Airtran? From a JetBlue Pilot

[82spukram]

So first things first you guys have had both in house and ALPA. We are currently in a vote for ALPA at JetBlue. I am 25% off the bottom at JetBlue and I am a pro-CBA guy, I am on the organizing committee (I do not want anyone to guess my position or think I am trying to flame). My question is seeing how the integration process is going so far, and your proposed integration is out how do you guys feel about having ALPA vs. in house, or no union at all and a document that proclaims protecting but has many holes in it (for the JetBlue guys reading this and want to bring up the Section 15 rewrite in the 5 documents I do understand that it had some better protections, but still had holes). Please attempt to answer honestly, also any SWA pilots feel free to answer from your perspective. (USAir East and West try to keep in mind when attempting to hi-jack my thread that many changes have come about in M&A dues to TWA/AA and USAir SLI process so please attempt to think about today and not 6 or 10 years ago) Thanks.

 

[Lear70]

Money and fear make a powerful motivator. That's pretty much it in a nutshell on the AAI side. A pure staple wouldn't have worked. Stapling 1/3 of our pilots and pay protecting the 717 pilots at 737 rates probably will.

Two questions:

1. What would you do with an in-house union when battling SWAPA who has approximately $100 Million in a contingency war chest? There's no doubt in my mind that if we weren't with ALPA and the legal assistance they provided, we'd probably be facing a "staple or Muse" scenario right about now.

2. Who do you really think jetBlue is going to merge with / be purchased by? If it's an ALPA carrier, you'd probably be in a better position than we are due to ALPA merger policy and knowing how to craft integration agreements that avoid UAir/AWA (like DAL/NWA did).

I'd rather have ALPA than our old NPA. It was a mess... You'll have to talk to SWA guys/gals to see what they think about SWAPA -vs- ALPA (for those of them who worked at ALPA carriers in the past and can compare).

 

[Luv2BFlyin]

You may not get many responses from AAI guys as anything we say can and will be used against us in the possible upcoming arbitration as to why ALPA may be better than a PWA or in-house on a small scale.

Having said that, if you go with ALPA, do not elect the biggest ALPA cheerleaders to your MEC. You want people in there that will have a healthy skepticism of ALPA to keep them on their toes. You want your ALPA fanatics as consultants because they will be invaluable in the nuances of a national union, but keep them at arms length.

I agree with Lear, at the end of the day, in the position we are in now, I'd sure rather have ALPA representing me than the NPA.

 

[GuppyWN]

That's what you Trannies say until Gary pulls the trigger on jetBlue! THEN you'll be riding the staple wave, baby!

Gup

 

[carl p]

Been at 2 carriers that went from in house to ALPA, and in both cases it was an improvement. I would say ALPA would give you the best protection in the event of a merger/acquisition scenario. I have nothing bad to say about ALPA from personal experience, that said I'm looking forward to becoming SWAPA when the dust settles.

 

[sligo1]

Hey Bud

You know me and I know you, don't buy into the management B.S. There is no guarantee to senority integration without a CBA. The PEA is an unproven contract in the court system. An arbitrator could go either way. I can tell you there are no guarantees but CBA in today's world will offer a much better form of integration. The airtran guy's and gal's will be better off in the future. Short term= short gains.


Your friend
John

 

[82spukram]

John,

How you been? Yeah I know that the idea of iron clad M&A is nice but does not exist. The company last week pumped out how bad it was for Airtran in the SLI process. I just wanted to see what people, who are involved, had to say.

Mark

No matter what is said my vote was casted on Friday