pit base closes
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Prince of PAWOBs
Veteran
Well, time for me to weigh in, and I'm qualified because 1) I'm directly affected by the pulldown in service, and 2) I've been quiet for a while on the board. That's right! The Prince saved all of his bile up and ended up having nothing to use it on (at least not yet).
DoUgIe was in the PSA breakroom earlier today, putting on his best, "I'm really torn-up---you're such a great group of people---economic realities" song and dance not more than ten feet from where I stood. While the entire group was suffering from the shock of the news, I seriously considered that it was my moment to rip the little jerk apart. But I realized that putting my fellow employees on a witness stand at the subsequent trial would be adding more stress on their lives at that moment. Not a good plan---so I'll wait until I'm finally gone to institute Plan B. More on that in a future thread. Back to the subject...
MODERATOR NOTE:THREATS ARE NOT PERMITTED ON THIS BOARD. TIME OFF GIVEN
As usual, Retard Boy read from the script that most of us know by heart at this point. Adding to this, he told the collective agents that PIT lost $40 million last year. Really? They waited until now to share that information with us? The fiscal year has to end before we know what is going on, Doodie? We don't get an idea earlier, say, monthly? Or do we just not share that type of information with the natives? Or is it even true? Who knows, and who cares at this point?
While this is going on, the lovely Steve Farrow is sizing up the room, probably trying to figure out why Piedmont doesn't have agents who look like they could kill a black bear with a ball point pen and a set of earplugs. Having never met him before, I will say that his behavior is much more in line with what I would expect from someone in his position: I "sort of" care about what happens to you, but such is life...suck it up and move on. Well, honestly......who could find fault with that? At least you would know what to expect, and he was helpful as far as encouraging folks to talk with human resources to find out if there was anything available in the way of transfers or job transition. I'm betting he would send us all Christmas gifts if we were at one of his stations. Too bad he might only get a handful of us.
Anyway, back to Ding-Dong-Doug and the visit: Basically, the gist was that 1) PIT is no longer viable as a hub, focus city, large spoke, inner tube, bike chain or playing card attached with a clothespin, 2) 500 flight crew members will get the priviledge of being based out of other cities instead of PIT, 3) Mainline suffers a reduction of about 100 employees (which is good news for those who get to stay, and as an aside I hope my pal Jimmy Neutron is one of them - hang in there, guy!), and of course finally 4) PSA customer service is now going to be history as of January, 2008. You could feel the tension in the room. Single parents who depend on this job, homeowners who have mortgages to pay, agents who are close to retirement but have more than three months to go, parents of college students who are trying to get Bif and Buffy through medical school, and then of course me, the Prince of PAWOBs, the guy who has seen it all and lived to tell about it......all about to be out of work. It was surreal and mind-numbing. But DoUgIe was in a rush, he had something he just had to do, so with a wink and a nod and an "I'll see you all later," he was out the door and into a Mainline van off to some obscure location.
So, we all went back to work. No one was really in the mood for fun, and I'm sure the night shift will be just as much fun tonight as the latter half of the day shift. Phones were out as the news was being spread, and even now agents are lining up interviews for other work and trying to figure out how they're going to make it after January 5th.
I'll probably reflect on my time at PSA in another thread closer to departure time. I'm sure we'll all have memories to share and there's still 90 days or so left to work. We'll have left a legacy of professionalism and safety that will probably be unmatched. And we'll reluctantly move on to other things. It was fun while it lasted, but as I tell many people whom I work with: I'm going to ride this wave until the curl is past its crest and the beach is quickly approaching. Ninety days from now I should have my toes planted in the sand, looking for another wave to ride.
You won the battle, DoUgIe. You got rid of PIT. The station that you couldn't duplicate systemwide. I wonder how long before you screw over the maintenance guys (honestly, just because the lease is for five years doesn't mean you can't abrogate it, does it?) And why have the OCC in a station that does little if any flying? Because you got a great deal? The PIT employees were a great deal, and you are passing on that. For that matter, the passengers in Pittsburgh now have fewer choices when flying until someone else picks up the slack, so now there's a larger group who'll get passed over in favor of other large cities where Dougfus can make lots o' dough while enjoying the negative press associated with flight delays, cancellations and lost luggage. As Dougweiser put so well in his talk with the PSA employees (and I'm paraphrasing now, so don't even think about trying to twist the words), even with the aforementioned problems in PHL, it still makes money. So, I'm guessing that those problems are meaningless as long as the airline makes money and he gets his bonuses along with the other bazillion VP's that are employed. That's awesome to contemplate! Even if it's bad, it's good. Sounds like an Orwellian view of what the industry has become.
Enjoy it while it lasts. Thank you to those who send out thoughts to everyone affected by this move. And stay tuned, because I'm down but not out yet, and I will have more to say about PIT later on as we move through the transition.
Carry on, folks! You've all done very well!
