Do you think we are going to get a TA that prevents furloughs? I just don't see how voting no for is going to get something positive for you. quote]
To answer your question, IMO, the guys/gals who are at risk of being furloughed have a better shot staying employed under the current contract than the TA. I say this because of the scheduling section in the TA. Just look how efficient the company will be with this TA, with the ability to pick up 5 hours over the monthly max and limitless VSA. Don't think for a second that many of the greedy geezers won't sell out the young to fatten their pockets. Under the new contract, people will feel less guilty for flying extra or VSAing now that they have a new contract. Just look at what's going on now with people building their lines up to 85 hours in step trading. Very few have stuck with flying 75-78 hour lines. Do you think for a minute that people are going to drop down to 75 hours since we got the misley 11-16% pay raise. You watch, greed will take over and they will fly 85-90 hours; it's human nature. They will justify that it's okay since they now have to make up for the past losses. So, let's do the math. If 50 percent of our pilots (roughly 650 pilots) decide to fly 90 hours every month,that is 3,250 hours each month. Assuming an average line is worth 80 hours, that is 40 less pilots. Mind you, these are very conservative figures; this is not counting VSAers, vacation and training hour fallouts. I know this is very rough math, but you can't argue the fact that the company is gaining efficiency. You can also look at it as flexibility in scheduling, benfitting the pilots, but have you thought about this? If the company truly cared for this "flexibility", why did they not offer us the ability to drop down to say, 40 hours a month?
You ask, how will voting this TA down get us something better? It may or it may not happen. I can't say, but I believe we have a very good shot. You've mentioned the time value money. You are absolutely right... we probably won't see that time value money made up if we were to reject this TA, atleast not in the term of this contract. The way I see it, if we accept this TA, we are setting a very bad precedence for our future negotiations. Why? Because of the Retro Pay/signing bonus figure. We would have essentially given up our leverage with the company because we already showed them that we'll bend over once again. You think the last 2 years seemed long? Need I explain more on this subject of retro pay?
We are trading away so much for the misley pay and slap in the face signing bonus just for a short term gain. The writing is on the wall; open your eyes and see for yourself. Can you say STAGNATION for junior captains and FOs? So, you think that the mediator and the company will want us to be parked if we turn this TA down? Want and business are two different things. That's the million dollar question? Has the MEC said that this is what is definitely going to happen? If so, is it their opnion or something out of the NMB legal manual? Would it benefit the company to park us when they are looking at complete stability with all of the labor groups? Will it not benefit them more than us to settle quickly? If you think for one minute that B.T. and B.A. care for your well being and that is why they came to the table willing to settle, think again. I don't know how much airline experience you have. For me, this is my first airline after leaving active duty. I had a hard time swallowing the pill that ALPA fed me. I couldn't believe the animosity between ALPA and the company. Over the years, I've witnessed the brutality of this company. Trust me, they don't give a ratt's a$$ about you and me. They will bend you over and take what they can in a nano second. It's all about $$$ in their pocket. Though I have some hope in B.T., I would approach that subject with extreme caution and a 10 foot pole.
I love our MEC and I appreciate all they've done. In the end, it's business and professionalism that matters. One fatal mistake was to approach the company with a low payscale. If you don't believe me, ask them yourself. It's a done deal and water under the bridge, but we still have the chance to make it right. Just because we vote this TA down doesn't mean that we are "dissing" the NC/MEC. It just means, go back to the table and fix it. If anyone has to use fear and sugar coat to sell this TA, we owe it to ourselves and to our furloughed brothers and sisters to ask WHY. It's not who wins or who loses; it's about doing the RIGHT THING, no matter how difficult and narrow the road may be.
I'm tired of typing. I don't think I have ever typed so much on flightinfo.com. General Lee would be proud. I think this will be my last post until the vote results are out. God be with us all.
