USAPA President's Message: May 1, 2012
Fellow Pilots,
Today your Board of Pilot Representatives and Officers met in Open Session with a US Airways' management team including CEO Doug Parker; Senior Vice President, Flight Operations/Inflight Ed Bular; Vice President Flight Operations Lyle Hogg; Executive Vice President, Corporate & Government Affairs Steven Johnson and Managing Director of Labor Relations Cindi Simone.
Doug Parker provided the Board, Officers and a large gallery of pilots in attendance, with a PowerPoint presentation focusing on the synergies of a merged US Airways and American Airlines, followed by a question and answer period.
The BPR and Officers then met privately with Management for more in-depth questions, and President Hummel, with unanimous consent from the BPR conveyed a message to Management on behalf of the Board consisting of the following:
• The BPR is interested in a cooperative effort between Management and USAPA in order to facilitate a potential merger
• Our support is contingent on there being benefits to our pilots and the BPR is prepared to defend those interests in the event they are not addressed
• We are disappointed with the process to date, specifically by our lack of involvement, but recognize Management has the ability to affect an immediate remedy by agreeing to a negotiating process with the combined APA and USAPA negotiating teams, pursuing a combined and comprehensive contract for both pilots groups simultaneously.
We trust you find this message to Management a responsible step with respect to protecting the interests of our pilots. It is our intent to keep you informed to the best of our abilities as we proceed with both optimism and caution in our efforts to best represent you.
In unity,
President Gary Hummel
USA320Pilot comments: After reading Gary Hummel's message I once again felt the same type of indignant, self-righteous attitude within the union's leaders that has failed the pilots in the past. It appears to me the attitude that exists within the union's leadership could prevent the company from being able to close deals that are required to keep the proposed mergers momentum going forward. Will USAPA over reach and not be able to work with APA or US Airways?
For the first time I believe the AMR merger may be in jeopardy and once again a solid future for all of US Airways' stakeholders spoiled by the UELs. I hope I'm wrong.