AirTran thoughts on Kelly's Disposal of SL10

[Skyboy722]

This is a section 1 scope issue, and the sticker idea won't work, as WN does not have a 717 program. They would need it all; training program, mx program, flt ops, manuals, the whole nine yards. Not as simple as giving them all WN ID's and slapping a sticker on the plane.

 

[FIREMAN]

This is a section 1 scope issue, and the sticker idea won't work, as WN does not have a 717 program. They would need it all; training program, mx program, flt ops, manuals, the whole nine yards. Not as simple as giving them all WN ID's and slapping a sticker on the plane.

The plan approved by the FFA before SOC had SWA B717 after 12/31/2014.

 

[Bake]

What does the Future Farmers of America (FFA) have to do with any of this? I knew it, the sheep screwers would mess it all up.

 

[FIREMAN]

What does the Future Farmers of America (FFA) have to do with any of this? I knew it, the sheep screwers would mess it all up.

That is where GK got all the BS in this whole debacal.

 

[runfast]

At what point do the two pilot groups realize that there are real advantages to be joined together under one union? There have been a lot of fences built during this process , most of which are going to need relief from one side or another to get some of these problems solved. Nobody wins with a B scale, indefinite domestic code share, etc....

 

[ASADFW7]

As I see it, if SL-10 is not honored by SWA, then the SLI is not valid at the day it is violated. On January 2, 2015, all AAI pilot not SWA pilots will have to be renegotiated into the SWA seniority list. Why would the SLI still be used once it is violated?

 

[GIZMONC]

This was posted on another blog site:

FROM SWAPA PRESIDENT:

Fellow SWAPA Pilots,

Hot summer. Hot airplanes. Hot topics.

Since the announcement of the 717 deal with Delta, Gary has made several public statements that have raised questions about the Company's intent to comply with provisions in our Collective Bargaining Agreement. As you recall, Side Letter 10 requires that all AirTran pilots be transitioned to Southwest Airlines, and that the AirTran side of the partition cease to exist no later than December 31, 2014. Effective January 1, 2015 all pilots (both Southwest and Airtran) will be working under one contract; the SWAPA contract will be in effect on that date. All provisions of our contract will apply to the entire fleet and pilot group.

As a result of the Company's agreement with Delta to transfer all but 36 717s by the end of 2014, I sent a letter to Gary asking specifically if their intent was to comply with the contract, and the deadline to complete the transition. Gary responded promptly and confirmed to me that the remaining AirTran aircraft would be transitioned after the December 31, 2014 deadline. To be more specific, he stated it was their "present intent and desire to retain the 717s in the AirTran fleet until they are transitioned to Delta, a process that should be completed by the end of 2015."

I believe it is crucial that our contract is honored; all of it including SL 10. While I certainly believe that we may be able to find a mutually agreeable solution to this complex problem, at this time we are not in agreement and the Company has offered no solution regarding their intent to not comply with SL 10. Our contract uses words like "shall" and "will", not "should" for the same reason the Company used those words in areas where they demand compliance. Absent a membership-ratified solution, the Company must comply with our CBA, to include Side Letter 10.

We felt this matter deserved your attention. Know that SWAPA is exercising diligence in addressing this issue. As developments arise, we will keep you updated in a timely manner.
Fly safe,

 

[Kharma Police]

At what point do the two pilot groups realize that there are real advantages to be joined together under one union? There have been a lot of fences built during this process , most of which are going to need relief from one side or another to get some of these problems solved. Nobody wins with a B scale, indefinite domestic code share, etc....

The Real Southwest Pilots voted down single representation a few months ago. Wish you posted this earlier.......

 

[Lear70]

As I see it, if SL-10 is not honored by SWA, then the SLI is not valid at the day it is violated. On January 2, 2015, all AAI pilot not SWA pilots will have to be renegotiated into the SWA seniority list. Why would the SLI still be used once it is violated?

Because I designed it that way.

No, seriously.

We had just come back from reaching the Agreement In Principle and we were hammering out small details in the union office over the phone with SWA and SWAPA just two days before the MEC meeting to announce the deal specifics and it occurred to me that, with the ORIGINAL wording of the Seniority Integration Agreement, on 1/1/15, EVERYTHING dropped dead, including the non-furlough clause, no probation for AAI pilots, all of it.

Like I've said before, I always thought the transition schedule was optimistic given then international piece of the equation and Southwest's reluctance to use an outside vendor, and questioned the feasibility of a 1/1/15 completion date from the beginning with the way they wanted to do the transition.

I immediately went in to the Merger Committee's room (the NC and MC were working separately on our pieces of the presentation) and pointed out the glaring flaw in the language and quickly wrote the extra piece that says "on 1/1/15 OR WHEN THE LAST AIRTRAN PILOT TRANSITIONS TO SOUTHWEST, whichever happens LATER". Jack then conference called with Russ McCrady who then called SWAPA. They talked among themselves while we were on hold, then came back and agreed to it; it was the last piece of the puzzle before final documents were signed and faxed back and forth and originals FedEx'd.

As a result, we now have an agreement with an inviolability clause that says several things, but among them:

1. If one piece of the agreement is found by arbitration or lawsuit to be illegal, the rest of the agreement will still stand. One successfully-challenged issue doesn't negate the rest of the agreement, which is standard legalese in almost every contract across all industries and segments these days.

2. The items that were mutually-agreed by all three parties cannot be modified by any later negotiations solely between SWA and SWAPA or SWA and AAI ALPA; it takes all 3 parties to change ANYTHING in the Agreement unless very SPECIFICALLY stated otherwise (like the extension of the 1/1/15 date - SWA and SWAPA control that alone, AAI ALPA isn't a party to EXTEND that date).

3. On 1/1/15, if the transition isn't done, the Agreement remains in force until the last AAI pilot transitions, which includes a no-furlough clause, and the ability to transition as a CA if their seniority can then hold it since SL10 has a specific expiration date attached to that preclusion.

The Agreement is what the Agreement is. By all means, enforce your Scope language, but you won't harm any AAI pilots in the process. We specifically designed it that way as much as we possibly could. I'm still a little shocked that the "ideas" being offered by SWA pilots still hammer AAI pilots again and again rather than coming up with ideas that require management to fix the issue THEY created.

We're going to have to work together for a long, long time to come. How about coming up with ideas that don't screw the other group?

Just a thought.

 

[fam62c]

There won't be any seats to bid, as I understand it. No flush bid.

I'm also betting on 20-30 international 737's on 1/1/2015, but who knows?

That would be interesting because after 1/1/15 AT pilots can bid SW vacancies without restriction. As SW guys retire AT 737 pilots may choose to bid to the SW side for better schedules, pay credit, bases and QOL in general. While it's true that after 1/1/15 AT pilots will have the SW contract some pilots may not want to stay on the AT side as it winds down and as it stands now there is nothing to require them to do so. SW might have a problem if they have international ops still on the AT side after 1/1/15.

Time for the AT folks to just sit back and give this situation some time rather than being too quick to agree to give SW more flexibility. SW created this situation, let them stew in it for awhile. The AT guys are on the list and that can't be changed so the big gun has been removed for the heads of the AT pilots. No reason to play ball if you aren't allowed to be part of the team, don't sell Manhattan for beads