Recall Rights Extended for FA's

[Skymess]

Anyone care to post Greg Bertolini's commentary on here for all to read? I would guess not because it might just have the opposite effect than many of you want; getting John Ward elected again.

 

[L1011Ret]

The company didn't recall because of an inability to staff flights on Nov 8. They looked ahead and saw difficulties in staffing over Thanksgiving and Christmas. This is what drives recalls.

BTW, three LGA sequences went to ORD and three to MIA today.

MK

Sequences have been regularly moved to BOS, DCA, MIA and DFW since September.

 

[Maark767]

Sequences have been regularly moved to BOS, DCA, MIA and DFW since September.

The company has been covering trips out of base since I started ...... 18 years ago... nothing new...

 

[whino]

After reading some info on the APFA website, it's clear that if the company and the union do not come to an agreement on this issue by 12/31/07, the recall rights for these F/As will expire and the contract holds true.
I think this is AA's way of pleasing all the parties involved. Remember one thing.... agreements do not come very easily at this company and come with a high price tag !!! We shall see...

"AA's way of pleasing all the parties involved"? Oh yeah, real pleasing to the 410 who lose their recall rights. They are a "party" to this, and that is why S.1992 is going to ram it through all "your" parties involved if these negotiations fail.

 

[nbmcg01]

Anyone care to post Greg Bertolini's commentary on here for all to read? I would guess not because it might just have the opposite effect than many of you want; getting John Ward elected again.

Chris, I'm not sure what you're talking about. As you know, Greg was replaced in the last election (soundly). I'll be more than happy to share my thoughts on Bertolini via email...

 

[Maark767]

"AA's way of pleasing all the parties involved"? Oh yeah, real pleasing to the 410 who lose their recall rights. They are a "party" to this, and that is why S.1992 is going to ram it through all "your" parties involved if these negotiations fail.

AA knows that S. 1992 has gained VERY LITTLE support in Congress and is only doing this to save face..... How can a senator tell AA how to run it's business.... The 5 year business plan was created to have the recall rights expire... thats just how I see it...

 

[whino]

AA knows that S. 1992 has gained VERY LITTLE support in Congress and is only doing this to save face..... How can a senator tell AA how to run it's business.... The 5 year business plan was created to have the recall rights expire... thats just how I see it...

Very cynical comment, AA only going into this to save face. Just a charade, huh? How can a senator tell a company how to run its business? Hmmm, where does one start, how about the Railway Labor Act. All laws start in Congress. S. 1992 has plenty of support. The original bill S.1300, passed in committee unanimously. If AA doesn't do the right thing, and extend recall rights, Congress will act. Senator McCaskill, Kennedy, and many others are just waiting to see what happens in the next 2 months. Either negotiate recall extension or they will legislate recall extension. That's it.

 

[Maark767]

Very cynical comment, AA only going into this to save face. Just a charade, huh? How can a senator tell a company how to run its business? Hmmm, where does one start, how about the Railway Labor Act. All laws start in Congress. S. 1992 has plenty of support. The original bill S.1300, passed in committee unanimously. If AA doesn't do the right thing, and extend recall rights, Congress will act. Senator McCaskill, Kennedy, and many others are just waiting to see what happens in the next 2 months. Either negotiate recall extension or they will legislate recall extension. That's it.

Sorry I dont think it's a slam dunk and not that easy..... I read the info on the APFA website and the jist of the context was if we dont get an agreement by 12/31/07 then everything stays as is. It's just typical AA style ... Also, I'm all for bringing F/As back... keeps me further from RSV... Good luck ...

 

[IORFA]

Ummmm, if you say so whino. You are the all knowing I guess. In my opinion, this has zero chance as a stand alone bill. MAYBE, if it is attached to something else and at this point, congress can't pass anything that the Shrub will sign. About the best I can see happening is something similar to what, I guess G. Bertolini, tried awhile back. A job, at the bottom of the pay scale. At that point, why wouldn't AA? I mean, it would be a cheaper new hire considering training would be quicker. They could probably get some retraining funds from the government or atleast some tax breaks. All the while getting out of some potential grievances. Once again, only my opinion. I am not against anyone from coming back. I am just amazed when people seem to think AA gets scared $hitless because some senator from MO starts talking out loud. Last time that happened, nothing came of it. Although, he did talk a lot and held a committee hearing attended by him and the other MO senator.

 

[eolesen]

So whose court is the ball in? AA extended rights thru December 31, so is it in APFA's court?

In the 109th Congress (from 2005-2006) there were 6,436 bills introduced in the House of Representatives and 4,122 introduced in the Senate.

Yet, only 316 bills were passed by both chambers and signed by the President to become law.

So the likelihood of any bill (regardless of how impressive it may sound or what it achieves) getting passed with a Republican controlled legislature and executive branch was less than 1%.

 

[FurloughedByAPFA]

So whose court is the ball in? AA extended rights thru December 31, so is it in APFA's court?

Last week APFA simply accepted AA's agreement to extend recall rights for two months ending December 31, 2007. In fact, Senator Claire McCaskill, along with several other U.S. Senators persuaded CEO Gerard Arpey to delay allowing the most recent furloughs‚ recall rights to expire. APFA has been encouraging the company to allow this extension for years. Last Friday, the Company apparently changed their mind, no doubt as a result of the pressure they felt from Capitol Hill.



"APFA simply accepted AA's agreement" - do you believe this lie?

I will venture to say -" there is more than meets the eye" here! At the very least, the ball is in the court of the furloughee's. I think there is finally an effort to protect our jobs. Finally!

 

[aafsc]

Went to the president's conference Wednesday in MIA. During the Q and A session, someone asked Arpey about the recall extension for F/As. He basically said that AA was discussing the issue at the urging of the senator from MO. He did mention the cost of recalling the topped F/As vs the cost of hiring new hires off the street; and the manner in which he said it gave me the impression that recall extensions are not at all likely to happen. The APFA is not going to have it's active members "subsidize" recall extension (sorry L1011ret). In fact, since the APFA (and the other 2 unions) are demanding large increases, recall extensions for the F/As would indeed be a miracle. In my opinion, the only way there will be recalls is if it is mandated by manpower needs. UA may consider grounding 100 aircraft due to extremely high fuel prices, AA may consider the same.

 

[nbmcg01]

Went to the president's conference Wednesday in MIA. During the Q and A session, someone asked Arpey about the recall extension for F/As. He basically said that AA was discussing the issue at the urging of the senator from MO. He did mention the cost of recalling the topped F/As vs the cost of hiring new hires off the street; and the manner in which he said it gave me the impression that recall extensions are not at all likely to happen. The APFA is not going to have it's active members "subsidize" recall extension (sorry L1011ret). In fact, since the APFA (and the other 2 unions) are demanding large increases, recall extensions for the F/As would indeed be a miracle. In my opinion, the only way there will be recalls is if it is mandated by manpower needs. UA may consider grounding 100 aircraft due to extremely high fuel prices, AA may consider the same.

Too abd someone didn't challenge Arpey on the fact that the furloughed had already "contributed" over $600,000,000 in "shared sacrifice" ( which is surprisingly close to the executive bonus amt.). That should be sufficient to cover any cost of training.

 

[kirkpatrick]

UA may consider grounding 100 aircraft due to extremely high fuel prices, AA may consider the same.

Even if UA decides to ground some less efficient aircraft, it won't happen tomorrow or all at once. With load factors where they are, and price increases sticking, I can't see how a huge capacity drop would help anyone. I see a lot of "contract time" posturing going on here.

Higher priced fuel will mean wages and salaries are a smaller percentage of total operating costs, and may spur the replacement of older aircraft with newer, more efficient planes. You can bet, though, that management will make it sound like the world is about to end.

MK

 

[FurloughedByAPFA]

From the Nov 10 HOTLINE:

Rumor Control:

Q: Does the recent action by AA extending furloughed recall rights for the FAs scheduled to fall off on November 1, 2007, have anything to do with seniority, further concessions or opening our contract early.

A: No.
:huh: :huh: