalism and service, from both the company and the customers. My friend also said there's a much greater "team spirit" there than at mainline (pilots helping F/As clean planes, everyone working for quick turns,crews hanging out together, friendly with customer service and ramp co-workers etc). I don't doubt that the MDA planes, and thier crews would be the first thing to be snapped up. How many E170 pilots/F/As/trainers/mechanics are there in the world? NOt to mention ones with narrowbody and widebody experience? Not alot, and about 90% of them are at the "division." Those folks have not much to lose, and a whole lot to gain if Airways survives, and possibly if it doesn't.

Why would they go back? From what I figure they are situated in the best position in the whole company.

[post="196985"][/post]​

 

[BostonTerrier]

Maybe I should have rephrased the question (sorry, my fault).

Given the current fiscal situation "as of today" with US Airways, is it prudent for a reasonable person to accept a MAA position and leave an equivalent paying job and move to an MAA base? <hypothethically>

BT