Update on ALPA Executive Council Meeting
- Thread starter USA320Pilot
- Start date
When did I try to appear unbiased? I have very strong opinions, based on the law and on how arbitration works. I am looking at it strictly from a labor and arbitration law standpoint (which is an area of interest to me in my current job).
Yes, the outcome was tough for the East pilots, but it is an example of arbitration working (and perhaps a warning to others that it is better for the parties themselves to try to hammer out an agreement, rather than putting it in the hands of a decisionmaker who is not a party to the action).
I am neutral as to which is the "better" way to integrate two seniority lists in situation like this one. DOH is one way; a weighing-multiple-factors way as laid in the ALPA bylaws is another. Both are equally valid and have their advantages and drawbacks. ALPA chose to not go with DOH. Therefore, based on that, and the fact that under general principles of arbitration the East has no legal grounds to somehow overturn this decision that I can see, it became clear that the decision was legally correct, and I started posting my opinions based on that point of view.
It doesn't matter to me one way or the other whether it blows over or whether you burn the place down.
My bet is that it will blow over, for various reasons. But if I am wrong, I couldn't care less.
Callsign_Cactus
Senior
- May 6, 2007
- 285
- 0
Ok, you got me 700UW. US came to our rescue. It is all very clear to me now. I bet Delta was ringing Parker too and begging for a merger.
The facts are US was second choice to ATA. The only reason that deal fell through is because Parker could not have possibly outbid SWA. But wait, where could little ol' AWA possibly get the money to buy ATA? Weren't we going BK? Could it be that Wall Street was willing to finance anything Parker wanted to do. You bet! This is the ONLY reason AWA could acquire US. You see, AWA did an amazing turnaround after 9/11 that got the attention of many in the industry and finance community. Something the east has failed to recognize to this day. We had a successful business model that could compete against SWA, imagine that. Something every legacy carrier has failed to do. If not for AWAs significant success, there would not have been anyone willing to finance this transaction and US would be another casualty is the history books.
Funny how sometimes we all become victims of our own success. In this case, every AWA empoyee.
Cheers!
The facts are US was second choice to ATA. The only reason that deal fell through is because Parker could not have possibly outbid SWA. But wait, where could little ol' AWA possibly get the money to buy ATA? Weren't we going BK? Could it be that Wall Street was willing to finance anything Parker wanted to do. You bet! This is the ONLY reason AWA could acquire US. You see, AWA did an amazing turnaround after 9/11 that got the attention of many in the industry and finance community. Something the east has failed to recognize to this day. We had a successful business model that could compete against SWA, imagine that. Something every legacy carrier has failed to do. If not for AWAs significant success, there would not have been anyone willing to finance this transaction and US would be another casualty is the history books.
Funny how sometimes we all become victims of our own success. In this case, every AWA empoyee.
Cheers!
nostradamus
Veteran
- Dec 7, 2004
- 2,038
- 0
Recording of the leader of ALPA, inviting Usairway pilots to Talk.John Prater
barbeetantrums
Veteran
It's finally happened. East and west pilots were in the same hotel, words were exchanged and a nasty fight broke out. 
View the fisticuffs here.
View the fisticuffs here.
Callsign_Cactus
Senior
- May 6, 2007
- 285
- 0
Piney, we are on the same page there - new US is anything but successful. However, I was speaking to the success AWA had prior to acquiring US. Hence, we (AWA) employees have been victimized by our own success. Get it now? Please reread my post carefully.
Cheers!
Cheers!
CactusFlyr
Senior
- May 25, 2005
- 260
- 0
Why do you think he contacted Parker??? He was desperate.
autofixer
Veteran
- Aug 20, 2002
- 1,804
- 241
No, Otis was drunk and Lakefield suckered him into signing the documents to proceed with this debacle. Howe else can you 'splan it?
"Have another drink on me! Here's a pin, I mean a pen. Sign this little ole paper and we'll talk about it tomorrow. Hick-up!"
CactusFlyr
Senior
- May 25, 2005
- 260
- 0
No, Otis was drunk and Lakefield suckered him into signing the documents to proceed with this debacle. Howe else can you 'splan it?
"Have another drink on me! Here's a pin, I mean a pen. Sign this little ole paper and we'll talk about it tomorrow. Hick-up!"
Nice!
AWA320
Veteran
You see now there you go letting facts get in the way again! C'mon callsign can't you give us something without any REAL facts???
apofurlough
Member
- Aug 20, 2002
- 65
- 0
I hope that when the pilots start their playing hookey and causing flight cancellations that they take into consideration who will be the ones hurt by this - not the company but the customer service agents who are already drowning by trying to work with this so called computer system that dates back to the 50's in capability. We are the ones who will have to try to appease upset customers and do three times the work when you guys pull this stuff. As if we don't have enough stress in our daily work. You all need to sit down and get your act together before we all end up looking for another way of life although the way things are going we just might all be better off.
- Banned
- #42
How US Airways/America West merger got off the ground
Talks between airlines began in 2003, but didn't get serious until this year
Sunday, May 22, 2005
By Dan Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The on-and-off, 18-month courtship between US Airways and America West Airlines finally clicked into place May 12 in Washington, D.C., high above the floor of the MCI Center, where executives from both airlines had gathered in US Airways' skybox to watch a Washington Wizards playoff game.
Just minutes before tip-off, with the din of exploding fireworks filling the arena, US Airways adviser John Luth received an e-mail on his BlackBerry from Air Canada Chief Executive Officer Robert Milton. It confirmed that Air Canada's board had approved an investment in the combined airline -- the final piece of a $1.5 billion financing package needed to make the deal work.
Luth waved his BlackBerry, smiled and gave everyone the news. He congratulated Doug Parker and Bruce Lakefield, the chief executive officers of America West and US Airways, and broad smiles broke out throughout the box.
The merger was on.
Announced a week later at the Tempe, Ariz., headquarters of America West, the agreement between the nation's seventh-and eight-largest airlines paired a twice-bankrupt, East Coast legacy carrier with a younger, smaller, low-cost airline that does much of its flying on the West Coast.
If they can win a slew of antitrust, shareholder and bankruptcy court approvals, US Airways and America West together would surpass discount king Southwest Airlines in size, becoming the No. 6 carrier in the nation. Together, they also could usher in an era of consolidation in the troubled airline industry, which has lost more than $30 billion since 2001.
But there were several twists along the way, according to people familiar with the events. America West was not the only carrier to express interest in US Airways, nor was America West the only partner US Airways pursued.
The search for a deal began in the fall of 2003, when David Siegel was still US Airways' chief executive officer. Siegel had led US Airways through its first bankruptcy and wrested more than $1 billion in concessions from the company's labor unions. But even as the carrier completed a painful round of cost cuts and emerged from bankruptcy, Siegel knew US Airways was still too small and too inefficient to compete against discounters such as Southwest, which had already announced plans to start service in Philadelphia, a US Airways' hub.
Siegel was convinced that for US Airways to avoid the fate of failed carriers such as Eastern Airlines and Pan Am, both of which liquidated in the 1980s, he would have to bring US Airways' costs down further and position the airline for consolidation with another carrier. He explored several options.
Acquire United Airlines, the nation's No. 2 carrier. That option was code-named "Project Minnow," with US Airways as the small fish gobbling the bigger one.
Combine with British entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic, which was interested in US Airways' Washington-Boston-New York shuttle, along with slots and gates in the Northeast.
Split the airline in two and merge the Philadelphia and Charlotte, N.C., hub-and-spoke network with one carrier and its slots and gates in Washington, Boston and New York with another.
But US Airways ultimately rejected those options. United did not have any interest in a deal and was too distracted by its own struggles in bankruptcy. Virgin Atlantic wanted lots of US Airways assets -- gates, planes, airport equipment -- to help launch a new U.S. airline, but all it would offer in retrun was the Virgin brand name. US Airways also turned down several inquiries from other carriers -- including Southwest, JetBlue Airways and AirTran Airways -- about acquiring the company's assets but not its employees.
In the end, only America West wanted both.
Siegel made the initial connection. He knew Parker and Executive Vice President Scott Kirby at America West. Their first face-to-face meeting was in October 2003, over dinner in a Washington, D.C., restaurant. They were joined by then-US Airways Chief Financial Officer Neal Cohen.
But the talks ended several months later. At the request of US Airways' board, Siegel departed from the company in April 2004. According to Parker, the first round of discussions failed because US Airways' costs were still too high. Siegel had started a campaign to lower union costs further, but labor leaders refused to deal with him, contributing to his ouster.
Retired Lehman Bros. executive Bruce Lakefield, a friend of US Airways chairman David Bronner, replaced Siegel and sought to save US Airways. He asked unions to help with another round of concessions. When that failed, Lakefield took the company into bankruptcy again and squeezed another $1 billion in concessions from the unions, using the power of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to hammer home new contracts modeled after America West's labor agreements.
In January, with fuel prices at a record high and doubts aired about US Airways' survival after its Christmas baggage meltdown in Philadelphia, Lakefield picked up the phone and called Parker, suggesting that "maybe we should begin those talks again," according to Parker.
But America West did not have enough cash to lift US Airways out of bankruptcy. It was up to Luth, the US Airways adviser, to find enough investment money to piece the deal together and give the combined company a fighting chance to thrive in the battered airline industry.
Luth and US Airways had serious discussions with more than a dozen investors. They all requested shared participation in a merged airline -- no one wanted to take on all the risk. The Retirement Systems of Alabama, which rescued US Airways from its first bankruptcy in 2003 with a $240 million investment, stands to lose it all if US Airways emerges from bankruptcy and issues new stock.
Luth went after the companies that had something to gain from an investment in US Airways and America West. Aircraft maker Airbus agreed to provide $250 million in exchange for US Airways' pledge to buy dozens of A320 jets in the future. Regional commuter carrier Air Wisconsin Airlines made a $125 million investment in exchange for a jet services partnership. The Appleton, Wis.-based airline will fly for the merged carrier on a contract basis.
Credit card companies may provide $300 million in order to reach new customers. And once-bankrupt Air Canada offered $75 million, good for a 7 percent stake in the new company, in exchange for the rights to bid on the maintenance contract for the new carrier's fleet of 361 jets.
Air Canada was the last in line.
Once its approval came last Thursday, employees at both airlines scrambled to obtain approval from their boards of directors. US Airways' directors signed off Wednesday, over the telephone. America West's board approved it Thursday, in Tempe.
Labor leaders were briefed, and a press release was sent out. Parker and Lakefield spent much of Thursday night explaining the deal to reporters before Lakefield took a red-eye flight back to Washington. Parker, who has been tapped to lead the merged airline, met with employees and went home. Before going to bed, he explained the deal in one final live shot with local TV, from his house.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Dan Fitzpatrick can be reached at [email protected] or 412-263-1752.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Correction/Clarification: (Published 5/23/05) Air Canada, as part of an investment in the proposed US Airways-America West Airlines merger, has the right to bid only on the maintenance work that can be outsourced under existing labor contracts. It does not have the right to do the maintenance work on all 361 jets belonging to the combined airline, as described incorrectly in a story Sunday. )
Talks between airlines began in 2003, but didn't get serious until this year
Sunday, May 22, 2005
By Dan Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The on-and-off, 18-month courtship between US Airways and America West Airlines finally clicked into place May 12 in Washington, D.C., high above the floor of the MCI Center, where executives from both airlines had gathered in US Airways' skybox to watch a Washington Wizards playoff game.
Just minutes before tip-off, with the din of exploding fireworks filling the arena, US Airways adviser John Luth received an e-mail on his BlackBerry from Air Canada Chief Executive Officer Robert Milton. It confirmed that Air Canada's board had approved an investment in the combined airline -- the final piece of a $1.5 billion financing package needed to make the deal work.
Luth waved his BlackBerry, smiled and gave everyone the news. He congratulated Doug Parker and Bruce Lakefield, the chief executive officers of America West and US Airways, and broad smiles broke out throughout the box.
The merger was on.
Announced a week later at the Tempe, Ariz., headquarters of America West, the agreement between the nation's seventh-and eight-largest airlines paired a twice-bankrupt, East Coast legacy carrier with a younger, smaller, low-cost airline that does much of its flying on the West Coast.
If they can win a slew of antitrust, shareholder and bankruptcy court approvals, US Airways and America West together would surpass discount king Southwest Airlines in size, becoming the No. 6 carrier in the nation. Together, they also could usher in an era of consolidation in the troubled airline industry, which has lost more than $30 billion since 2001.
But there were several twists along the way, according to people familiar with the events. America West was not the only carrier to express interest in US Airways, nor was America West the only partner US Airways pursued.
The search for a deal began in the fall of 2003, when David Siegel was still US Airways' chief executive officer. Siegel had led US Airways through its first bankruptcy and wrested more than $1 billion in concessions from the company's labor unions. But even as the carrier completed a painful round of cost cuts and emerged from bankruptcy, Siegel knew US Airways was still too small and too inefficient to compete against discounters such as Southwest, which had already announced plans to start service in Philadelphia, a US Airways' hub.
Siegel was convinced that for US Airways to avoid the fate of failed carriers such as Eastern Airlines and Pan Am, both of which liquidated in the 1980s, he would have to bring US Airways' costs down further and position the airline for consolidation with another carrier. He explored several options.
Acquire United Airlines, the nation's No. 2 carrier. That option was code-named "Project Minnow," with US Airways as the small fish gobbling the bigger one.
Combine with British entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic, which was interested in US Airways' Washington-Boston-New York shuttle, along with slots and gates in the Northeast.
Split the airline in two and merge the Philadelphia and Charlotte, N.C., hub-and-spoke network with one carrier and its slots and gates in Washington, Boston and New York with another.
But US Airways ultimately rejected those options. United did not have any interest in a deal and was too distracted by its own struggles in bankruptcy. Virgin Atlantic wanted lots of US Airways assets -- gates, planes, airport equipment -- to help launch a new U.S. airline, but all it would offer in retrun was the Virgin brand name. US Airways also turned down several inquiries from other carriers -- including Southwest, JetBlue Airways and AirTran Airways -- about acquiring the company's assets but not its employees.
In the end, only America West wanted both.
Siegel made the initial connection. He knew Parker and Executive Vice President Scott Kirby at America West. Their first face-to-face meeting was in October 2003, over dinner in a Washington, D.C., restaurant. They were joined by then-US Airways Chief Financial Officer Neal Cohen.
But the talks ended several months later. At the request of US Airways' board, Siegel departed from the company in April 2004. According to Parker, the first round of discussions failed because US Airways' costs were still too high. Siegel had started a campaign to lower union costs further, but labor leaders refused to deal with him, contributing to his ouster.
Retired Lehman Bros. executive Bruce Lakefield, a friend of US Airways chairman David Bronner, replaced Siegel and sought to save US Airways. He asked unions to help with another round of concessions. When that failed, Lakefield took the company into bankruptcy again and squeezed another $1 billion in concessions from the unions, using the power of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to hammer home new contracts modeled after America West's labor agreements.
In January, with fuel prices at a record high and doubts aired about US Airways' survival after its Christmas baggage meltdown in Philadelphia, Lakefield picked up the phone and called Parker, suggesting that "maybe we should begin those talks again," according to Parker.
But America West did not have enough cash to lift US Airways out of bankruptcy. It was up to Luth, the US Airways adviser, to find enough investment money to piece the deal together and give the combined company a fighting chance to thrive in the battered airline industry.
Luth and US Airways had serious discussions with more than a dozen investors. They all requested shared participation in a merged airline -- no one wanted to take on all the risk. The Retirement Systems of Alabama, which rescued US Airways from its first bankruptcy in 2003 with a $240 million investment, stands to lose it all if US Airways emerges from bankruptcy and issues new stock.
Luth went after the companies that had something to gain from an investment in US Airways and America West. Aircraft maker Airbus agreed to provide $250 million in exchange for US Airways' pledge to buy dozens of A320 jets in the future. Regional commuter carrier Air Wisconsin Airlines made a $125 million investment in exchange for a jet services partnership. The Appleton, Wis.-based airline will fly for the merged carrier on a contract basis.
Credit card companies may provide $300 million in order to reach new customers. And once-bankrupt Air Canada offered $75 million, good for a 7 percent stake in the new company, in exchange for the rights to bid on the maintenance contract for the new carrier's fleet of 361 jets.
Air Canada was the last in line.
Once its approval came last Thursday, employees at both airlines scrambled to obtain approval from their boards of directors. US Airways' directors signed off Wednesday, over the telephone. America West's board approved it Thursday, in Tempe.
Labor leaders were briefed, and a press release was sent out. Parker and Lakefield spent much of Thursday night explaining the deal to reporters before Lakefield took a red-eye flight back to Washington. Parker, who has been tapped to lead the merged airline, met with employees and went home. Before going to bed, he explained the deal in one final live shot with local TV, from his house.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Dan Fitzpatrick can be reached at [email protected] or 412-263-1752.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Correction/Clarification: (Published 5/23/05) Air Canada, as part of an investment in the proposed US Airways-America West Airlines merger, has the right to bid only on the maintenance work that can be outsourced under existing labor contracts. It does not have the right to do the maintenance work on all 361 jets belonging to the combined airline, as described incorrectly in a story Sunday. )
