Too little, too late.

[Bob Owens]

If AA had one fleet type then you could compare the two.
Until that happens there is no comparison.

You are correct most AMT's compare wages and benefits to that of WN. We accomplish one task and that is fixing airplanes. Would we do it better if we were one fleet? Absolutely.

I would say it is different when you have to get 120 people on an airplane everyday as opposed to getting 250 people on an airplane especially when you factor in customs freight and baggage.
All of which can be accomplished a lot easier with a 737 than with an Airbus or 777.

Even if AA flew nothing but airbuses we would need fewer people and less equipment. With repetition comes leanness

Lets also not forget the fact that AA sells some of their seats for $15,000, or about the same as SWA sells a whole planeload of seats for.

The fact is that SWA sells a different product. Single class, high frequency short haul low priced seats. Its like Chevy vs Ford. They really are in the same market as American Eagle not American Airlines. Eagle workers should be demanding parity with SWA and if we are basing our pay on the product we produce we should be demanding even more. The company likes to switch around the particulars as it suits them.

American Airlines is in the premium market. We dont see mechanics at Mercedes making less than Mechanics at Chevy-they make more, and so should we.

Now that OH is a revenue producer, or at least the company claims it is, they can no longer claim that we cant expect SWA rates "because SWA doesnt have Overhaul". Well, if OH is a producer then OH should support getting us even more than SWA. As far as workrules etc, where do we have anything-other than the $1200/year underfunded AA pension vs SWA fully funded 401K match- that SWA doesnt have?

 

[eolesen]

American Airlines is in the premium market. We dont see mechanics at Mercedes making less than Mechanics at Chevy-they make more, and so should we.

You're so full of yourself at times, Bob...

AA ain't no Mercedes. It's a Cadillac or a Lincoln. Maybe a Lexus. And the mechanics working on those just happen to be paid Chevy, Ford, and Toyota wages.

Perhaps if AA had its own high-tech unique aircraft, you'd have an argument.

But you don't.

A Boeing is a Boeing, and an MD80 is a MD80. It doesn't matter what the seating config is.

Heck, you've said before that it doesn't matter if you're working for a freight carrier or a passenger carrier. Fixing an aircraft is fixing an aircraft.

The -only- workgroup who can even start to claim product complexity as a justifier for higher wages are the flight attendants.