PilotAction American Airlines and US Airways News Update

[Phoenix]

For many years with ALPA and USAPA the company has treated the pilots like their sexual advisors.....if they wanted out F$#%&#g advice they would ask for it! They haven't asked so I would let it be. Let Dougie work his way out of this on his own. I stopped writting letters for this company many years before I retired.
All the best,

Bob

Well said!

 

[EastUS1]

For many years with ALPA and USAPA the company has treated the pilots like their sexual advisors.....if they wanted out F$#%&#g advice they would ask for it! They haven't asked so I would let it be. Let Dougie work his way out of this on his own. I stopped writting letters for this company many years before I retired.
All the best,

Bob

Perfectly put Bob.

 

[PullUp]

I don't care if they don't talk to us but its cool to see that APA is getting their taxes paid for them on their 100K stock. Should we expect taxes to be paid for us on our 6K?

You mean the 10k that was promised, but now is only 8k.....er...I mean, 6k?
And, BTW.....DP might want to break that up into monthly installments over 5 years.
Cheers.

 

[EastUS1]

You mean the 10k that was promised, but now is only 8k.....er...I mean, 6k?
And, BTW.....DP might want to break that up into monthly installments over 5 years.
Cheers.

And even then say: Huh? Whatta' ya' mean? We (Tee-Hee/Ha-Ha-Girls) didn't really even mean that much! Go ahead and grieve it!....SUCKERS! 😉

 

[PullUp]

And even then say: Huh? Whatta' ya' mean? We (Tee-Hee/Ha-Ha-Girls) didn't really even mean that much! Go ahead and grieve it!....SUCKERS! 😉

Believe it when you see it, boys.
It's all just vaporware and hot air until it's $$ in the bank.
Cheers.

 

[wopr21]

This merger ain't happening . This administration , with all they have gotten away with, will be successful in blocking it. It means more votes for them and that is all that matters, labor be damned.

 

[USA320Pilot]

PilotAction Merger News for US Airways & American Airlines #3: August 22, 2013

Judge in airline merger gets high marks for fair-mindedness

See Story:[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)] [/background]http://www.philly.com/philly/busines...ne_merger.html


American Airlines, US Airways seek November 12 trial date for merger lawsuit

The carriers said the proposed date would give the Justice Department 90 days of trial preparation. By contrast, the 180 days requested by the government would be "far longer than any of its other merger trials in the century," the filing added.

The carriers included information in their filing showing that other U.S. government merger challenges took 17 days to 106 days from filing of a complaint to the start of trial.

See Story:[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)] [/background]http://finance.yahoo.com/news/americ...210319320.html


Airlines seek Nov. court date for merger lawsuit

The airlines estimated that the trial would last 10 days, meaning that even if they win, the merger won't close until late this year. Lawyers for the airlines noted that either company can back out of the merger if regulators don't approve it by Dec. 13. They said delaying the trial past that date would cause "even greater uncertainty" for employees and customers. Morale is already suffering, they said.

The case might never get to trial. The airlines are likely to keep trying to negotiate a settlement that would require concessions — at a minimum, giving up takeoff and landing slots at Reagan National Airport outside Washington — but allow the merger to go ahead.

See Story:[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)] [/background]http://finance.yahoo.com/news/airlin...210225616.html


American Airlines and US Airways deal with a merger on hold

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]DALLAS (Dallas News) - The government’s lawsuit last week didn’t just stop the planned merger between American Airlines Inc. and US Airways Inc. a few weeks from its closing.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]It stopped the lives of tens of thousands of employees in mid-step as they prepared to combine two airlines into one.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]US Airways chairman and CEO Doug Parker had already rented a home in University Park and moved so his two school-age children could begin school there this fall. [/background]
[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]Another top US Airways executive’s daughter is beginning her freshman year at Texas Christian University.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]The rented furniture at another relocating executive’s new apartment was being delivered. Other Arizona-based employees were putting houses up for sale and preparing to move to North Texas.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]Other managers at American and US Airways were preparing to wrap up their jobs and get on with their lives, already informed that they wouldn’t be needed after the merger.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]As a result, the two airlines cited the need for speed to mitigate the problems brought by the merger’s delay when they asked U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on Thursday to set a Nov. 12 trial date on the government’s antitrust lawsuit.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]Unless there’s a “prompt resolution” of the lawsuit, “the increasing uncertainty will inevitably mean the loss of valued employees. Until this lawsuit was filed, many American and US Airways employees were on the cusp of new roles, new assignments, and new locations with a new and improved airline,” they stated.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]“Simultaneously, other key employees who had announced their departures prepared for new jobs elsewhere. This lawsuit has changed that and is having considerable negative effect on employee energy and morale,” the airlines said.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]Even those frontline employees who would see no change in their jobs are being affected, the filing added.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]“The prospective employees of New American also await final resolution because, for many, their jobs are in a holding pattern and their new compensation and benefits, worth collectively an additional $400 million annually, and which have already been negotiated and are contingent upon the merger, are being delayed,” they stated in the filing.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]But US Airways executive Elise Eberwein said she sees a “silver lining” from the delay caused by the lawsuit — the work that was being rushed can now be done with more deliberation.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]American and US Airways have been on a mad rush since mid-February to get ready to put the merger into effect by late summer, Now, they have more time to get things right, said Eberwein, executive vice president of human resources, communications and public affairs.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]“We’ll have a little more breathing time,” she said.[/background]


American Airlines, US Airways want antitrust trial to begin in November

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]DALLAS (Dallas News) - American Airlines Inc. and US Airways Inc. want a fast trial, soon.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]In papers filed Thursday in federal court in Washington, D.C., the two airlines asked U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to begin hearing the antitrust lawsuit that seeks to stop their merger by Nov. 12.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]That’s three months sooner than the Department of Justice wants.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]“Defendants seek to start trial on November 12, 2013, or as soon thereafter as the court’s calendar permits,” the two carriers and Justice lawyers said in the filing. [/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]“Plaintiffs [the Justice Department], in response to defendants’ request for a trial date as soon as possible, have proposed that the trial begin on February 10, 2014, or as soon thereafter as the court’s calendar permits.”[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]In a separate filing, US Airways and American estimate a trial would take 10 days. A Nov. 12 start would take the trial to Nov. 25.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]A Feb. 10 start would be four days before the first anniversary of the airlines’ merger announcement.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]American chairman and CEO Tom Horton said the November date should give the parties plenty of time to get ready for the trial.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]“While the Justice Department proposes to delay the start of the trial until next year, past cases, similar to ours, have moved at the same pace we are proposing. We believe the November date provides enough time for all parties to prepare,” Horton said in a special message to employees.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]US Airways chairman and CEO Doug Parker repeated that the airlines expect to win the case.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]“We are eager to get to court so that we can make our case and explain exactly how this merger enhances competition across the U.S. and the globe and begin creating the new American Airlines as soon as possible,” Parker said in a message to his employees.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]The airlines also cited the high cost to American because of its bankruptcy case, which has lasted nearly 20 months.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]“The parties’ urgency to complete their transaction is far greater here than in ordinary merger cases,” they said. “American’s ongoing bankruptcy proceedings compound the costs and uncertainties associated with the delays caused by the government’s lawsuit, including approximately $500,000 in bankruptcy-related professional fees alone every day that the bankruptcy continues.”[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]The government filed an antitrust lawsuit Aug. 13 to block the merger of the two airlines. The Department of Justice said the combination would hurt consumers and be anti-competitive.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]The agency launched the court action just two days before American went before Bankruptcy Court Judge Sean Lane last Thursday to ask him to confirm its plan of reorganization.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]Lane instead asked interested parties to submit briefs on why he should or should not go ahead with the plan, now that there’s a federal lawsuit hanging over the deal.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]Lane set a Friday deadline to file briefings, in advance of a hearing next Thursday in his Manhattan courtroom.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]In a joint news release after Thursday’s filing, the two carriers said the Nov. 12 date “is very reasonable by recent historical standards. The DOJ request for 180 days, especially with one of the parties in bankruptcy, however, would be unprecedented and unreasonable in the circumstances. Based on the DOJ merger cases litigated to a decision since 2001, the average time from the DOJ’s complaint to trial is 70 days.”[/background]

 

[EastUS1]

wopr21:This merger ain't happening . This administration , with all they have gotten away with, will be successful in blocking it. It means more votes for them and that is all that matters, labor be damned.

