US Pilots Labor Discussion 6/10- STAY ON TOPIC AND OBSERVE THE RULES

[surfer305]

That would most certainly be good news. I know that the pundits are saying that the economy is picking up. I hope they're right this time.

That stuff about flying struck work is VERY troubling. I really hope the company is smart enough to not attempt it.

Hey Oldie it's not struck work if the airline is not in business anymore by september

 

[surfer305]

Hey Oldie it's not struck work if the airline is not in business anymore by september

Hey Oldie rumor has it you are going to be the Chief Pilot in FLL and be in charge of the jets for jobs for the Sprit pilots.

 

[EyeInTheSky]

Where the Nic lays calmly on Parkers desk awaiting implementation.

That is HIGH-larious. Like I said crazy from the heat.

Later,
Eye

 

[psw737]

I've been hearing a lot of talk about more east fllying come september and just heard two or three days something about more LAS flying at some point late summer or fall. Hopefully it happens would be a good thing for all of us. This FLL base rumor, is this for real or is someone jerkin our chains here?This is the first I've heard this. Interesting.....

 

[oldiebutgoody]

Hey Oldie rumor has it you are going to be the Chief Pilot in FLL and be in charge of the jets for jobs for the Sprit pilots.

Maybe we'll buy 'em and stick furloughees on the bottom again.

Done the Chief Pilot thing at another place. You can have it.

By the way, you know that LCC tried FLL as a focus city and it crapped out? Wouldn't surprise me to see 'em try it again. Some folks never learn from their mistakes.

Again, if I had a dollar for every time I heard a rumor about a Florida crewbase.....

 

[oldiebutgoody]

Hey Oldie it's not struck work if the airline is not in business anymore by september

True enough. Let's hope "self help" brings the company to its senses before it's too late.
But if we acquire routes and airplanes, we should hire the folks, too. And I don't mean just sticking them on the bottom. In fact, I think it would be required. If the Spirit guys go on strike to save ALL pilots from sinking futher into the career pit, ALL pilots from EVERY union and nonunion company should take care of them. It would only be fair. Sometimes doing the right thing can be a painful prospect.

Is Spirit an ALPA group? Seems to me they are, but I don't know for sure.

If what you guys say is a possibilty, let me say good luck to the Spirit employees, I hope you prevail. I can't speak for all, but I'm behind you all the way. If there's anything I can do to help, let me know.

 

[233KILLS]

Maybe we'll buy 'em and stick furloughees on the bottom again.

Done the Chief Pilot thing at another place. You can have it.

By the way, you know that LCC tried FLL as a focus city and it crapped out? Wouldn't surprise me to see 'em try it again. Some folks never learn from their mistakes.

Again, if I had a dollar for every time I heard a rumor about a Florida crewbase.....

Oldie,
Yes Yes You got it! Furloughees go to the bottom, as they bring NOTHING to a merger.

 

[Poug Darker]

By the way, you know that LCC tried FLL as a focus city and it crapped out? Wouldn't surprise me to see 'em try it again. Some folks never learn from their mistakes.

Yes, LCC tried it, and it was a resounding failure - mainly due to the airport facilities. Nobody from management told FLL ATC that there would be 5x the flying and they were unprepared. No one told customs of the huge influx that would occur from the carribean out and backs, so they were unprepared. Combine this with understaffing, having to tow aircraft from international arrival gates to domestic gates (incurring delays), and the single usable runway in FLL = it was a disaster from the word go.
Once again, a resounding management accomplishment.

 

[N903AW]

Yes, LCC tried it, and it was a resounding failure

No, LCC did not try it. The FLL flop was before the merger and adoption of the LCC ticker.

 

[767jetz]

True enough. Let's hope "self help" brings the company to its senses before it's too late.

Is Spirit an ALPA group? Seems to me they are, but I don't know for sure.

A bit off topic, but for what it's worth if anyone wants to read the "struck work letter" from ALPA and the resolution from the Spirit MEC, here it is:

struck work letter

I hope the link works. Interestingly, the MEC does NOT consider it struck work for another carrier to fly on Spirit's routes and frequencies for their own benefit, as long as it does not benefit Spirit management in the form of flying Spirit airplanes or a wet lease. In fact they are encouraging it. I guess it puts additional pressure on their management since it could mean permanently lost business. It's also good PR for the Spirit pilots since they are trying to take care of their passengers by asking others to fly their routes.

Personally I've never seen such a thing. I always thought struck work is off limits and would not fly "extra sections" to poach flying from a striking airline. But in this case the pilots are actually encouraging it.

 

[luvn737s]

If it's flying to replace a group on strike, COUNT ME OUT. Homey don't play dat.

If that's what the rumor is, someone should spell out the pilots' feeling on this ASAP.

There's only one group I look forward to replacing when they try to pull off a strike. Guess who you, I mean "they" are.

 

[algflyr]

Personally I've never seen such a thing. I always thought struck work is off limits and would not fly "extra sections" to poach flying from a striking airline. But in this case the pilots are actually encouraging it.

I remember quite a few years back when Northwest went on strike, the company added extra segments between PIT and DTW... a route not served by us at the time. Several pilots refused this flying thinking it was struck work. After talking to their MEC, our union said, at the request of the NWA MEC, it is not struck work and that the NWA MEC encouraged us to fly it as long as it did not benefit NWA.

 

[oldiebutgoody]

A bit off topic, but for what it's worth if anyone wants to read the "struck work letter" from ALPA and the resolution from the Spirit MEC, here it is:

struck work letter

I hope the link works. Interestingly, the MEC does NOT consider it struck work for another carrier to fly on Spirit's routes and frequencies for their own benefit, as long as it does not benefit Spirit management in the form of flying Spirit airplanes or a wet lease. In fact they are encouraging it. I guess it puts additional pressure on their management since it could mean permanently lost business. It's also good PR for the Spirit pilots since they are trying to take care of their passengers by asking others to fly their routes.

Personally I've never seen such a thing. I always thought struck work is off limits and would not fly "extra sections" to poach flying from a striking airline. But in this case the pilots are actually encouraging it.

I agree. Struck work is struck work. The idea that another group would come in, even if it doesn't benefit the company on strike, and possibly "steal" business is deplorable. It means that a lot of those other pilots' jobs won't even exist when the strike is over. Another case of ALPA injustice.

 

[psw737]

We will know Spirit's fate tonight at 12am. They have already begun cancelling flights and I have heard that the enitre FLL is shut down for the weekend. I honestly don't see their management caving in and giving them a contract. Being that Texas Pacific Group and Indigo capital are the major investors, I'm not really sure if shutting it down would even hurt them.

As far as the FLL being a money loser if we were to try it again, Spirit has managed to make some decent profits with it through the worst of times recently. They have a very limited route network for connectivity also so I would think a larger airline could fair well there. If Spirit were to go Tango Uniform, I would hope we could do something with it rather than letting it go to Delta, American or JetBlue.

 

[oldiebutgoody]

We will know Spirit's fate tonight at 12am. They have already begun cancelling flights and I have heard that the enitre FLL is shut down for the weekend. I honestly don't see their management caving in and giving them a contract. Being that Texas Pacific Group and Indigo capital are the major investors, I'm not really sure if shutting it down would even hurt them.

As far as the FLL being a money loser if we were to try it again, Spirit has managed to make some decent profits with it through the worst of times recently. They have a very limited route network for connectivity also so I would think a larger airline could fair well there. If Spirit were to go Tango Uniform, I would hope we could do something with it rather than letting it go to Delta, American or JetBlue.

Who are the big carriers there now? Isn't the business there based on the cruise industry, which by the way, has been in a slump for years? I think the only way Spirit could pull it off was through artificially low costs, mainly by not payimg employees near industry standard wages. I also think that Spirit has sizable operations in LGA and MYR. I'd really like to see TPG ran out of this industry forever. That's where that idiot "just call me Dave" came from.

So much for charging for carryons.