SWAPA Info packet FEDEXed to all AirTran Pilots

[On Your Six]

Great, did you happen to ask them why they are trying to piss us off by chance?

Maybe this will help more of your guys see that SWAPA wants you to thank THEM for the merger, when in fact GK facilitated this merger. You have got to watch yourself with this. It doesn't sound like SWAPA will ever be happy, so just push for arbitration, get a fair slot, stick around ATL with a higher SWA wage, and be happy. Feel the LUV, baby!


OYS

 

[Muppets]

* insert sounds of crickets chirping instead of expected laughter[/Q

tongue in cheek.....bro.

 

[shootr]

I read it, puked all over it, then set it on fire and urinated on it.

Nice try. My MC speaks for me.

Dudes! This is NOT the guy you want talking for you. You're not playing this thing right. Take it or leave it.

 

[Clyde Frog]

Dudes! This is NOT the guy you want talking for you. You're not playing this thing right. Take it or leave it.

Since when did I become the voice of every AirTran pilot? That's the job of our MC.

 

[Dolce]

CF,

Why don't you quit now before you ever set foot on property at SWA! Obviously you feel so little about the company you will be working for and little regard for the union who will be representing you in the near future. Go to DAL...they're ALPA and OYS will surely write you a letter.

D

 

[GoodTimes]

Kharma,

Step away from the computer for awhile...... or at least the keyboard. You're life is getting better, not worse! Not many people can say that these days.

 

[Lear70]

Regardless of the intent, the timing for this wasn't the best. With all the rhetoric being thrown around by some SWA pilots and a couple SWAPA reps, we're already on edge. Sending something that can be so obviously misconstrued and asking for our feedback (which could obviously be used in an SLI arbitration) just isn't being well-received.

At the very beginning of the process, in Nov and Dec during the round-ups, we already received a booklet with a synopsis of the pay rates and a way to convert hourly rates to TFP, allowing us to see what kind of pay we could expect at our current longevity (assuming our seniority equated to something with the ability to bid a similar line that we hold now). It also included a benefits synopsis, an overview of the bidding system, a history of the airline and union, side letters, etc. It was very thorough, the round-ups were a great success, and overall was the right way and the right TIME to put forth that information.

Giving it to us again, but in a way that uses the veiled "IF the carriers integrate" reference again (that's like waving a red flag in front of a bull, by the way), and right as we enter the last month of direct negotiations,,, Well, I'll just ask "Why re-send something we already received?"

I won't assume that this was trying to negotiate directly with us, but I will say that any such attempt would be misguided simply because our structure isn't set up like yours at the union level. We elect our REPS. Our REPS elect the MEC leaders (Chair and Vice-Chair). The Chair appoints the committees, (although the Merger Committee was constructed by both the Chair and the MEC, technically the MEC Chair holds the authority to change it as his discretion). What all that means is that we poor line swine are 3 steps away from having ANY control over what the Merger Committee is instructed to do. Convincing *US* isn't going to do anything if whatever proposal you want us to consider doesn't ever reach us to vote on.

Your NC needs to convince our MC and MEC. Not us. All we do is vote when it gets here. So I'll simply say "Thank you" for something to read, maybe glean a new nugget or two of info, add it to my collection of SWA memorabilia, and wait for our next MC update after the meetings next week.

 

[Dolce]

Lear,
We elect our reps and Pres/two VPs...so we are different besides not being ALPA. Other than that, why don't you think outside the box a little on this one maybe. It will come to you...maybe it won't! I'm sure you'll be able to always bid your current line in ATL. History is funny, we hate it in school so we fail to learn it or learn from it, but it always seems to repeat itself! I'm just saying...

D

 

[XR650R]

Lear- not trying to flame here but if SWA management is using the "if" word in their correspondence with you, then it probably is a thinly veiled threat. SWA can be very cold and brutal if need be. Ask any ATA pilot if you don't believe me. SWA WILL not accept any solution that harms a current SWA pilot's career and neither will we. This of course does not have to be the case though. Hopefully your MC and our NC will be able to hammer something out that is agreeable to both sides. Please don't let a few hard core ALPA thugs dictate what the majority of AAI plots want- a reasonable integration in line with previous career expectations. It seems a few gooned it up for the F9 boys and girls, don't let that happen here.
PS lot's of moving parts still in this deal. For example, we're now hearing that the 717 sims won't be going to DAL and the planes them selves are being sold to Boeing.

 

[scoreboardII]

I encourage each and every airtran pilot to dig their heals in and show SWA how disgusted you feel because of this letter.