AStar TA!!!

[fozzie]

Congrats

Congrats Astar Pilots.

 

[FreightBumper]

The details we know are extremely sketchy and often half right at best because we don't know the whole story. Our MEC and Negotiating Comm. will be working on putting together a road show to present the TA to the group some time next week.

FWIW, is it a good deal? Yes. Is it a great deal? No. It's a contract between two sides wanting to get the best for each other. That means some good, some bad, and a zillion ways to get hosed if we're not careful.


P.S.
Thanks to you and other ABXA crew that have posted congratulatory salutations here. So much nicer than the vitriol being spewed over on the Yahoo board. If any of you guys know who "ABX767ABX" is over there, you should report him/her to your Professional Standards people. That person is not representing your group very well.

FAJ

Add my congrats for your new TA. I agree that ABX767ABX is a complete waste of the air he breathes. But we also have folks on that board that misrepresent who they are and what they do. It wouldn't surprise me if that was someone in a management position that stands to gain if Astar And ABX are at each others throats. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[erichartmann]

Ladies & Gentlemen, since you have a tentative agreement, let me offer my tentative congratulations.

 

[AV8OR]

Ladies & Gentlemen, since you have a tentative agreement, let me offer my tentative congratulations.

Thank you there EH. Seriously. I know it can be hard to read sincerity on here. Best of luck to you guys.

 

[hvydriver]

Ladies & Gentlemen, since you have a tentative agreement, let me offer my tentative congratulations.

And you have my tentative thank you, Eric.

 

[HeavyjetDC8]

I'll sincerely add my congratulations to the chorus although the whole sorry process demonstrates how contracts are delivered or not delivered upon a timetable determined solely by management and not before.

We pilots by virtue of the RLA are rendered as being little cogs in a big machine with limited effective influence. I very much doubt if Astar's success in achieving a TA will put any pressure upon ABX management to expeditiously sort things out with 1224.

 

[erichartmann]

And you have my tentative thank you, Eric.

Thank you there EH. Seriously. I know it can be hard to read sincerity on here. Best of luck to you guys.

T/A's have been known to fail. I do not wish that on you and I was/am reluctant to offer congrats until it's a done deal.

 

[hvydriver]

I understand where you're coming from on that Eric. And this one could, though I don't think it will. There are going to have to be some "gotchas" in there that I don't see yet to make it a no. I'm going to wait for the road shows before I'm certain.

 

[Fly Astar Jets]

We pilots by virtue of the RLA are rendered as being little cogs in a big machine with limited effective influence. I very much doubt if Astar's success in achieving a TA will put any pressure upon ABX management to expeditiously sort things out with 1224.

HJDC8,
You nailed it. The RLA is completely outdated. When they deregulated the industry in '78, that a$$hole Alfred Khan conveniently failed to mention anything about fixing the RLA to be more in line with a semi non-regulated airline industry.

If ALPA, Teamsters, IPA, APA and any other pilot union had any sense, this is where they should be putting their PAC money to work fixing.

FAJ

 

[MJH767]

Congrats and sincere Best Wishes! You guys have been through a lot, and deserve a decent contract and raise.

 

[shooter]

P.S.
Thanks to you and other ABXA crew that have posted congratulatory salutations here. So much nicer than the vitriol being spewed over on the Yahoo board. If any of you guys know who "ABX767ABX" is over there, you should report him/her to your Professional Standards people. That person is not representing your group very well.

FAJ

Why do you guys even go over there and give him fodder. He is a jerk and so are many of you guys and what you post over there. I doubt anyone from either side can be proud of their bunch. You all are feeding off of each other like sharks in a feeding frenzy. You all should hold you heads in shame, and you know who you are.

 

[nitefr8dog]

I understand where you're coming from on that Eric. And this one could, though I don't think it will. There are going to have to be some "gotchas" in there that I don't see yet to make it a no. I'm going to wait for the road shows before I'm certain.

We voted our TA down close to 100%, one reason was a signing bonus instead of full retro watch out so you don't pay for it the rest of your career!

 

[erichartmann]

We voted our TA down close to 100%, one reason was a signing bonus instead of full retro watch out so you don't pay for it the rest of your career!

If they (Astar) accept a signing bonus that will no doubt make things harder for us. OTOH, it is not our place to tell them how to vote. Contract negotiations are a process of arriving at a compromise acceptable to the parties involved. We don't know what else they got that, from their POV, might make a signing bonus acceptable.

Apparently, in addition to pay raises, they got assurances on their scope language or new language that made them comfortable enough to drop their scope litgation. I don't know what this entails, or how it will affect ABX.

DHL may have agreed to hear the grievance, which is what the Astar pilots claim to have wanted. With DHL now owning 49% of Astar they may see the scope grieveance as a slam dunk in their favor. DHL may have agreed to settle the grievance. We don't know. It apparently means an end to any threat of furloughs and recall of any furloughed crewmembers for starters. They also appear to have assurances of additional aircraft, and a possible refleet.

Again, what this means for ABX is not clear. Unless DHL plans to return to pre 2003 levels of service, ABX will probably still have some DHL flying. How much? I don't know. DHL may cancel most or all of the DC-9 runs, leaving us with just the 767's. DHL might also terminate ABX's ACMI and we may find ourselves subcontracted to Astar, although since Astar is a part of the "DHL family" again, this doesn't really make any sense. There may be a renewed offer for a buyout, or an asset sale.

There are other possibilities or permutations of the above. Joe may keep all of the 767SF's and sell the the 767PC's to DHL. It is worth noting that the 12 767SF's that have been purchased from Delta and the lone ex American 767SF are being outfitted with satellite communcations. None of the DHL dedicated aircraft are being so equipped. This may be because DHL doesn't want to pay for or see the need for the upgrade. Joe might use any money realized from the sale of the 767PCs to DHL to purchase more 767's for conversion to SF's and charter. He might sell some of the 767PCs to DHL and use the money to convert the remaining PCs to SFs.

We simply don't know.

 

[hvydriver]

> It is worth noting that the 12 767SF's that have been purchased from Delta and the lone ex American 767SF are being outfitted with satellite communcations.<

It's my understanding that the JCAB won't allow any more ABX 767's to operate beyond the 2 that are there until they get satcoms. Perhaps that is related to additional ANA operations?

 

[erichartmann]

> It is worth noting that the 12 767SF's that have been purchased from Delta and the lone ex American 767SF are being outfitted with satellite communcations.<

It's my understanding that the JCAB won't allow any more ABX 767's to operate beyond the 2 that are there until they get satcoms. Perhaps that is related to additional ANA operations?

That may be all it is. We are supposed to increase the fleet under ANA charter to 5 later this year. Still, even allowing for a spare or two, we are still outfitting more than currently needed. Economy of scale may be a factor. Hete may believe he will need all of the 767SF's so equipped in the future and it may be cheaper per unit to do them all now.