Ornstein letter to UA VP of Operations- Mesa guys seen this?

[flyer172r]

I would agree with what he said about not having proper ground equipment at some of the stations. Trying to get an air start at IAD is a nightmare.

 

[islandhopper]

I know where he can find 5 airplanes to park quickly. This is getting good. I sure am glad I stuck around.

 

[mosyslack]

To everyone "singing the praises" of J.O. in this letter. His is a businessman and a relatively good one at going out and getting thins done, as far as more flying or upgrades in service for one of the carriers. HOWEVER...this comes at a cost to you, the employees! The mainline companies do not care what he does or what his operating philosophies are as long as they do not interfere with the business of flying planes and on-time/completion performance. He will go get the business, the new planes, new cities, and turn around and piss on the employee groups. It's business. It's time to stand up during the upcoming negotiations and force higher wages. It's business. Come on block or better, duty rigs, cancellation pay, a livable wage, etc... It's business!

Good luck guys and gals

 

[Exskydiverdrivr]

I was in ORD last week. We took the acft from another crew and tried to make our turn time. The deplaning pax had to wait an unfairly long amount of time for a UAL ramper to unload their gate checks. I was going to be a nice guy and help him unload, but he rudely pushed me away and said " don't touch those bags!" I said "people are waiting and I'm going to help get their stuff to them". Again "You can't touch those bags!-It's in our contract that only Ual agents handle these!"

WTF?so much for customer service. Waited 30 minutes for a contract "window cleaner" to come clean my windshields. F#$% ORD and UAL man - what a goat rope. ORD will henceforth be on my bid avoid PBS option.

 

[TAWS]

UA will ALWAYS sacrafice the slots of it's regionals, for the benefit of larger mainline jets. Delta and USAir do the same. Who gets thrown under the bus? Well, those that took the crappiest contract to get the most growth, whether it's mngt or labor - MESA guys on both sides of the line probably have the worst contract in the UAX system, therefor UA screws MESA first. MESA pilots accepted the crappiest contract of almost all the regionals - no block or better, therefor they get screwed and leave!

Whether you're mngt or labor, you reap what you sow! (BTW, at RAH we have some crappy canx clauses aswell, so we are not immune).

 

[Soverytired]

He signed that poorly written contract with United; now he's unhappy with what he agreed to and wants them to re-negotiate after the fact.

I'd feel for him, but he keeps throwing OUR poorly written contract in our face and telling us "you signed it, you live with it".

United is perfectly within its rights to slam that contract down his craw, and if it means the end of Mesa due to attrition, then it's our CEO's fault. That's why he gets the big bucks (4.5 million last year alone).

Unfortunate as it is for the Mesa pilots (because attrition is impacting us system wide), it's ultimately a good thing, because it's forced hundreds of pilots here to look for other options . . . and there are MANY other options. So instead of sucking it up and being miserable for 5 or 10 years at Mesa, they're leaving at year 1,2, or 3 and actually enjoying life at other places.

 

[Soverytired]

I was going to be a nice guy and help him unload, but he rudely pushed me away and said " don't touch those bags!" I said "people are waiting and I'm going to help get their stuff to them". Again "You can't touch those bags!-It's in our contract that only Ual agents handle these!"
.

If he laid one fat lazy finger on me, I'd call assault and have his butt arrested. Who are the airport police going to believe . . . a pilot, or a ramper?

I not kidding. This isn't high school, this is the workplace, and we're professionals, not thugs.

 

[Propsync]

Interesting. As much of a sucka that is JO, he really does understand his position. He's just going out of his way to make a point: United- fix your crap or you will lose more feed from us. He's got the leverage because the regional pilot market is pretty much tapped. It's not like TSA, Skywest, or CHQ can pick up any more flying. I'd bet he gets his way and when Mesa attrition slows (even though it probably is still a staggering number) he'll be rewarded with more flying, because he spoke up first.

 

[328dude]

I dont think that letters legit.

 

[Soverytired]

Purportedly 70 pilots have left Mesa this month alone.

I forget the exact numbers for the past couple of months, but more than fifty for March and 50 for April.

Wouldn't be bad if it were just captains, but it's about 1/2 and 1/2. Lot's of first officers have had enough after a year or two.

 

[labbats]

United dug its own hole hiring the cheapest feed. How many regional carriers go into ORD alone?

 

[Soverytired]

I dont think that letters legit.

Oh it is. I wound NEVER post an internal company memorandum on a public web board, but I will say something very much like this was distributed to the pilot group recently.

I guess it was distributed so the pilot group would understand the "operational challenges" facing the company in the United system.

Unfortunately, the company has been telling us for months that "attrition is not a problem", so the release of this memo pretty much blew company credibility out the window.

 

[kboy]

on the average 60 pilots have left Mesa every month (last 6). Andy "Signed" the contract, just to bolster the top 10 %. The new contract will take years, if MESA is still around, I HOPE NOT. If JO is worried about the UA, he better take a good look about his crap he pulled in HI. Talk about a train wreck, I would love to train wreck his daughter, she swallows

 

[A-V-8]

Its Frank Lorenzo all over again on a smaller scale (for now). Read your history.

J.O. was at Eastern when Frank liquidated it.

Mesa pilots are about to enter negotiations and the F.A.s are already in arbitration.

Smells like Eastern to me.

 

[Stifler's Mom]

He signed that poorly written contract with United; now he's unhappy with what he agreed to and wants them to re-negotiate after the fact.

I'd feel for him, but he keeps throwing OUR poorly written contract in our face and telling us "you signed it, you live with it".

United is perfectly within its rights to slam that contract down his craw, and if it means the end of Mesa due to attrition, then it's our CEO's fault. That's why he gets the big bucks (4.5 million last year alone).

I agree with your sentiments. Good luck with the contract. I'll be rooting for you guys. :beer: