The Kirby proposal is unacceptable. My comment about parity was in response the poster complaining about the West not supporting East parity.
The West should not support and the company should offer pay parity because it removes pressure for the East to get to a joint contract.
We deserve as an absolute minimum the Jetblue contract. I would be happy to get the Spirit contract.
Thank you for the favorable comments. I apologize for the personal attacks I've made against you on this board. I disagree with much of what you say but I'm wrong to make it personal.
How credible is a USAPA strike threat when one third is suing the rest of the group for failure of DFR?
Thanks for the reply and apology. I'm glad to hear you say that the Kirby is unacceptable, I couldn't get an answer from certain west posters, they just take off for the weeds. You do accept that the Kirby is the best we have actually seen from the company, don't you? The F/As, without a seniority fight, haven't seen much better.
I have to disagree with you on several things, but maybe if the whole merger was done differently we would have all had fewer disagreements.
I think
pay parity should have happened the day the merger closed. Surely we have learned over the years that paying people two different rates for doing the same work is destructive. There were plenty of other things in our contract that would have brought the east pilots to the table, with vacation being the main one. As we have seen, with the lack of a contract being available as a veto to an unfavorable seniority award, it doesn't matter how big the pay difference is, it won't bring the pilots to the table. The pay disparity between east and west has been damaged our customer service. Yeah Doug can point to our great numbers, but on any given day you might have the best flight on us, or the worst. It also has other implications, which I believe a recent survey correctly highlighted. I see these things every time I go to work, and as someone who grew up with a PI idea of customer service, I hate it. Parity on day one would have made it a cost of the merger, now it will be a cost to the west pilots.
When you say jetBlue or Spirit contract, do you mean rates or the whole contract? I really don't know enough to compare, but have heard they both have some substandard sections. I believe we deserve, at a
minimum an industry average contract. Doug is correct that we don't have the revenue capability of UA or DL, but he ignores the revenue advantage we have over other airlines. It is the reason he gives for not trying to copy SW, right? They have managed to pass along the fuel costs this year, if labor is priced the same as other airlines, why can't they pass that along? Why does the burden rest on our shoulders? He is managing our expectations at every crew news, and every State of the Airline.
A conventional strike at US Airways today is impossible, IMHO. USAPA does not have full support of enough of the east pilots, and none of the west. Whether they can be effective with CHAOS, or using the Teamsters, I have no idea. I think we are a long way from finding out. The east and west pilots have made their decisions, and for near(long?) future we will toil under LOA 93 and have better attrition in a few years and the west will live with their rates and almost no movement. Hopefully we will put the question of LOA 93 pay thaw to bed soon, so that won't be driving anyone's actions. Perhaps when that is done there will be a CBA vote, and we can really see how everyone feels. If ALPA comes back I will try to work with them as I have tried with USAPA.
Doug and the boys have shown the world how not to do a merger, and I think, how not to run an airline. They chase the numbers and if they come out OK, the airline is great. They don't see the everyday issues our customers and employees deal with, and they have no idea of how great this airline could really be.
I wish I could read Doug's mind. Does he go to bed every night thanking God that he dumped this great money saving pilot fight in his lap? He has taken full advantage of it, and plenty of people on both sides(whether the west and east non-members admit it or not) have given him the rope to hang us with.