This whole thing just stinks to high heaven of political corruption. Some key people in the DOJ need to be either forced to resign or given the boot.

Bean

"labor be damned." and "This whole thing just stinks to high heaven of political corruption."

No argument there, at any level. Folks?...Welcome to the real world of "Hope and Change". 😉

 

[USA320Pilot]

PilotAction Merger News for US Airways & American Airlines #1: August 23, 2013

American, US Airways labor unions urge judge to set November trial date

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]FORT WORTH (Star-Telegram) - Six labor unions, who represent employees at both American Airlines and US Airways, urged a federal judge to set a November trial date for the anti-trust suit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]"For American and its employees, the uncertainty of the last two years in bankruptcy has already exacted a heavy toll," the unions said in a joint statement on Thursday evening. "In order to make new American competitive, that uncertainly should be ended as soon as possible."[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]Keep reading for the full statement from the Allied Pilots Association, the US Airline Pilots Association, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, the Transport Workers Union and the Communications Workers of America.[/background]

-Andrea Ahles

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]The Allied Pilots Association ("APA"), the US Airline Pilots Association ("USAPA"), the Association of Professional Flight Attendants ("APFA"), Association of Flight Attendants-CWA ("AFA"), the Transport Workers Union ("TWU") and the Communications Workers of America ("CWA"), unions representing 70,000 American Airlines and US Airways employees, including pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, technicians, aircraft dispatchers, call center representatives, and others, today echoed the companies' request for a November 12, 2013 trial date in connection with the US Department of Justice's ("DOJ") lawsuit. [/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]The unions issued the following statement:[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]We urge the U.S. District Court and the Department of Justice to begin the trial on November 12, 2013 in order to get to a speedy resolution to this exciting merger.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]Our message to consumers everywhere is simple: "Let us compete for your business" starting as soon as possible.[/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]Our members want a fair shot at competing in the marketplace. The airlines we work for, US Airways and American Airlines, can together succeed in a way that neither airline can alone, bringing new competition to the domestic and international airlines that serve Americans. The improved network and higher quality product will attract new customers, allowing the airlines to compete with the megacarriers in a way neither airline can do alone, creating greater job security for our members as a result. [/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]Delaying a trial puts our families and our customers at further risk. For American and its employees, the uncertainty of the last two years in bankruptcy has already exacted a heavy toll. Employees at US Airways have had similar hardships with two bankruptcies since 9-11. In order to make new American competitive, that uncertainly should be ended as soon as possible. [/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]The livelihoods of hard-working aviation professionals at American and US Airways hang in the balance. Jobs are at stake if this merger does not go through. For our members, job security that comes with truly competitive airlines is on hold as we wait for trial. [/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]Our members have borne the brunt of the severe turbulence in the aviation industry. [/background]

[background=rgb(250, 250, 250)]Justice delayed is justice denied for our members. This merger makes sense for competition, customers, and the members we represent who want nothing more than to compete aggressively on a level playing field to serve those customers.[/background]

 

[snapthis]

There is no one USAPA. It is an organization made up of many members,with many opinions. I'd say the overwhelming majority of officers and members are against the DOJs action. What to do about it seems to still be in question.

Would you rather the union say nothing are something potentially damaging?

I just read Piedomnt's take. Whatever the reasons for USAPA's silence spells
D-Y-S-F-U-N-C-T-I-O-N-A-L

That's your union.

In a narrow context, the old adage that 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' still applies. Parker has never been our friend, but he is engaged in a fight with Eric Holder's DOJ which seeks to slam the barn doors directly on the last horse to emerge, effectively cutting it in half, in order to pursue a misguided and overly activist strategy which threatens our career security and the economic benefits which would have come with this merger.

USAPA's silence on this issue is not the result of prudent and deliberate consultation. Quite the contrary, USAPA is paralyzed. The union leadership (officers and BPR) is immobile, unable to act decisively, or in a timely manner because of past grievances between opposing camps.

The grass roots effort now gaining momentum to help check DOJ's overreach (win or lose) will simply circumvent the circus taking place at USAPA HQ.

Over three quarters of SOME pilot group voted in favor of the MOU which was aggressively promoted by SOME union and officially endorsed by SOME CLT and PHL BPR with the implication that SOME merger was a good thing on balance.

Little late in the game to voice support for the same merger it supported up until two weeks ago, seeing as the stakeholders with any real clout have already spoken. But maybe USAPA can at least support the effort to hold the trial sooner rather than later. If only to get it over with this year.

Probably wishful thinking in my part.

'84

 

[snapthis]

Finally. an update:

Fellow Pilots,

Many of you have been contacting the Officers and BPR asking when USAPA is going to do something to support the merger, and many more of you probably have been asking yourself the same question. To be honest, there has been a lot going on in the background, but we want to ensure we take the correct steps, at the correct time. The Company's August 21 strategy meeting, which USAPA attended, confirmed that some unions were planning activities that the Company's media consultants did not recommend. We have been waiting for the Company to ask us to engage, but with the strategy meeting behind us, we now have some information on the Company's plan.

As many of you saw late yesterday afternoon, the Company petitioned the Court to expedite our case with the DOJ so that we can move forward with the merger. We are pleased to report that your BPR and Officers, along with other Union Leaders, unanimously support the efforts calling for an expedited trial in the DOJ’s objection to the AMR/US Airways merger. USAPA, the other unions, and the Company contributed in the crafting of the press release shown below that was issued yesterday evening.

Just to be clear, like the overwhelming majority of you, I am in full support of the merger and will continue to support efforts that are in the best interest of our pilots. We will do so in a coordinated effort that is in sync with the overall strategy which will lead to success in our endeavor to complete the merger. When your Union sees a need, we will seek your full support to make that happen.

Regards,


Gary Hummel, President

 

[snapthis]

Mr Hummel,

I just read the update:

Taking two points from your letter
1) "to be honest"
Isn't that your duty to the membership?

"Do you sometimes use the phrase "to be honest, I . . . . . . "?
by Gerald_D Aug 5, 2011 at 7:33 AM
...... does that imply that you are mostly dishonest? While this phrase is meant to give the listener a feeling that they are dealing with someone they can tust, it has quite the opposite effect on me. What goes through your mind when this phrase is said to you?"


2) "Overall strategy"
What is the overall strategy you speak?
Be specific

 

[flyer63]

Mr Hummel,

I just read the update:

Taking two points from your letter
1) "to be honest"
Isn't that your duty to the membership?

2) "Overall strategy"
What is the overall strategy you speak?
Be specific

Why don't you go in your rubber room and bounce your ball. A judge will decide this and nothing we say or do will make a difference. You just want to hammer USAPA at every chance.

 

[snapthis]

Why don't you go in your rubber room and bounce your ball. A judge will decide this and nothing we say or do will make a difference. You just want to hammer USAPA at every chance.

If the shoe was on the other foot and somebody was trying to cheat you after making a deal, don't tell me you would not want to grab a hammer and nail your opponent..

 

[Pi brat]

Mr Hummel,

I just read the update:

Taking two points from your letter
1) "to be honest"
Isn't that your duty to the membership?

"Do you sometimes use the phrase "to be honest, I . . . . . . "?
by Gerald_D Aug 5, 2011 at 7:33 AM
...... does that imply that you are mostly dishonest? While this phrase is meant to give the listener a feeling that they are dealing with someone they can tust, it has quite the opposite effect on me. What goes through your mind when this phrase is said to you?"


2) "Overall strategy"
What is the overall strategy you speak?
Be specific

I knew it! I knew that no matter what Gary did it would be wrong. Take the Nic glasses off man!