The lawsuit

[Bear96]

Interesting read.

How fast can you say Chapter Seven?

One good thing is this litigation if it survives Discovery & pre-trial motions should discourage any merger activity and REALLY put the Tempe Boys in some very tight knickers as they now will actually have to manage the airline and work with their employees and labor groups which to date they have been loathe to do.

How would it do that? LCC is not a party to the lawsuit.

A couple of points to consider:

An important note is that the EC was scheduled to rule today on teh Nicolau Award and neither MEC had any clue on how the EC would proceed.

Therefore, the US Airways MEC concluded it had to preserve its right to take court action. If the MEC had not filed a timely suit the case could have been thrown out without a hearing on the merit, but simply on the basis of a lack of timeliness.

Good God, man, where are you getting your legal advice from? What statute of limitations are you referring to that is anywhere near expiring?

It is my understanding, the action in the D.C. Superior Court is independent of the actions taken by the EC today.

Regards,

USA320Pilot

So which is it . . . the filing of the complaint was driven by the EC "ruling" on the award (whatever that means), or the filing of the complaint had nothing to do with the EC's actions? You have totally contradicted yourself in one post.

For the record, that looks like the complaint, not the brief. Can't wait to see the brief.

At this stage, what kind of brief are you referring to? (I.e., in support of or in opposition to what, and at what procedural step?)

It will be a looooong time before the litigation will be at a stage where the court will entertain a brief on the merits.

 

[ClueByFour]

We all know that some lawyers will tell their clients whatever they want to hear.

Yeah. Dan Katz.

 

[Bear96]

I see what you are saying. But it seems as though East is so hell-bent on getting its way with West that LCC management could suddenly transform itself to the most enlightened and benevolent employer on the planet, and that wouldn't change East's self-desctructive course. East is simply acting irrationally at this point, and that should not be laid at the feet of management.

 

[Charlie_Tuna]

History is littered with the carcasses of dead companies due to labor unrest. Eastern Airlines comes to mind in aviation.

Labor unrest of any kind can strangle an operation, drive cost up, productivity and customer service down.

Sure labor unrest had a part in Eastern's demise but to place all the blame on it is utterly ridiculous and simplistic

Just as it would be to blame US Airway's possible doom on just labor unrest.

What causes labor unrest? It just happens?

Eastern did not fare well in the 1980s. Under Borman's shaky command, the company was in deep trouble as a result of major disagreements between management and the labor unions, and also because of major debt from purchases in the late 1970s. As Borman ineffectively tried to get pay cuts to compensate for debts, Eastern began to rack up year after year of losses until late 1985, when it had a debt of $3.5 billion. It was at this point that Frank Lorenzo, the infamous airline powerbroker who controlled Continental Airlines, stepped in. After Borman failed to get any significant concessions from his trade unions, Lorenzo bought the whole airline for only $615 million, adding Eastern to his existing prizes of People's Express, Frontier Airlines, Texas Air, and New York Air.

Lorenzo was ruthless in using Eastern's core assets for his other airlines, devising various ways to use them to make money for his other properties. He let Texas Air “purchaseâ€￾ Eastern's advanced reservation system but issued only an I.O.U. for it. Eastern then had to pay Texas Air a monthly fee of $10 million to use its own system. He “soldâ€￾ six of Eastern's planes to Continental but paid nothing for them. The result was that, to survive, Eastern had to sell off aircraft and lay off workers in large numbers. As tensions mounted between the labor unions and Lorenzo's harsh tactics, Lorenzo slowly began to dismantle Eastern and sell off its parts. When the unions struck in March 1989, Lorenzo filed for bankruptcy. This gave him some breathing room and allowed him to use strikebreakers to continue operations. By this time, however, Eastern was collapsing under its debt, and finally in January 1991, the airline completely ran out of money to operate. In late 1991, the airline was liquidated. Thus ended the life of one of America's greatest domestic airlines.

Eastern

—Asif Siddiqi

 

[USA320Pilot]

It is my understanding from an East MEC Rep. ALPA's lawsuit over the Nicolau Award could take 3-5 year's to conclude.

Regards,

USA320Pilot

 

[cageyjames]

It is my understanding from an East MEC Rep. ALPA's lawsuit over the Nicolau Award could take 3-5 year's to conclude.

Given your track record of being wrong on just about everything I can only assume others will laugh at you as I am.

 

[philly rocks]

I concur with PB. "How fast can you say chapter 7"?

 

[USA320Pilot]

Cageyjames,

You're kidding, right?

Regards,

USA320Pilot

 

[Dog Wonder]

Cageyjames,

You're kidding, right?

Regards,

USA320Pilot

I don't think he is kidding.

 

[hp_fa]

No, he's probably right about that being the timeframe and ALPA will not be putting off accpting the arbitration award otherwise West pilots will be suing them for DFR violations and violating their own rules.

 

[A320 Driver]

No, he's probably right about that being the timeframe and ALPA will not be putting off accpting the arbitration award otherwise West pilots will be suing them for DFR violations and violating their own rules.

I wouldn't bet the change in my pocket on a successful outcome of suits brought by East OR West.


A320 Driver B)

 

[Junebug172]

Cageyjames,

You're kidding, right?

Regards,

USA320Pilot

Not about your track record. It sucks.

And it will NOT take 3-5 years. It won't make it past pre-trial and I guarantee that.

 

[BoeingBoy]

Not about your track record. It sucks.

Oh shucks - now he'll pull out his minnow and flash it all around

Jim

 

[USA320Pilot]

Junebug,

Junebug said: "Not about your track record. It sucks."

USA320Pilot asked: Could you be a little more specific and provide an example?

Junebug said: "And it will NOT take 3-5 years. It won't make it past pre-trial and I guarantee that."

USA320Pilot comments: The 3-5 year litigation period comment was provided to me from an ALPA contact and is the opinion of the East MEC's attorney. By the way, if the East does not agree to a joint contract can the Nicolau Award be implemented?

Regards,

USA320Pilot

 

[A320 Driver]

Oh shucks - now he'll pull out his minnow and flash it all around

Jim

You ain't right, dude!


A320 Driver B)