Trojan and Enuff:
We can't really do anything. The NMB has to authorize any job action. In the mean time we are professional pilots.
Jerry Atkin and Delta hold the cards and have succeeded in improving their hand as time has passed. Could they replace ASA at the rate of 4 or 5 airplanes a month? Clearly the answer is yes and in fact if you look at ASA's history as a percentage of DCI flying they have replaced ASA at a rate of 4 or 5 airplanes a month.
I keep looking for some objective sign which would indicate ASA has a future. It would seem management would want to offer a carrot to get the contract done, as they did with our 700's and 900's that ultimately went to SkyWest. But we were told that when those opportunities were gone they would be lost, forever.
Look at the reconstruction of ASA's GO. The people who had a career invested in ASA are gone - replaced by people who's interest in ASA is, dare I say, temporary.
My guess is that Jerry Atkin was in horse trading mode when he offered those airplanes and he wanted ASA pilots to "invest" in their growth. I think both Mr. Atkin and ALPA failed to fully appreciate how the other operates. ALPA moves extreemly slowly and carefully. ALPA is a political entity which above all seems to value conservative groupthink. Jerry Atkin is much more of a mover and shaker who tells you how he sees it and moves on to the next opportunity, quickly, as is necessary in the tough business of running an airline. Mr. Atkin probably could have won that round by working the crew lounge and giving honest forward looking briefings about his plans, but his plan B was already ready and he candidly did not have to spend his time concerned about the opinions of ASA pilots & their representatives at the bargaining table.
SkyWest management has failed to "establish a crew environment" by "crew briefings." From a CRM perspective, SkyWest's management of ASA's pilots simply could not be worse. However, Mr. Atkin is a smart guy. My best guess for the lack of a briefing is that either he is not entirely sure what Delta's plans for ASA are, or (and most likely) the plan has not changed since he was in our crew lounge. That plan was for ASA to undercut his SkyWest pilots and get their airplanes, or if the ASA pilots stood firm to transfer ASA's airplanes to SkyWest. Why brief your crew if your plan is to end their employment and you already have a cheaper replacement lined up?
Just like the senior management at United told the reporters for Dateline - "If the employees knew that was the plan they would have all quit. We were not ready for that yet." At any rate, that is my theory and I'm planning my life on the assumption that ASA pilots may not be here in the long term. I know it a pessimistic view and I hope it isn't true, but we are pilots and have to plan for contingencies.
It truly, truly, sucks. I did not come to ASA as a stepping stone, but like the guys who worked at the other "best regional airline" ACA/Indy most of us will find better jobs even if we don't really want to. Heck, heard Gary Hall got a great job with Virgin - big pay, relocation pacakge, the works. Good for him.
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