Airtran Opening B737 MKE Pilot Domicile.

[Adiabatic Pilot]

Learguy...do you fly for AirTran?

 

[scarlet]

We shall see the lines in April. You think only flying you going to do is west coast turn=dreaming. You will go FL trips and BWI trips with 15-16 days off 85-88 hours.

No Trades, nothing in open time, FLY YOUR Line base.

 

[Lear70]

Learguy...do you fly for AirTran?

I did... I'm one of the contract hostages awaiting arbitration for 2 1/2 years. We FINALLY got it scheduled for this coming February, and I'm anticipating getting my job back, as I've won every other legal battle so far to date, and the company dropped the fraud allegations by reinstating my Worker's Compensation about 6 months ago, which were the heart of the termination case.

That said, as a member awaiting arbitration, I still have voting rights, keep track of what's going on, and participate in what's happening on a daily basis.

 

[maxblast72]

How does this sound ; " west coast turns " .... means at night. All night turns to the west coast with no hotel costs for the company. You get to feel like you work for FEDEX or UPS without the money etc.

Look at FTWeb sometime. The only redeye flying we do to MKE right now is LAS-MKE. LAX, SFO, PHX, and SEA is all performed without redeyes this time of year. When we beef up west coast flying during summer vacation season (Memorial Day to Labor Day), you will probably see 3 or 4 redeyes into MKE everyday. Looking at the whole year, I would bet redeyes to MKE are less than 20% of the west coast turns.

There will probably be some variety in MKE. The senior lines should be quite nice. There should be some redeye turn lines (more in summer and less for the rest of the year). The Florida turns should be daytime but not as productive as the turns are 5-6 hrs instead of 7-8 hrs for west coast turns. There might be a few standup lines too.

Hardly sounds like Fedex or UPS to me. Too bad Fedex or UPS aren't hiring. Then you could tell all the guys you fly with that you have your application in and can't wait to leave this place.

 

[f9cougar]

Gup get over it!

 

[likeitis]

I guess we will have to chalk it up to a difference of opinion. I am an FO here at F9 so if your purchase had succeeded and our Airbus went away as proposed, my family would have had a very somber Christmas with me on furlough now. As it stands though, my boy was able to open his 'G.I. Joe with the Kung Fu grip' under the light of a tree that had ornaments on it that said 'New Domicile' and 'Aircraft Acquisitions' as opposed to 'Unemployment Benefits Application'.

Everyone keeps telling me (us) how we screwed up by not biting on that trotline that was the Southwest offer. But I would argue (despite the multitude of predictions to the contrary) that my life is actually better now than it was 3 months ago. We are recalling our furloughees as opposed to my becoming one, we are taking more aircraft as opposed to watching them go away in a hurry, and while it is not the industry leading pay that you SWA guys have pioneered, I am still making the same paycheck that my wife and kids depended on this summer.

So many years ago, a carrier named Southwest Airlines changed the model of the Airline industry, and I would guess (although I was not on flightinfo at the time ;-) ) that there were a few 'legacy' guys out there who referred to your pilots in the same type of terms that so many choose to throw at the Republic, and even Frontier pilots now. Being that I really had no say in the mattter of the 'auction', I have only one choice now: make the best of the cards I have been dealt and hope that Republic = 'Southwest - The sequel'. (That was a compliment) I have to move forward with the notion that I am already in on the ground level of something that will be big, and that (just like Southwest) we won't be the ones to set the industry standards until we have achieved a level of success that warrants it many years down the road.

There are two problems - Number one is people like starchkr who think that opening a domicile in MKE is somehow a bad thing. Maybe it would make some people feel all safe and warm to huddle down in Denver with our eyes wide shut, but I am not one of them. There are quite a few people around the crew room here who think that the way out of all this mess is to mope around and talk about 'what should have happened' or 'what we wish could be'. IT IS WHAT IT IS. To sit around and talk about 'wondering where our flying went' is just so much crying. The only way out is through - grow a sack and adapt.

Problem Number two (and the reason I reacted so harshly to your statement) is all of the people on here unnecessarily vilifying the Republic pilots, and publicly rooting for the entire airline's demise. They are nothing but convenient targets, and the most intelleigent people on this board know that as much as any of us dislike it, we, them and all of us are just pawns in a big management game. Anybody who gets on this board and expresses great concern for a Midwest pilot put out of a job, and then in the same breath outwardly roots for another (Republic) pilots unemployment as justice, is a gigantic hypocrite and is writing a check to the bitch goddess of Karma that will most assuredly bounce somewhere along in their career. Hypocrites will never be spared as long as I can type - they are the lowest form of life in existence.

Call me idealistic, but I won't root against another pilot unless it comes down to a clear cut example of him against me. I don't see that it has come to that, so I wish you the best in whatever city you fly into or out of. At the end of the day we are all just the same guy, in a different tie, trying to find a happy hour. Happy frigging new year.

I don't think anyone is rooting for republic pilot unemployment. Many see the evil that republic is and see that it benefits the CAREER that slime ball companies like republic, mesa, gulfstream, etc. go away and hopefully be replaced with better/more ethical companies. I have nothing against the pilots for those companies.

