AirTran MEC Chair message.

[Lear70]

Well crap, I wish us all the best of luck. I would love to see how this Plays out. SWAPA has said they have no reason to believe the transition will drag out past Jan 1, 2015.

Did you ask them how they think that with the announced schedule of 717's going to Delta all through 2015?

Even if they think the 1/1/15 date in the SIA will hold with the 737 transition (possible if they double the number of conversion facilities and get one through every 22 days instead of one every 45), there's still all the 717's still to go to Delta???

I'm just as confused in their response as you are.

 

[humveedriver]

If they open ATL anytime before most of our pilots are over, it's going to fill the base with OSW pilots, and by the time the majority of us get there, it could be years before we could hold the base.

Arguably, that wouldn't help our pilots at all, and certainly doesn't offset the loss of the 717 and the protections that went with it that we all voted for.

I think he meant future ATL base. There isn't enough SWA flying to support an ATL base for them right now and there is no code share capability. Good point about the transition bid and QOL. If you are a ATL 737 based pilot who bid SWA FO, your not going anywhere for awhile. It is amazing how they were able to make this deal crappy for absolutley everyone.

 

[redflyer65]

No, the money is still there,

He's going to tell you it's not there and the he wants the company to make 15% ROIC tomorrow. What 'leverage' are you talking about? Lawsuits?

 

[Flyer1015]

I didn't get anymore seniority, MILF. I'm still stapled. The idea that we traded pay for more seniority is ridiculous. We had a gun held to our heads and were faced with the decision of either taking the crappy offer or rejecting it and seeing if Gary was going to pull the trigger and blow our brains all over the wall. I voted to call Gary's bluff, but 87% of our pilots didn't. They didn't think that Gary was bluffing. But no matter whether a pilot felt that it was a bluff or not, it's clear that we weren't just haggling and trading one thing for another. We were making a decision under heavy duress. Big difference.

Considering what has happened, and assuming this Delta 717 deal goes through, how many at AAI wish they could have accepted the first seniority integration plan?

 

[scoreboardII]

I can't figure why you all just don't push to vote that you are all now SWAPA pilots, and even though you fly an AT branded jet, you are SWAPA. That to me gets you pay parity and done with all this drama.

 

[Lear70]

He's going to tell you it's not there and the he wants the company to make 15% ROIC tomorrow. What 'leverage' are you talking about? Lawsuits?

Oh I'm sure that's what they're going to say... that's why I said I have my doubts they will do anything at all. Unfortunately, I know the resultant negativity and apathy that will cause amongst our pilots.

That's the only "leverage" at the end of the day. Sure we can file a Sec 1 Scope dispute with the airplanes going to Delta. Sure we can file a Major Dispute grievance over the fundamental change in the basis of the SIA we voted for. Sure we can do a lot of legal things, but that's way above my paygrade and it would be BETTER if GK would VOLUNTARILY do something to address the fundamental changes that negatively impact us.

 

[Toecutter]

Considering what has happened, and assuming this Delta 717 deal goes through, how many at AAI wish they could have accepted the first seniority integration plan?

Well if the pilot group got to vote on it, I'm sure it would have passed by more than 80%, but thanks to the Super Seven, we'll never know now will we.

 

[redflyer65]

On top of that, the first deal was a NEGOTIATED deal with both NCs. If there was some massive disconnect with the AAI MEC and their NC, why would Gary want to make any changes now when he initially put all his money up front? Was there a gun to anyone's head in say the first 3 months of negotiations? A lawsuit over Agreement 2 when Agreement 1 was turned down (the one with all the cash), would probably not get very far in my estimation.

 

[Cruncher]

I've been off here for awhile.

Couple things.

First, Karma, I like your avatar! Where's the Ride the Lightning bro, like his too!

Second, to the OP, chill the flock out. Gotta let it go man, just let it go. We are all pawns in this game.

-C

 

[Jet Wash]

From AT MEC Chair...

Fellow Southwest Pilots (Uh, what?!),

Yes, I just did that, and for good reason. We are all Southwest pilots. (No WE are not.)

I know what you’re thinking, so before you start sending me nasty e-mails threatening my dog, let me explain.

Think back to the SWAPA Round-ups and the presentations made during the road shows for the seniority integration agreement. The overriding theme was that when we had an SIA, and after the Date of Corporate Closing (DOCC) and after the Single Operating Certificate (SOC) was granted, that we would be Southwest pilots and treated as such. However, the reality doesn’t look like what we expected. (Things change.)

