When Is The Iam Going To Appeal?

[700UW]

Its sad some of you dont direct this anger at the right people..... Our real enemy Southwest jet blue and others.

Southwest or Jetblue did not violate my contract and try to send my work to a vendor after lying to me in a captive audience meeting telling us to vote for this contract the second time to protect our scope language and we would overhaul the airbus in Tampa, Southwest did not act like stormtroopers and march into the Tampa hangar at 3am right before thanksgiving and shut it down and lay off over 300 people!

But Dave and Jerry did!

 

[Facts?]

Stormed in at 3am? Sounds a little melodramatic. I've been watching this board for a long time and think the time may be to stop coming here. Too much of the same whining and misinformation being spread. Forums are a great opportunity to communicate things that are going on and give some behind the scenes views of what it takes to make an airline run.

Every thread seems to take on the same tone of what the company has done to destroy people and yadda yadda yadda. Interesting that the same people tend to make the same comments and go back and forth between issues. Good thing there is still such as thing as the silent majority.

For those insightful regulars on this forum that stick to facts and well thought out posts I say kudo's, your efforts are sometimes appreciated. Too bad your thought line gets muddied by those that can't seem to move forward.

 

[756pro]

Stormed in at 3am? Sounds a little melodramatic. I've been watching this board for a long time and think the time may be to stop coming here. Too much of the same whining and misinformation being spread. Forums are a great opportunity to communicate things that are going on and give some behind the scenes views of what it takes to make an airline run.

Every thread seems to take on the same tone of what the company has done to destroy people and yadda yadda yadda. Interesting that the same people tend to make the same comments and go back and forth between issues. Good thing there is still such as thing as the silent majority.

For those insightful regulars on this forum that stick to facts and well thought out posts I say kudo's, your efforts are sometimes appreciated. Too bad your thought line gets muddied by those that can't seem to move forward.

What he is saying is very true and not his imagination.

It might be hard to believe but that doesn't make it a lie!

 

[700UW]

Stormed in at 3am? Sounds a little melodramatic. I've been watching this board for a long time and think the time may be to stop coming here. Too much of the same whining and misinformation being spread. Forums are a great opportunity to communicate things that are going on and give some behind the scenes views of what it takes to make an airline run.

Every thread seems to take on the same tone of what the company has done to destroy people and yadda yadda yadda. Interesting that the same people tend to make the same comments and go back and forth between issues. Good thing there is still such as thing as the silent majority.

For those insightful regulars on this forum that stick to facts and well thought out posts I say kudo's, your efforts are sometimes appreciated. Too bad your thought line gets muddied by those that can't seem to move forward.

If you don't believe me ask any of the posters that use to work in Tampa.

Article

TAMPA -- US Airways abruptly shut down its aircraft maintenance hangar at Tampa International Airport on Tuesday, eliminating the jobs of about 300 well-paid mechanics and related workers.

The airline said it was forced to make the cuts, part of a wider furlough of some 2,500 employees, to survive a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization amid the industry's worst-ever financial slump.

"The challenges we face are certainly not going away," spokesman David Castelveter said.

"With the prospect of war with Iraq and higher fuel prices, and for us to complete a successful reorganization, we need to do this and do it now."

US Airways managers broke the news to night-shift workers during their 3 a.m. break. The layoffs were particularly galling, mechanics said, because they came right before Thanksgiving and US Airways chief executive David Siegel had pledged to keep the hangar open.

"Enough is enough," said Jeff Catlin of Tampa, a 24-year US Airways veteran who decided not to pursue a job at another of the airline's cities or stay past Monday to help close the hangar. "They already ripped out my heart. Why stay around to let them step on it?"

US Airways will shift the heavy maintenance of single-aisle Airbus jets to larger repair stations at its hubs in Pittsburgh and Charlotte, N.C.

Tampa International will try to recruit another airline, most likely Delta Air Lines or Southwest Airlines, to take over the 10-year-old hangar, said Louis Miller, the airport's executive director.

In the meantime, the closing will have a big impact on the local economy, he said. The average salary at the hangar was about $50,000, Miller said, for a total annual payroll in the neighborhood of $15-million.

"The Chamber of Commerce is happy when someone comes with 400 jobs with an average salary of $20,000," he said. "That's nothing like losing this, with an average salary of $50,000."

US Airways will close one other facility: a reservations center in Orlando with 331 workers. The remaining layoffs will be spread among the ranks of flight attendants, airport customer service workers and mechanics over the next three months.

All major hub-and-spoke carriers are laying off workers and struggling financially as fewer people are flying and business travelers increasingly refuse to buy full-fare tickets, said Siegel, who took over the reins at US Airways in March.

"Every mature network airline is struggling with how to adapt," he said in a prepared statement. "Cost-cutting and furloughs are an unfortunate and painful part of that process ... we must take these actions to ensure our successful restructuring."

The nation's No. 7 carrier and third-largest at Tampa International, US Airways was particularly hard hit when air travel plummeted after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and failed to fully recover.

The airline has traditionally been saddled with the industry's highest costs because of big labor expenses and its reliance on short-haul routes along the East Coast.

US Airways lost about $2-billion in 2001 and $852-million for the first nine months of this year. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the airline has cut 14,000 jobs -- nearly 29 percent of its workforce.

As part of its application for a $900-million federal loan guarantee, the carrier negotiated about $1.2-billion in annual cost savings from employees, suppliers and aircraft lessors over 61/2 years.

But citing a continued revenue slump, US Airways told creditors last month that it needed to cut expenses by an additional $400-million a year to get the loan guarantee.

Besides cutting more jobs, the airline said executives would meet with unions to negotiate further reductions in benefits and changes in work rules to increase productivity.

The airline's flight attendants' union responded Tuesday that it wouldn't agree to more concessions unless US Airways managers also took deeper cuts in pay and benefits.

"American workers can't continue ... to prop up failing executives," said Perry Hayes, president of the airline's chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants. "Those executives need to share the pain at US Airways if this airline is going to survive."

Rather than fight, many US Airways mechanics in Tampa were ready to throw in the towel Tuesday. Those with the most seniority will be able to get jobs repairing jets at the airline's terminal in Tampa or move to other US Airways cities.

But mechanics like Carlos Deloucas, a 14-year employee who transferred from North Carolina four years ago, weren't ready to move again.

"I cannot leave my family," said Deloucas, 45, who has two children ages 17 and 13 and doesn't know how he will afford to put them through college. "And another move is going to be devastating for them. It's not worth it."

As Kurt Schnell, 46, of Tampa arrived at work at 5:20 a.m., another employee told him not to waste his time bringing his backpack inside.

Management gathered employees in the break room and told them the news. Men grabbed their tools and left. Their faces wore grimaces and their shoulders were tense.

One worker cursed that the layoffs came at Thanksgiving, and Deloucas just shook his head and threw his hands up in the air.

-Staff writer Tamara Lush and researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3384.



IS THAT FACT ENOUGH FOR YOU?

 

[A320 Driver]

Were you in the room when the IAM leadership presented the options of how to do the work inhouse like our contract reads? Gave the company specifics of how WE can do it better and more efficent.

I apologize. If what you say is true, then I was misinformed. All I read on here is the usual chestbeating and I know in my heart that won't get it done. If IAM tried the other methods I mentioned, then my hat's off to them. I am not nor have I ever been in favor of anyone touching our A/C except our people.

Personally, I'm sitting here...been sick with the flu for a week contemplating a sick call that will cost me well over $1000 on my March paycheck. I have 1000 hours of sick leave that bring me NO peace of mind. It's not been a good week.

My apologies to all I might have offended this morning.


A320 Driver

 

[Harry Callahan]

A320 driver, thank you very much & I hope you are doing better. 700uw said it much better than I ever could. But I know the IAM has showed them how we can do the work in house & company just blew us off.

 

[700UW]

Were you in the room when the IAM leadership presented the options of how to do the work inhouse like our contract reads? Gave the company specifics of how WE can do it better and more efficent.

I apologize. If what you say is true, then I was misinformed. All I read on here is the usual chestbeating and I know in my heart that won't get it done. If IAM tried the other methods I mentioned, then my hat's off to them. I am not nor have I ever been in favor of anyone touching our A/C except our people.

Personally, I'm sitting here...been sick with the flu for a week contemplating a sick call that will cost me well over $1000 on my March paycheck. I have 1000 hours of sick leave that bring me NO peace of mind. It's not been a good week.

My apologies to all I might have offended this morning.


A320 Driver

No offense taken, but I don't lie and I try to get the correct information out and when I am wrong, I am man enough to admit it.

But I know for a FACT of when, where, who and what the IAM gave to the company to show them how we could perform the work inhouse, better and more efficent.

We have overhauled every single airplane we have flown for over 54 years.

I saw what was done to 700 and it was shoddy work.