 

[starchkr]

I guess we will have to chalk it up to a difference of opinion. I am an FO here at F9 so if your purchase had succeeded and our Airbus went away as proposed, my family would have had a very somber Christmas with me on furlough now. As it stands though, my boy was able to open his 'G.I. Joe with the Kung Fu grip' under the light of a tree that had ornaments on it that said 'New Domicile' and 'Aircraft Acquisitions' as opposed to 'Unemployment Benefits Application'.

Everyone keeps telling me (us) how we screwed up by not biting on that trotline that was the Southwest offer. But I would argue (despite the multitude of predictions to the contrary) that my life is actually better now than it was 3 months ago. We are recalling our furloughees as opposed to my becoming one, we are taking more aircraft as opposed to watching them go away in a hurry, and while it is not the industry leading pay that you SWA guys have pioneered, I am still making the same paycheck that my wife and kids depended on this summer.

So many years ago, a carrier named Southwest Airlines changed the model of the Airline industry, and I would guess (although I was not on flightinfo at the time ;-) ) that there were a few 'legacy' guys out there who referred to your pilots in the same type of terms that so many choose to throw at the Republic, and even Frontier pilots now. Being that I really had no say in the mattter of the 'auction', I have only one choice now: make the best of the cards I have been dealt and hope that Republic = 'Southwest - The sequel'. (That was a compliment) I have to move forward with the notion that I am already in on the ground level of something that will be big, and that (just like Southwest) we won't be the ones to set the industry standards until we have achieved a level of success that warrants it many years down the road.

There are two problems - Number one is people like starchkr who think that opening a domicile in MKE is somehow a bad thing. Maybe it would make some people feel all safe and warm to huddle down in Denver with our eyes wide shut, but I am not one of them. There are quite a few people around the crew room here who think that the way out of all this mess is to mope around and talk about 'what should have happened' or 'what we wish could be'. IT IS WHAT IT IS. To sit around and talk about 'wondering where our flying went' is just so much crying. The only way out is through - grow a sack and adapt.

Problem Number two (and the reason I reacted so harshly to your statement) is all of the people on here unnecessarily vilifying the Republic pilots, and publicly rooting for the entire airline's demise. They are nothing but convenient targets, and the most intelleigent people on this board know that as much as any of us dislike it, we, them and all of us are just pawns in a big management game. Anybody who gets on this board and expresses great concern for a Midwest pilot put out of a job, and then in the same breath outwardly roots for another (Republic) pilots unemployment as justice, is a gigantic hypocrite and is writing a check to the bitch goddess of Karma that will most assuredly bounce somewhere along in their career. Hypocrites will never be spared as long as I can type - they are the lowest form of life in existence.

Call me idealistic, but I won't root against another pilot unless it comes down to a clear cut example of him against me. I don't see that it has come to that, so I wish you the best in whatever city you fly into or out of. At the end of the day we are all just the same guy, in a different tie, trying to find a happy hour. Happy frigging new year.

Whoa, hold up there bro! When did i say it was a bad thing? I never said it was a bad thing, i have actually shown my willingness to go to MKE for the company. Maybe not on here, but i have already been looking for a house to buy for crashpad use for any F9 employee who wishes to use it. I've invited all the people i fly with to join me as well. Airtran guys can come as well, i'll keep a cold one for ya in the fridge every day...oh by the way that will be added to your monthly rent.

I believe you are taking my answer to Gup as a negative way of talking about MKE...re-read it, and notice no connotations were implied. Sure i said i agree with his comment, and i still do and always will. During the contract negotiations for us to approve the RAH buyout (which we all voted on, remember?) it said the jobs would stay in DEN. I understand that future bases were needed, we couldn't stay in DEN alone forever. Just kind of ironic that the reverend's moves have come as they have.

Now i agree with the rest of your post as well, i too am happy we did not end up on the SWA list. I too would have been out of a job from day 1. I also believe we need to make the best of what we were dealt, and i hope to do that by following my contract and doing as is expected of me per that contract, nothing less and nothing more.

I too love the idiots on here wishing me/us ill will for our future. Gotta love how they lose their jobs and then want us to lose ours as well. Oh well, you can't please everyone. You know i wonder what it would be like to go into the doctors office or the hospital and listen to the employee's there talk like we do...would I stay? Would you stay? What an industry huh, a bunch of complaining little kids wishing that their daddy could beat up your daddy.

 

[Bringupthebird]

Arjayeffo-
Republic operating large aircraft will substantially change the "market rates" that pilots will be negotiating at major airlines. It could open a new strata of pay: the regional (low pay with subsidized PFT), the national (Airbus/737/E190 aircraft at a small margin above regional) and International (757/767, A330 etc - pay higher than a national, but only until a regional decides to expand into this market, then the scale slides down again). I would expect that airlines will again try to split off certain stratas (a la TED, Song) to capitalize on the "new normal" pay rates that will be pioneered by Republic. That's why there is so little pushback from the majors that Republic flys for. One hand washes the other in this scheme.

 

[Jetjockey]

Or Republic fails miserably, and they go away with their abysmal pay rates.

 

[f9cougar]

Jetjock.peeing his pants ....HAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA