Oh, I thought none of the west pilots wanted to come east....that was their story for so long. Now, you're coming. OK. Wow, great.
BC;
I you will look back 1.5 years or so, we all had this discussion. There are about 150 to 200 west pilots that live on the east coast OR can commute to the east coast with as much ease as we can to PHX or LAS. By the same token, there are many east pilots (100 or better?) that live closer to the PHX and LAS bases and would avail themselves of the shorter commute.
How many contracts have any of you guys seen negotiated? Because it cracks me up how you all think if not for our E vs W fight, then there would surely be a contract in place. Do any of you pay attention to how long other airlines, even those represented by the mighty and beloved ALPA, go past their amendable dates before getting a contract? My guess is that you do, but it's just so convenient to act like the fight over your potential windfall is the only reason we don't have one. Did it ever occur to you that Parker and the boys have no intention of negotiating in good faith until the NMB forces them to? Why should we expect that they would behave any differently than any other airline? Our fight has nothing to do with it; they are using it as an excuse, because it suits them, and it causes even more hatred between the groups, but you're delusional if you think that a contract would be in place without all this fighting.
Well brother, we had one contract proposal that was offered by Scott Kirby (and that was his offer, and that was when times were "good"). It was essentially the AWA contract with a couple of scheduling improvements and about 3% $$ for the west crew. If we would had said yes and put it to a vote, it would have been DONE. I believe that would translate to an increase of $40 to $60 K in wages and time off for the east (minimum). Had the East MEC remained at the negotiation table, there is no telling how much more we may have negotiated in that contract offer.
I am trying very hard to not pin my hopes on what Judge Wake and the jury plan on should the AWA group win this lawsuit.
I know that many east pilots have stated that they will NEVER vote in a contract that includes the Nicolau. What if the AWA pilots win and the Judge take that wind out of your sails? The list and direction that the courts can do for remedy is far and varied.
I'm on reserve in April and plan on attending some of the sessions. We will all see where this will take us. In my previous post I just mentioned that it was a shame and had all parties abided by the agreements, we would not have gone down this road. By these actions "we" have easily eclipsed the Northwest / Republic acrimonious merger.