The truth is your own glass house is full of problems. And you constantly wander into another neighborhood to cause trouble. Problems that your own group started, Look in the mirror, Clean up your own merger first. I suggest dealing with the 70 seat problem you brought on Continental.
Interesting how you consider someone voicing an opinion or supporting those who disagree with you, "causing trouble." I know you would rather live in a world where everyone agrees with you (as evidenced by your groups attempt to force your will on the west), but that's just not how things work. I guess the west and their lawyers are causing trouble for you, in much the same way the police cause trouble for thieves.
As for UA's house full of problems, I never claimed that UA has no problems. Far from it. We lost our pensions just like you. We went through bankruptcy just like you. We are still operating on a bankruptcy contract agreed to with the gun of liquidation pointed at our heads, just like you. We've had crappy management for years, just like you. I was the first to jump for joy when Tilton left and Smisek took over.
What we don't have is infighting. We don't blame the rest of the world for our problems. We don't try to shut people up who don't agree with us. Our internal debates are often diverse, heated, and emotional exchanges, but in the end we pull on the same end of the rope and take responsibility for our actions. All things lacking from the east.
The RJ issue in hindsight was a mistake in the first place when the 50 seaters first showed up. Thank Delta for that one. We had the opportunity to capture that flying, but those elected and in control decide they wanted nothing to do with those small toy airplanes. They were wrong. We removed them in the next election. 70 seaters were agreed to during BK. Thankfully there is a cap. UA can not fly unlimited 70 seaters. I guarantee you that the current number will not increase. Most likely our new contract will provide for a phasing out of those planes, unless they are flown by our pilots. There will also be limits on Air Lingus type deals where UA will need to have metal in the market gain revenue from the venture. (ie: 50% of the flights for 50% of the revenue.) Scope is a huge issue for both the CO and UA pilots. Where you got the idea that UA is soft on scope is beyond me. If anything the door was opened by the senior guys you seem to regard highly, when they were in control, and the BK gun was at our heads. They were the soft one oout of lack of foresight. They wanted to smooth the road until their retirement. (Here's a little factoid about those senior guys. As good as Dubinsky was, he and the senior guys negotiated an extra pay bump for the themselves on the 747 during Contract 2000, above and beyond the gains everyone else got.) The younger generation of UA pilots are in no mood for concessions. We have too many years left to play that game.
Yes the new ALPA merger policy has LOS as one of the criteria for consideration, just like career expectation, no windfalls at the expense of the other side, etc etc. There is no DOH, and LOS is a non specific criteria to be considered. The Arbitrator may take it into account by 1% or 99%. No one knows. The key to success in arbitration is to reach for as much as possible without appearing to over reach. Once you over reach arbitrators generally respond unfavorably. UA's merger committee knows this well and has no intention of over reaching at the negotiating table. Again just a guess, but we will probably see a list configured by relative position in category and class, with some small adjustments to the very top and very bottom of the list for LOS. Furloughs will probably go behind active employees on the PID, there will be no bump and flush, and the biggest adjustment of all will come from the disparity of widebodies. It will probably be in the form of a seniority adjustment like Nicolau did, instead of a fence. But a small short fence may be included. This is all from my crystal ball and reading of the tea leaves. We'll see how close I am when it happens.
You guys got burned by over reaching and not coming up with any better ideas than DOH. I told you years ago that if you had taken NIC and made some adjustments for LOS and actual attrition from the left seat, dropped your demand to put furloughs ahead of active pilots on the PID, while there was still someone to represent the west, you would have had huge pay raises and better quality of life for years by now. What you really should have done was come up with ideas before arbitration. The path of destruction you chose since then is of your own doing. And you are reaping the fruit of what you've sewn now, with endless lawsuits by the company, the west, RICO suits, fist fights among yourselves, anger and attacks on anyone who dares challenge your way of thinking, LOA93 indefinitely, and a miserable existence. You've shown your true colors and no one will want to have anything to do with USAirways. Shine the apple all you want, there won't be any buyers outside of a bankruptcy deal, either for you or the acquiring airline.
Believe me, we are cleaning up our own merger, and you can reserve judgment until you see the final product later this year. If we screw it up and it results in a civil war, then I will be the first to admit it. But from what I am seeing it proceeding very methodically and patiently. And a vast majority of UA/CO pilots will be satisfied with the results and look to the future. Now if you would just clean up the mess you created, my friends on the west, and the majority of east pilots who are sick of USAPA and their lies and broken promises, can move forward with what time they have left in this career.
