AirTran cuts 175

[Sunking]

Of all the requested loa's approved, in the end it saved just two jobs.. Sad

 

[meanstreak]

This management team is going to spend a small fortune on training costs due to a lot of people swapping A/C. Nice going Bob.

 

[8v8tr]

SURE GLAD THE WPA SIGNED THE LOA 9!! SURE WAS A SAVIOR TO THE PILOT GROUP.

Actually 173 were furloughed and the original notice was 177, so 5 were saved.

So all the zero time lines, LLOA, LOA saved 5 people!!! What a Joke

FYI: WPA (worthless pilots association)

 

[Sunking]

I hope this is not true, but heard it thru the vine that 50 LOA's were submitted, only 12 approved.

 

[Minimaniac]

But at least those instructor pilots kept their jobs! (sarcasm)

 

[asaflyer]

I am already going to have my letter prepared to turn in when, not if, I get extended at the end of a trip. All it needs to say is, due to family obligations I can not except this extension. It just goes in your file and collects dust. As a matter of fact it would probably be a good idea to have a form letter in ops. so we could just grab it and fill in the blanks and turn it in. Sorry but this management team has lost my respect and I'm not sure how or what they could do to get it back. Next thing they'll do is sue us to pick up opentime. I gotta go now before i break my laptop. I'm still not for the MEMRAT though. Sorry.

 

[funnyman12]

What I can't believe is that we had 17 LOA's approved (2 were guys whom were already in the 177). So my crazy math is 177-15 = 162. So in essence they actually cut 192 pilots. Unfreakin' believable!

 

[Yuppyguppy]

But at least those instructor pilots kept their jobs! (sarcasm)

glad to see the scabs kept their jobs...what a bunch of ********************

 

[scarlet]

Tell us all genius what any labor group would do? Call CAL and ask those 500 people that got a letter=what did ALPA do=NOTHING

Call ASA where displacements are taking place=ALPA stoping that=NO

Call UAL=ALPA=NO

SOON DAL/NWA=ALPA=NOTHING

Tell us what you would do if you were the president of the union?

 

[FlyWolf]

All the best guys, believe it or not, we (Midwest guys) wish you nothing but the best because we are all pilots and in this mess together.

 

[njcapt]

Tell us all genius what any labor group would do? Call CAL and ask those 500 people that got a letter=what did ALPA do=NOTHING

Call ASA where displacements are taking place=ALPA stoping that=NO

Call UAL=ALPA=NO

SOON DAL/NWA=ALPA=NOTHING

Tell us what you would do if you were the president of the union?

CALPA didn't buy into a bunch of management fear-mongering and concede a key job protection element of their contract, dip-sh!t. Furloughs were going to happen at AirTran if management wanted them, so if they fired the probies during mediated negotiations they would have to reclassify them as furloughed when the NMB dust settled... and flush the retread S-words out of the training department. The company got exactly what they wanted and the pilot group got dick. Again.

NPA, ALPA, IBT, it doesn't matter what initials are on the door of the Union office if the same weakened 'leaders' are running the show. Given the composition of the AirTran pilot group I wouldn't expect any significant improvements, however. I thought that there was reason for hope when Mike Best took over just after I left, but he's having a real hard time making chicken salad out of chicken sh!t.

I'm so disgusted with the company appeasers, you for example, that I could spit. I had the honor to work at several airlines with truly unified pilot groups. Pick up open time with guys on the street or during mediated negotiations? No way. Taking a strike vote? Hells yeah, 97% enough? The company want relief from the contract for some reason? Sure, we're willing to talk - here's our lengthy list of things we want in return. No? OK, we're comfortable with the agreement as written.

To answer your moronic question, Captain Best should have held the line (finally) and told the company that the NPA was happy with the contract language contained in the contract. It would have been the first time in years that the NPA told the company to honor the agreement they signed instead of offering to tickle their balls while they sodomized us. I really have a lot of respect for the AirTran pilots but there are enough freelancing, company-oriented, Kolski KoolAid drinkers there to make true progress impossible. Especially with 170+ of the junior guys soon to hit the street.

Oh. Hi, Mr. Kolski. I thought I smelled sulphur.

 

[Muppets]

Bottom Line........NO OPEN TIME PICKUP!!!!!! If you pick up open time the boogey man will visit you in your sleep! NO OPEN TIME PICKUP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CoolSidePillow]

I have worked with some cool people here and I have met cool people. There are people like that everywhere, however, fact is fact and Airtran is a 2nd tier company. It may be better than it was but it is still a low on the pecking order. They are not a legacy-like major and the pay is insulting compared to Southwest. Atlanta is the main hub and it is a ghetto airport. The passengers are ghetto. A lot of the F/As are ghetto. A lot of the rest of the employees are from Ga. (nuff said on that). A lot of the Captains are people that were hired before it was a place people tried to go but instead they could not get hired anywhere else. That is the truth. I have flown with many guys who have admitted that Airtran/Valuejet was the company that offered the job. There is no way that a majority of people that were hired in the 7+ year ago range picked this over a legacy. They upgraded in a rather short time and make a good living. I have had people tell me that they know that they will NEVER make this kind of money again if Airtran went away. So they will talk the talk but they will not walk the walk when time comes and that is a major reason why the pilot group lacks the cajones. A good amount of people still live in Atlanta or the southeast region and they are making good money, in their 30s and 40s, are above reserve levels, and have workable schedules. They will pick up open time, agree to management abuse, and accept this white trash/ghetto airline style because they have a lot to lose. Most pilots cannot do anything else. It is called a white collar job but really it is a blue collar task that wear a white shirt. It is more like a gray collar job. This is a self-loving, self-serving, "all about me" society. This is what we know. I do not blame people for being the way they are but it is what it is. This country has not been united since the Boston Tea Party.

 

[Clyde Frog]

. So they will talk the talk but they will not walk the walk when time comes and that is a major reason why the pilot group lacks the cajones. .

This is exactly the root cause of all the NPA's problems.

Without a willingness to make the necessary sacrifices, expect more crap LOA's and TA's.

 

[Hamburger]

Call UAL=ALPA=NO

Sounds like they've made some progress.

http://forums.flightinfo.comshowthread.php?t=115338