Dear able...able,
Mostly a lurker, but let me bring up the one thing that you westies don't seem to understand.
The big issues for most east pilots with the Nic award.
1. It is "not about today" It is all about tomorrow. It is about having younger pilots, with much less LOS/DOH placed ahead of east pilots. This is a permanent placement. One of the only things the east pilots had left was the attrition that the future held. Now the younger West pilots capture the attrition, instead of the East pilots who have been waiting years. It is all about the attrition. There are many examples of east pilots who will have 35+ years and still be 500+ numbers down the seniority list. Out of these 500 pilots, only a handful will have more than 20+ years. For an East pilot, the difference is between being number 5 and number 555. For a West pilot, the difference is between being number 250 and number 257. For many east pilots, the number is a difference of 700+ numbers, the difference between years of widebody Captain and not - big bucks and big way of life. It is huge for the east pilots, not so much for the west guys.
2. The east pilots agreed to ALPA merger policy which included binding arbitration. Think about this . . . the east pilots agreed to binding arbitration that followed ALPA merger policy. The issue for the east guys, is that the arbitrator did not follow ALPA merger policy. Its not an integrity thing, not a "final and binding" thing, its the deal that we agreed to wasn't followed by the parties. ALPA should have fixed it, but didn't and they were removed. ALPA even said it publically, many times that they had issues with the award, but they didn't fix it. USAPA was a last resort for the east.
Just a few thoughts on your comments, with all respect . . .
you wrote:
The west pilots are attempting to preserve what they had prior to the merger and not move backward.
my comment: We are separate ops, we are reaping what we had prior to the merger. PHX and LAS have seen a drawdown due to the market. many East pilots have lost the left seat (again). I have and I would never ask for a west captain seat even though they are 13 years junior to me, they keep what they brought, I have to wait for the east attrition to kick in (or growth) That said, I do want the east attrition, not give it to the west guys. That happens under NIC with no fences and no C&R.
You wrote:
Because the west pilots do not want to sacrifice their careers to pay for the problems that the east pilots encountered prior to the merger you see us as self centered children.
my comment:
What is your sacrifice? Merger or no merger, the economy and markets change. We are separate ops, east and west. All that the east guys want is their attrition and to share in the growth. If you look at the models down the road, the west inherits the airline, and the widebody flying you did not bring to the airline, even with a DOH/LOS list.
You wrote:
Jim's simple explanation of seniority is probably the best so I will cite it here. He maintained that a true measure of seniority is to asses how your bidding horsepower compares pre and post merger. After integration, given no growth or contraction, if you can hold the same equipment, seat, schedule, vacation etc. as you could prior to the merger, then the lists have been fairly combined.
My comments:
This is fine for a snapshot in time. Right this very minute. Right when the NIC award was announced. It does not work moving forward, and that is 99% of the issues that the east pilots have. It also contradicts all union principles. Look at the other unions. What did they do? Why? Because it works in the long term.
You wrote:
DOH/LOS with C&Rs would not produce this result. We would see the eventual trading of fortunes. Indeed it has already started. Furloughed east pilots are now doing the jobs brought to the merger by (now) furloughed west pilots. There are west captains now in the right seat and east F.O.s in the left seat. An integrated LOS list would only exacerbate this effect. You consider this a fair and just ends because east pilots worked longer for USAir than west pilots worked for America West.
My Comments:
This is basically false. The west furloughs and west downgrades are because the west flying, under separate ops has been reduced. I have lost the left seat on the east as have many of my peers, and many east pilots are furloughed too, because of the reductions in east flying. Show me where east pilots have moved west and caused west furloughs. again, lets be clear here . . . separate ops.
You wrote:
This longer tenure confers no special privileges or protections, nor should it do so. (That's why we call it a seniority list, not a longevity list.) The fact that you are so hung up on the fact that east pilots have been working at their old carrier longer and therefore deserve special consideration tells me that your ego is effecting your point of view. Because you worked for a company that existed prior to deregulation you were well compensated and I congratulate you for that. I hope that you were able to use the purchasing power of those dollars to make strong investments. You have already been compensated for your prior service.
You were also hired in at a time when it was easier to get a major airline job. By your own admission you had less than four thousand hours when a USAir predecessor company hired you. This does not impugn your qualifications it just is the what the hiring market allowed at the time. Most of the AWA new hires had five to eight thousand hours, jet PIC and management experience when they were offered employment.
The fact that you are older and worked for an older company longer than we worked at a younger company has no and should have no bearing on the seniority integration.
My comments:
The fact is this, the east pilots have more time in service. This is recognized in most companies, and especially in unions. Hell, it is even recognized in my family, I bet if you have kids, you exercise it too. Its all about "seniority" and the reason seniority has been around for so long . . . is it works.
Back in the mid-80's, UPS didn't exist or was just an upstart flight department, no one wanted to work for SWA, FEDEX was an all night freight outfit. The premiere pilot airlines were Piedmont, USAir, and Western. We all applied and we got hired by the best airline that was at the time "the one who called with a class date first" The airline business has survived many years, and the pilot ranks have too. Much of this history has been bad and unfortunate, some of it, downright criminal. If the lists ever get away from seniority as a cornerstone, the bedrock of what it is all based upon, then we get into brown-nosing and favorites and ability and office favorites. To be honest, I do quite well under those parameters . . . would you? So, to abandon seniority, or LOS or DOH, or the bedrock of unionism, would be to destroy the profession itself.
In my opinion, the NIC award is the first step to just that.
Just as the westies here shout for the east pilots to be "free thinkers" and have integrity. I ask the same of the west posters here. Look to the future. You will see the rewards of DOH/LOS and seniority for the majority of the west guys as they inherit this airline. But beyond that, you will see all pilots benefit from the core principles of unionism, of life, and of living.
back to lurking . . . .
Bus Driver