DoUgIe was in the PSA breakroom earlier today, putting on his best, "I'm really torn-up---you're such a great group of people---economic realities" song and dance not more than ten feet from where I stood. While the entire group was suffering from the shock of the news, I seriously considered that it was my moment to rip the little jerk apart. But I realized that putting my fellow employees on a witness stand at the subsequent trial would be adding more stress on their lives at that moment. Not a good plan---so I'll wait until I'm finally gone to institute Plan B. More on that in a future thread. Back to the subject...
MODERATOR NOTE:THREATS ARE NOT PERMITTED ON THIS BOARD. TIME OFF GIVEN
As usual, Retard Boy read from the script that most of us know by heart at this point. Adding to this, he told the collective agents that PIT lost $40 million last year. Really? They waited until now to share that information with us? The fiscal year has to end before we know what is going on, Doodie? We don't get an idea earlier, say, monthly? Or do we just not share that type of information with the natives? Or is it even true? Who knows, and who cares at this point?
While this is going on, the lovely Steve Farrow is sizing up the room, probably trying to figure out why Piedmont doesn't have agents who look like they could kill a black bear with a ball point pen and a set of earplugs. Having never met him before, I will say that his behavior is much more in line with what I would expect from someone in his position: I "sort of" care about what happens to you, but such is life...suck it up and move on. Well, honestly......who could find fault with that? At least you would know what to expect, and he was helpful as far as encouraging folks to talk with human resources to find out if there was anything available in the way of transfers or job transition. I'm betting he would send us all Christmas gifts if we were at one of his stations. Too bad he might only get a handful of us.
Anyway, back to Ding-Dong-Doug and the visit: Basically, the gist was that 1) PIT is no longer viable as a hub, focus city, large spoke, inner tube, bike chain or playing card attached with a clothespin, 2) 500 flight crew members will get the priviledge of being based out of other cities instead of PIT, 3) Mainline suffers a reduction of about 100 employees (which is good news for those who get to stay, and as an aside I hope my pal Jimmy Neutron is one of them - hang in there, guy!), and of course finally 4) PSA customer service is now going to be history as of January, 2008. You could feel the tension in the room. Single parents who depend on this job, homeowners who have mortgages to pay, agents who are close to retirement but have more than three months to go, parents of college students who are trying to get Bif and Buffy through medical school, and then of course me, the Prince of PAWOBs, the guy who has seen it all and lived to tell about it......all about to be out of work. It was surreal and mind-numbing. But DoUgIe was in a rush, he had something he just had to do, so with a wink and a nod and an "I'll see you all later," he was out the door and into a Mainline van off to some obscure location.
So, we all went back to work. No one was really in the mood for fun, and I'm sure the night shift will be just as much fun tonight as the latter half of the day shift. Phones were out as the news was being spread, and even now agents are lining up interviews for other work and trying to figure out how they're going to make it after January 5th.
I'll probably reflect on my time at PSA in another thread closer to departure time. I'm sure we'll all have memories to share and there's still 90 days or so left to work. We'll have left a legacy of professionalism and safety that will probably be unmatched. And we'll reluctantly move on to other things. It was fun while it lasted, but as I tell many people whom I work with: I'm going to ride this wave until the curl is past its crest and the beach is quickly approaching. Ninety days from now I should have my toes planted in the sand, looking for another wave to ride.
You won the battle, DoUgIe. You got rid of PIT. The station that you couldn't duplicate systemwide. I wonder how long before you screw over the maintenance guys (honestly, just because the lease is for five years doesn't mean you can't abrogate it, does it?) And why have the OCC in a station that does little if any flying? Because you got a great deal? The PIT employees were a great deal, and you are passing on that. For that matter, the passengers in Pittsburgh now have fewer choices when flying until someone else picks up the slack, so now there's a larger group who'll get passed over in favor of other large cities where Dougfus can make lots o' dough while enjoying the negative press associated with flight delays, cancellations and lost luggage. As Dougweiser put so well in his talk with the PSA employees (and I'm paraphrasing now, so don't even think about trying to twist the words), even with the aforementioned problems in PHL, it still makes money. So, I'm guessing that those problems are meaningless as long as the airline makes money and he gets his bonuses along with the other bazillion VP's that are employed. That's awesome to contemplate! Even if it's bad, it's good. Sounds like an Orwellian view of what the industry has become.
Enjoy it while it lasts. Thank you to those who send out thoughts to everyone affected by this move. And stay tuned, because I'm down but not out yet, and I will have more to say about PIT later on as we move through the transition.
Carry on, folks! You've all done very well!
Travelpro72
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It's my belief that most of the flight attendants will go to PHL since they have WN as a backup. This is coupled with the fact that most comming will be able to hold a block and fly as much transatlantic (late departure/early arrival) as they wish. They will further bump the folks ALREADY commuting. The world of commuting may get worse for all of those around them. I'm not trying to lessen the blow to the PIT people but just being reallistic. We may see a few quit but not likely. As for DCA we may see a few go there. I doubt you'll see a mass rush to CLT. You have US as your only option to work and the flights are loaded with must rides to training. I'm sure most will investigate the commute and do what's best for them. Again not to lessen the blow but this will certainly trickle down to involve all of us to a degree. It's a big deal and it stinks.
