scoreboardII
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Anyone know where the AT MEC letter recommending a yes vote end up?
Fellow MKE Pilots,
On Wednesday, the MEC voted to release an integrated seniority list proposal to the pilot group for your consideration. We wanted to take this time to discuss with you how this proposal came to be and where we go from here.
At the end of August, a request was made for the Merger Committee to travel to Dallas to meet again with their counterparts from SWAPA and SWA management, outside of the arbitration/mediation process. As an act of good faith, the MEC authorized the Merger Committee, if an offer was solicited, to propose a list that would have resulted in essentially a date-of-hire list, and would have also immediately surrendered approximately 280–300 captain seats to SWAPA. Unfortunately, even this level of sacrifice by the AirTran pilots was deemed to be insufficient, and was never seriously considered by SWAPA. Instead, SWA management countered with the proposal that you have before you, and accompanied it with statements that if no consensual agreement was reached, they were prepared to move ahead with what they termed to be an alternate plan. When pressed for details as to what this plan entailed, the Merger Committee was informed that it would involve indefinite separate operations, and could place the integration of AirTran pilots into Southwest in jeopardy.
Obviously, this proposal is very disappointing. There is no doubt that the pilots of AirTran Airways deserve better. You have performed at a superior level of professionalism, as evidenced by AirTran’s profitability, operational performance, and most importantly, safety record. This level of professionalism has been maintained in the face of long, contentious contract negotiations, furloughs, and a management that has chosen to be hostile instead of collaborative. It is truly unfortunate that instead of standing up for their pilots, as Southwest management has done, certain members of AirTran management have instead actually chosen to actively work against you in this process.
So where does all of this leave us? To put it simply, the choice before you is whether you accept a poor list and vote yes and are integrated into the most successful airline in the world, or vote no and remain at a stand-alone AirTran, hoping that it remains viable. Given all of the risks associated with a stand-alone AirTran, and that over time, there is little doubt that the benefits of employment at Southwest Airlines and the chance to work for a management that actually appreciates and stands behind their employees far exceeds the initial and significant sacrifice of this agreement, we have no choice but to recommend that you vote yes for this agreement.
Sincerely,
Jeff Mertens
Kelly Cullen
Vimal Patel