ACA: No to Yes....

[flaps30]

sellouts

I can't believe how many sellouts are at ACA. I used to have respect for you but since most seem to have little respect for themself, forget it. Can't you guys see through this, stand up for yourself.

 

[sgu]

say no

its the buy low sell high philosophy being used by mgmt. The industry is at its low and poised for a rebound and with pilot groups taking the hit, profits will just skyrocket. It sucks Ual is going around with a tin cup to see who will give the most ( take away $$ from employee groups). Say no to pay cuts.

 

[Jeepman]

First of all if MESA voted the way that they did to keep Free-dumb from going away, then why is Freedum still growing?

We at SKYW were told if we didn't sign the TA then "we wouldn't get the 70's" What happened? The TA polls closed 2 hours early and 53% of the pilots "overwhelmingly" approved it, even though on a separate "unoficcial" TA poll where you could see the results real time on a non-company website (SAPA) the TA was being voted down. Then just 6 hours later the announcement of the MOU comes out!!! Granted it's just an MOU but we had the RJ's ANYWAYS!!! I have even heard that the same morning our agreement with UAL was announced , another round of furlough notices went out at UAL.

WE ARE SELLING OUT FUTURE HIGH PAYING JOBS TO FLY RJ'S FOR DIRT CHEAP!!!

Honestly, I don't know what to say to ACA guys & gals. I voted no with our agreement, but at this point if ACA votes no, we might end up with their flying because our pilots "overwhelmingly" approved the TA.

 

[acaTerry]

Jeepman,
Freedumb is growing, but under the Mesa certificate. This changes the whole situation. Either way, the Blacklist is out, thank God.
Fly safe,
Terry

 

[Dave Benjamin]

I may be wrong, but I believe the minute you start flying 70 seat aircraft for United, you lose your Delta flying. Would your management trade Delta flying for United?

The clause in the DALPA contract refers to aircraft larger than 70 seats.

There may be a way around that clause. Time will tell.

 

[stillaboo]

YV clarification

Jeepman,
Freedumb is growing, but under the Mesa certificate. This changes the whole situation. Either way, the Blacklist is out, thank God.
Fly safe,
Terry

Just to claify: Freedom is still growing under the Freedom certificate, but the pilots are now on one seniority list, ALPA, and there are no more 'whip-saw' pilots (all pilots going to Freedom now are Mesa ALPA, and bid over there by seniority). Orenstein is takin' his sweet time getting the -700's and 900's onto the Mesa certificate, and there are still junior Freedom supporters on the 700/ 900 (without 200 differences training), while more senior Mesa guys are waiting for 700 and 900 training. He also still has the CC Air certificate. 'The list' is the only way to tell one from another anymore.

Good luck to ACA. If being the cheapest had anything to do with UAX flying, Mesa would have gotten the flying, not Skywest. Take that for what it's worth.

-Boo!

 

[acaTerry]

I was talking with one of Mesa's senior ERJ Captains and he said that the Freedumb certificate was all blow, that it is under Mesa. Whatever the case, Freedumb can not be used as a weapon against Mesa pilots and that's what the TA boiled down to. That and eight days off, pay issues...blah blah blah.

 

[70Cuda]

"Principle or Self Preservation?"

This is definitely the dilemma.

Once again, from reading peoples posts and hearing talk in the crew rooms I'm convinced nobody has a crystal ball. This is a poker game and we don't know if management is bluffing or not. Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. The fact is......we don't know. I find it really interesting, and sad, how aggressive some folks are about their beliefs based SOLELY on guesswork. I often listened to these types swear up and down about how ACA would NEVER furlough pilots. This opinion based solely on the fact that we didn't furlough after 9/11. Come on, folks. What kind of anti-logic is that. I remember some of these staunch "vote NO" types also praising the virtues of TM and KS. Now these guys are cursing them from take-off to touch-down.

As for SKYW already having the signed contract before the pilots voted.....well, maybe they did, maybe they didn't. Maybe UAL was waiting to see if they would sign, and if they didn't then maybe they would not have gotten the contract. The FACT is that only management knew, and probably only UAL types.

As for MESA, well, those boys were in a tight spot and the first ones in the barrel. Who really knows what one of the other higher paid regionals would have done in that situation. Unfortunately for them I believe their ALPA management let them and the rest of the ALPA groups down. Or maybe it was the other way around?

Folks, ACA may hit harder times if we vote the TA down. Then again, maybe it won't. If all you "absolute" types really had the ability to read managements poker face I'm sure you would have applied that instinct to the stock market and certainly wouldn't be working for a regional.

As for ACAterry, ease up buddy. To be emotional is to be human. That is what gives color to Life.

g159av8tor, of course we have a choice!! Our choice is to GUESS!! To guess which hand is holding the money......Yes, or No. Your rhetoric is exactly what I'm talking about. Spouting off with absolutely no fact. All you come to the table with is "what he said, or what she said." You may very well be right about ACA already having a contract with UAL. Then again, you may be DEAD WRONG. I ask you would you bet your LIFE on it? That's what I thought!! Talk is cheap. You want credibility, then lead us to FACTS!!

 

[g159av8tor]

70Cuda and Cappy,

I've watched the road show video. I've talked to everyone I can and have ease dropped on many TA conversations to get many different points of view. The best thing and the worst thing about America is that people can spout out drivel all day long. Suffer through my opinions and tirades or just don't read them.

I feel and think passionately about this TA its fallout. I want nothing more than to put it all behind us. But, I'm compelled to display my fervent opinions, how I've drawn my well-thought-out conclusions and rally support for my cause. And yes, the facts for both arguments are few and far between. My intuition tells me this TA isn't right. No, I can't prove my SKW theory about the ink drying on the deal as the TA vote is announced, but the facts will come out eventually. If I'm wrong, I can admit it.

Furthermore, if you've read my previous posts you'll discover that though I've ardently expressed my opinions and am guilty of persuasion, I feel most zealously about people giving up their voice, their right to vote.

Know this: however you vote, as long as you agree with me, make sure you vote. Apathy is the pin in my pee-hole.

Cappy, first you've been in the industry and around ACA a long time, tell me why and how'll you vote.

Also Cappy,

Not only are you a weenie, you must be Oscar frigg'n Myer!!!

"Ohhhh, I wish I was an Oscar Myer wiener"
"That is what I really want to be"
"For If I was an Oscar Myer wiener,"
"Everyone would be in love with me."


Tailwinds,

Aaron Robbins, CA J-41

PS just a joke, the wiener part!

 

[tarp]

TM (Tom Moore) comes in to the Dulles crew room to scare all of us. Yes, I was there.

What a despicable, low-down tactic!

-- Poor TM only gets 100,000 options every October. Boo hoo, he's so poor, the airline is on its death bed, he can't make a profit. (Have you looked at ACA stock 10.37/shr last time I looked up from $6.00 in Oct which TM would buy at a discount making about a 100% profit or roughly $500,000 if he sold last October's options today!) How gullible are you guys!

--We're so bad and TM is so poor. Did you know that 53% of his costs are salary? That's what TM said. NO KIDDING! Airlines are a SERVICE industry - of course salaries are going to be a large percentage of his costs. What he didn't say was how much REVENUE he's making! (Have you looked at our 10Q's, this company is drowning in cash and marketable wealth.)

--If we don't sign this TA what incentive does poor TM have to keep the airline running - we pilots don't seem to agree to anything. No kidding again Tom and we're starting to question our union leadership. We don't want to join the race to the bottom. We don't want to work our a$$es off night and day doing Uncle Tom's Charter work with no vacations. We don't want to take 7.5% pay cuts which will turn into 20% cuts when the work rules change and ACA's version of preferential bidding comes into play. We don't want to give the Tom And Jerry (whups Kerry) Show the rights to create an "alter-ego" airline with non-ACA pilots. Did you guys actually READ the TA? I'd gladly say "yes" to a reasonable request from management but what the he11 is our Union doing with this negotiation? It is a pure and utter insult to our professional status.

--The money doesn't go to poor Tom and ACA, it's just a pass-through to United. Geez these were practically the first words out of his mouth almost like he told the Union what to say in the roadshows! Well that's fine - last time I checked, I worked for ACA, my paycheck says ACA, my ID says ACA. So if we say NO, we're denying a bankrupt airline the ability to get back on its feet. (I.e. my paycheck has a direct connection to United). Yeah, I got this beautiful bridge in Brooklyn for sale, any bids?? So ACA stock is not going to go up? ACA isn't going to make a bigger profit than it did last year? ACA isn't going to grow one iota from voting "yes" and all we're doing is keeping United from insolvency through our gererous donations? Sorry, that's just krap of the highest order. Bottom line our P&L (profit and loss) will look a whole lot stronger, our stock price will go up, Tom and Kerry will get bonuses for making us MORE profitable and we will be left with less money to buy groceries.

NO, no, no No, no NO, NO.

I won't buy it and yes I'm willing to bet that they won't shut us down, that we still get United flying and eventually we will get 70 seaters in service but not right away. I don't care. It's Tom's job to work hard and make ends meet. It's my job to work hard and make airplanes fly safely through the air and to the best of my ability on schedule. It's not my place to give 20% of my salary back to Tom so that he can make "easy" money. No way! It's just too easy.

Tom: Fix the rampers, fix maintenance, fix Chicago, fix your Dispatch team, fix your scheduling team and for pity's sake stop buying expensive toys to "enhance productivity". I'd love to be a computer software salesman to ACA because they buy every cockeyed program under the sun and keep changing their accounting and productivity software. Tom - start doing the hard work of running your company and please don't come to the crew room unless you've got something nice to say!

Mad as he11 and voting NO.