SS255
Veteran
I'm truly sorry to all of the employees who are affected by this. A somber day, indeed.
safety stud
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WOW...
This reallllllllly sux...
25 years of seniority in the town you love, gone....
Here we go PIT BULLs, Here we go...
Literally...
Just my opinion...
This reallllllllly sux...
25 years of seniority in the town you love, gone....
Here we go PIT BULLs, Here we go...
Literally...
Just my opinion...
muff daddy
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Jimmy Neutron
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Wings, thanks for your sympathy---as for the express operations being turned over to mainline, you are absolutely right----That work was mainline work in PIT until we were decertified and the company took the work off of us.....Now as I have previously posted on this site, a group of mainline employees along with senior management members (Ross Bonnano and Camile Soto) and several AGC's from the IAM met to discuss this exact scenario----we tried to show the company where they could save millions of dollars a year in just the elimination of the overlapped services that 2 work groups require but were basically stonewalled by the company when it came time to crunch the numbers----now almost 2 years later and after the continued gutting of the feed flights that remained at that time----the company is finally doing exactly what we suggested----problem is, it's too late now as most of the flight schedule in PIT has been reduced to rubbble-------
One could only imagine that if the company would have taken this seriously back then how much money would have been saved and maybe the continued downsizing of PIT could have been stopped----
This is just another example of how poorly this management is----
I for one will be affected in this downsize as will around 70 more fleet service folks in PIT and most of us will be exercising our seniority and moving----since the junior person in PIT has at least 21 years and all full timers have at least 25, the majority that have to move will.....
Thanks for the support and good luck to all of us involved
USstew23
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I'm confused by your comments. Are you saying that you are going to make the rest of our lives a living hell (well more of a hell then they already are) because you guys are getting the screw job? I honestly and truly feel for EVERYONE in PIT and it is heartbreaking. PIT was the home to USAir (or AL whatever you please) and for me at least, growing up in this industry when I thought of USAir it was PIT. I feel for everyone there, however at the same time EVERYONE that was employed here on 9-10-01 (the day before) along with those thousands in PIT that have gone before you has had to endure more heartbreak and loss than we ever could've imagined and for all of the displacements and furloughs and closings I do not think I have ever recalled ANY of those that have had that misfortune come and insinuate (sp) that they were going to make the rest of our lives a living hell and use any type of seniority to do so. You can sure bet when/if you start up with that you're not going to get anything in return but a Cold Shoulder and possibly a middle finger. As an aside, when BWI and LAX closed I did not recall any of those thousands running around, hands in the air that the rest of US must pay because of the decisions of HORRIBLE management. Has everyone already forgotten that when LAX closed that was the last remnant of what was PSA and through all of that I have never heard one of those girls (or guys) make one bad or negative comment and let's not forget that alot of them are senior to Jesus as well.
Prince of PAWOBs
Veteran
I'm sorry, man. But, hey! At least you're gonna have a job. For that I'm happy for you.
Good luck, and maybe stop by A18 before we all disappear and say "Hi!" It would be good to see you.
freedom
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shhhh they need time to vent , it's part of the Grieving process , different folk are afflicted in different ways .
Now that was a good one. SENIORITY! Just ask a RSV f/a about seniority(but step back a few feet, as that might blow-up in your face). I was diplaced in 1991(out of PIT) and had to go to a base that had openings. I have been telling people that PIT was closing soon. I think everyone knew that, but just didn't want to face the facts. Do I feel bad for them, sure I do(we are family), ut noone ever said this was going to be easy. Even after 18+ years on rsv, it ain't easy. Maybe the PIT folks should ask some of us lower on the pole than they are, how we adapted. Maybe we could ease some of their pain.
USstew23
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I understand that and I always respect your posts, however when I was grieving because I lost my house when I got furloughed I don't recall venting on my coworkers, in fact they (and my family which are often one in the same) were the ones that carried me through it and kept this trash heap going so that I had something to return to.
diamondcutter
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Oh so the union can just demand a buyout ...u idiot !!!!!!! and who is useless!!!!
Jimmy Neutron
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Hey Prince---I truly am sorry and I know there are many good folks working with you at express, I know I worked with many of them when they worked for mainline----I just wish that the company would have listened to us 2 years ago and maybe we would not be in this mess-----I'm sure that something could have been worked out so express employees could have been brought into our group, we just never got the opportunity because the company continued its "We know more than you approach" to what we were trying to accomplish---and that was saving what we had left so they would quit pulling flights----
Trust me, with 25 years, and my second furlough notice, it's not something I'm excited about, but yes I will still have a job but it will be somewhere else...
You know you could also apply for and get a job with mainline also in another city yourself, but I could understand why most people would not even consider it...
Anyway, good luck to all the express people and mainline folks alike who will be unemployed after this, I really do feel bad....