 

[Smartest Loser]

Then do the work.

A320 Driver B)

Driver,

I have DONE THE WORK....!! Major & Minor....

They just refuse to allow us to keep it....that is the issue.

SL

 

[BabyBus]

I am happy to see that this question generated such responses. True the market place seems to be driving decisions. What can be done to beat the competition? I beleive that creating competative units on the tracks would be more productive and please get rid of those time clocks. Let the guys run the show, this includes the Leads and Supervisors. Give the guys a chance to prove that they are some of the best. Have the planners and techs work together to establish the track schedule, modify this schedule of activity from lessons learned and kick butt.
Enough for now....I'll be back with another poll soon. Thanks for the responses.

 

[javaboy]

How is your pension? I still have mine!

Lets outsource all Airbus flying to Mesa so we can get rid of the highest labor costs this company has.

that shows 0 class.

 

[insp89]

You'd better talk to the "Clowns" because if by some stroke of luck it goes their way you will ALL be out in the cold. The mafia approach is best. I keep my friends close and my enemies closer.

Come on Bob, I'm sure you know it will go to binding arbitration if the corporate crooks manage to win this next appeal. All out in the cold ? Hardly.

 

[BabyBus]

I think senior management may not know what is really going on at floor level. It would only take coming out of the box and talking with the ladies and gentlemen not only as a group but also individually. The ideas are here man, use them...

 

[linemech]

Then do the work. Do it better, faster and more effeciently than the outsource facility. Get off your high horse and figure out how to compete instead of beat your chest.

A320 Driver B)

A320 Driver,

The IAM has shown the company that in house mechanics can do the work faster and more effeciently than any outsource facility, not only in heavy maintenance, but in other areas as well.

Even when challenged by management to come up with a plan FOR THEM, and proving the numbers to them, they have continually ignored any IAM plan that would keep work in house, even at at savings with quicker turn time.

You seem to be very ill informed in the matter. Even when given information on this subject in this forum you continue the same rantings.

Could it be that you do not really wish to know the facts ? Instead choosing to lash out at the mechanic group for trying to defend the work that belongs to them.

I have to ask you the same question others have, Would you have this same attitude if Dave decided that a Mesa pilot could do your job and you are no longer needed ? Not just you alone, almost your entire work group !

 

[pitmech]

Stormed in at 3am? Sounds a little melodramatic. I've been watching this board for a long time and think the time may be to stop coming here. Too much of the same whining and misinformation being spread. Forums are a great opportunity to communicate things that are going on and give some behind the scenes views of what it takes to make an airline run.

If you don't believe me ask any of the posters that use to work in Tampa.

I can vouch for the middle of the night shut down of the hangar in Tampa. I worked there about 2 years so I've got friends there. At about 11:30 that night I got a call from Tampa saying something was going on. The shift typically started with a breakdown of the night's work in each track by management. We'd get our "word of the day" from John and off we'd go to our tracks to get our work assignments. (The word of the day was just a quick uplifting motivational quote. No one would leave the break room on the nights John worked until he gave us the word of the day.) On the night of shutdown everyone was herded into the breakroom and told they could not leave the breakroom. I forget the exact times about everything now, but sometime between 2am-3am they pushed the last aircraft out of the hangar and closed the doors and sent everyone home.

 

[BoeingBoy]

At the risk of dragging this back to the outsourcing issue.....

The NTSB is making recommendations about repair stations. This is in response to a small airplane accident, but the message is the same.

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NTSB Wants Limits on Who Can Open a Repair Station
The FAA should tighten its regulations to prevent individuals who have been associated with a previously revoked FAR Part 145 repair station certificate from operating a new repair station under a different name in another FAA region, according to an NTSB recommendation. The recommendation stems from a fatal accident in January 2003 when a Beech 95 Travelair lost control and crashed shortly after takeoff when a propeller blade separated from the right engine. All four blades from the accident airplane, as well as two additional blades from another airplane, were found to have been improperly overhauled by T&W Propellers. The Safety Board found that the owner of T&W had also been the chief inspector at another repair station that had its certificate revoked in June 1998. Currently, individuals who voluntarily leave a repair station while it is in the process of having its certificate revoked may apply for a new certificate to start a new repair station. In the same vein, the NTSB recommended that an investigation of the problems associated with a repair station that would have resulted in certificate revocation be continued even if the principals chose to go out of business before actual revocation.
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Of course, we all know that anything the FAA oversees has to be top-notch. (Wink, wink, nod, nod)

Jim