ABX furloughs

[ABXbooger]

Bitter,

As one of the effected pilots, I give you a standing ovation. This furlough is just the latest in what has become a comedy of errors by the company. We in essence do not have a grievance process, the contract is just a basic guideline from which the schedulers, planners, managers work from, and union unity is a joke.

That can all change and must if we are to survive as a brotherhood of union members.

I support your Army of One, in fact what about stickers? You are not alone in your convictions as I have received numerous e-mails stating the exact same thing.

I have a mental picture of a disheveled ABX pilot with a knife in his teeth, storming the walls...in full uniform of course, because image is our most important message...

Let's fly a skull and crossbones over the union hall...

 

[flyinboxes]

Are you sure you don't work at Astar???

LOL! Same thing here only started in 2005.

 

[HeavyjetDC8]

The Army of One missive has been doing the rounds for years, to make it pertinent simply cut and paste the airline of choice into the blanks.

Going out on a limb with a job action contravening the RLA really achieves little except to put more heads on the chopping block for company hostage taking. Far better to adopt a strategy of no favors, no waivers; one where safety is meticulously observed in accordance with written procedures. Fit to fly is subjective for each individual and company pressure can only make each and every crew member less fit to do so.

The company has the upper hand as intended by the way in which the RLA is structured. It doesn't mean that labor is powerless - far from it, but any response has to be well thought out and not of the knee jerk variety.

Surprising really that this should occur with the ANA schedule now actually upon us. Not the action of a master tactician wishing to get a contract signed in an effort to focus limited resources on making a new international venture successful.

 

[abxaviator]

Here is Mr. Vollmer's response to the email I posted yesterday:

I hope you are well given your recent near miss with choking. Regarding ANA, I can assure you the Company has invested thousand’s of man-hours in making this opportunity a real possibility for all of us. ANA provides us an opportunity to partner with the ATW 2007 airline of the year in the only place on the planet experiencing double-digit growth.
Regarding a negotiated agreement, we invested several months working with the Union to find a suitable option to meet ANA needs without creating a domicile. In accepting the Union’s last proposal and their assurances we could work together to get this started, we thought this joint effort in global expansion of flying was well on its way.
Regarding sufficient crew force, please stop by my office and I’ll gladly share the numbers with you so you can get a clear and informed picture of where we stand in staffing.
MIA is planned with zero reserves as it is a different business model for a different customer base.
The decision to furlough is never taken lightly. We had been putting it off for a long time hoping things would turn around in the DC-9, but unfortunately that has not happened. Further, we have gotten word that soon the DC-9 will no longer service GRR, PIT, HRL, and TLH with the possibility of losing more cities. The decision to furlough was simply driven by the nearly 20% drop in DC-9 flying over the past year, the cities we are forecast to lose (see above), and the fact that the DC-8 will be gone at the end of the year. Our network flying (DHL) is being reduced and our non-network (Charter) is not growing fast enough to absorb the positions lost in the reductions.
I agree that working together is the best way to accomplish the most which is what I thought we were doing during the past year by rationally negotiating both the CBA and the ANA options.
As always, thanks for your perspective.
Mike


Mike Vollmer
System Chief Pilot

 

[Fly Astar Jets]

Here is Mr. Vollmer's response to the email I posted yesterday:

...Further, we have gotten word that soon the DC-9 will no longer service GRR, PIT, HRL, and TLH with the possibility of losing more cities. ...

Mike Vollmer
System Chief Pilot

In an effort to collaborate with regards to Mgt spin/BS, our Mgt has told us that GRR and PIT are in our Bid Period 8 package (starts June 30'th) as through stops for the 727. No mention of HRL, TLH or other cities. As usual, Mgt (Mr Vollmer) takes a little truth, sprinkles in a lot of BS and cries "Oh woe is me!"
We might be at opposite ends of the Corn Field, but it's the same corn field.

 

[Sporto]

Bitter....right on.

I would compose a long letter reading how much this sucks but I seriously don't have the energy. I'm not throwing in the towel just yet (yes I am) but it appears this fulough may last awhile (pull another rabbit). Our last hope is all the open flying Ho's to quit triicks. Hey, whatever happened to Bro's before Ho's. More later, gotta go. Wife is home with taco bell.

 

[ABXbooger]

With Vollmers response to your email, how can they justify their salaries? They are watching over a shrinking airline and keep on increasing their pay at the expense of the very people who make their bonuses happen. Truly disgusting.

 

[penguin22]

New Members Only (sorry rhoid, that leaves you out) message up on the hotline.
I would suggest the contents NOT be discussed in this forum.

 

[ABXbooger]

Agreed

 

[BoxesRus]

Mgmt salaries

>>With Vollmers response to your email, how can they justify their salaries? They are watching over a shrinking airline and keep on increasing their pay at the expense of the very people who make their bonuses happen. Truly disgusting.<<

Yes, it is disgusting. It can't be justified. Sadly, it's also contrived. The fact that we as employees of ABX still have jobs is an unfortunate annoyance that Hete must grudgingly bear in order to enrich himself and the other top 3 execs. He just couldn't figure out a way to get rich and fire all the employees too. And that, you know, is sticking in his craw.
As DHL scales back ABX's flying, I don't think Hete knows where the bottom is so he's siphoning off as much for himself as he can get before the well runs dry.