We don’t feel like Southwest pilots. (You shouldn't because you're not. Comprende?) Or at least we don’t feel like we think Southwest pilots should feel (I'm sorry Oprah, what was that?), and that’s not good. It’s not good for us; it’s not good for the Company.

We are all too familiar with the history of the seniority integration process, and the contentiousness that it brought. There were many arguments, even among close friends, and many scars from that engagement. At times it felt like civil war.

Eventually, with a transition plan in place, things began to settle down. Despite our future loss of seniority (here we go...), I think we began to move on. There were a few small improvements to our quality of life: reduced insurance costs, a kinder-gentler scheduling department, new leadership in the training department, and Rob Amsler in the Chief Pilot’s Office. It was just a morsel of the Southwest culture.(You were lucky to get those considering you're not Southwest pilots.)

But then, as it often seems to do, the other shoe dropped. Southwest announced the B-717 sublease tentative agreement with Delta. (If this came as a surprise to any of you, you deserve to feel like a moron.)

In an instant, all of the goodwill and trust that management had worked to cultivate with our pilots vanished. Gone. Kaput. (Guess it wasn't true "trust" in the first place.) On top of that, some of the messaging from SWAPA on the day the B-717 deal was announced was read by many of our pilots as gloating. (You guys appear more and more sensitive with each passing day.)

Can these problems be fixed? I hope so — and believe so — not for only for our sakes, but for the sake of our Company. (At the rate the Tranny's are screwing up in transition training and failing IOE, it's doubtful there will be enough of you left to do any noticeable harm.)

First of all, we are all Southwest pilots. (Hasn't this been covered already?) It is time that we are recognized as such. (Why? You work for Critter therefore you are not SWA pilots.) There is only one master seniority list, and our names are on it, intertwined with our friends and colleagues across the partition. We are not in a “pool” waiting for a seniority number — we already have one; we fly Southwest owned and leased airplanes with a different paint scheme; and, our corporate address is no longer Orlando, Florida — it is Love Field, in Dallas, Texas, the home of our (Not yours) company, Southwest Airlines.

The MEC has tasked our Negotiating Committee with engaging the company (read: begin whining more loudly NC!) to ease the burden of this transition on our pilots — the Southwest pilots represented by ALPA. (For the record, there are currently NO SWA pilots represented by ALPA. There never have been.) Yesterday, the NC started that process by meeting with management in Dallas. The conversation was wide-ranging and overall could be described as fairly productive. To continue our talks, we are making arrangements to schedule a follow-up meeting in the coming weeks.

On Monday, Captain Jim Gallagher and I will join ALPA executive administrator Capt. Tim Canoll and ALPA Directors Bruce York and Jon Cohen in Dallas for a meeting with SWAPA to move forward the process of transferring representation. While I believe the events of the past few weeks demonstrate the benefit of ALPA to our pilots, it is in the long-term interest of all Southwest pilots to have a single voice (This is actually a valid point. So you're up to 1 now.), regardless of the color of the airplane they are flying. It is also important that SWAPA recognize that former AirTran pilots will soon comprise almost a quarter of their membership, and it is to their benefit to consider the impact of their actions and statements on the future of the organization in a post-SOC world. (Was that a threat?)

I spent most of this week meeting with the MEC, discussing these issues. For a while, we were joined by Southwest Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer Mike Van de Ven as well as Southwest Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer Bob Jordan. We shared with them all of the feedback that you have given us over the past few weeks, both good and bad. We were brutally honest and I think they appreciated it. I also think they now understand that there is a unique opportunity for the Company to demonstrate the values for which it is famous, not the least of which is its commitment to its employees. (Good thing you cleared that up for them. Amazing they were able to do it for 40+ years without you Jim.)

Having spent four years in Missouri, the “Show Me State,” I learned a good deal about Midwestern values and skepticism. True character is displayed through action, not words. (If this is true, could you ask your pilots to shut up and color? Come to work as a SWA pilot AFTER completing transition training and IOE with hat in hand like the rest of us did. Be quiet, play nice, fly, get paid and go home.) This is the time for Southwest management to show me, and you, that we are all an integral part of the team. I trust that they will. (Don't count on it.)

I’ll see you at the airport.

Capt. Jim Morris, Chairman
Your ATN Master Executive Council (ATN? Thought you said you were SWA ALPA...)

Wow, it's posts like this that make everyone think SWA pilots are arrogant pr1cks. Well done for living up to the reputation.