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Alleghney's Matt Kernan works for US Air

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psyops

Active member
Joined
Jan 28, 2002
Posts
31
I just learned that ALG pilot and ALPA Executive Vice President Captian Matt Kernan is secretly working for US Airways! His dad was a former US Air MEC Chariman, and the kid is following in his old man's footsteps. So now he is stabbing the ALPA group C airlines in the back, as he advocates that they accept the lousy deal that the Airways mec has proposed.

The following is the text of this ridiculous proposal. Kernan endorses it, so let your own sensibilities be our guide as to whether he is selling the pilot goups he represents down the road.

Here it is:

CONFIDENTIAL


The US Airways pilots have developed protocols for US Airways to deploy additional Small Jets at Express partners. If these protocols are acceptable to an Express pilot group and their management, the mainline pilots would agree to the placement by US Airways of additional Small Jets at the Express partner. We have developed a new LOA, which authorizes US Airways to use Small Jets in exchange for employment opportunities for furloughed Mainline pilots. We have described this concept as “Jets for Jobs.”

When the US Airways Mainline pilots are recalled to active service at the Mainline, the Small Jets acquired in accordance with these Protocols would remain at the Express partner. Vacancies would then be filled by pilots on the Express Operator’s seniority list. We would hope that this arrangement would be beneficial for all parties. Since US Airways is anxious to begin acquiring additional Small Jets, and we are interested in employment opportunities for our furloughees, your immediate consideration of these Protocols is important.



Protocols for Deploying Additional US Airways Express Small Jets

1. Prior to permitting any Small Jets to be placed into operation over the current contractual limitation of 70 aircraft, US Airways, in conjunction with ALPA, shall negotiate agreement(s) to offer employment to furloughed Mainline pilots with the Express Operator(s) scheduled to operate such equipment. All vacancies created by acquisition of equipment by an Express Operator as a result of this Letter of Agreement shall be offered to Mainline pilots who are subject to furlough.

2. When such Express Operator(s) are selected, the number of available positions and the projected date of the vacancies shall be bulletined for bid. Such pilot positions shall be offered in seniority order, at no fewer than eight pilots per Small Jet, to any pilot on the US Airways Seniority List who is on furlough, is projected to be furloughed based on the then current system bid, or is in a seniority range that is announced to be furloughed by the Company. A Mainline pilot may bid to fill a vacancy at an Express Operator as a captain, first officer or “any position.”

3. A Mainline pilot may fill a known vacancy at an Express Operator by leaving his Mainline position prior to the pilot’s date of furlough. However, the pilot must provide no less than 30 days’ notice to US Airways. A pilot exercising this option shall be considered on a personal leave of absence until his date of furlough. Should a pilot who is scheduled to be furloughed decide not to bid an available vacancy, he shall forfeit any rights to the vacancy until such time as additional vacancies become available at an Express Operator. In addition, a pilot may elect to accept furlough in lieu of this opportunity for employment at an Express Operator.

4. A pilot who accepts employment under this provision shall be subject to rates of pay, rules and working conditions of pilots employed by the operating carrier, except that, for pay purposes only, a US Airways pilot’s date of hire at the Mainline shall determine the pilot’s longevity for compensation. A Mainline pilot will not be subject to a training or employment contract at the Express Operator. The pilot shall retain all recall rights at the Company and shall continue all accruals under the Agreement applicable to a furloughed pilot.

5. If an insufficient number of US Airways pilots apply to fill the Small Jet positions at the operating carrier, the operating carrier may fill the positions with pilots from its seniority list.

6. If pilots are recalled at the Mainline, the Mainline pilots remaining at the Express Operator shall rebid to fill the vacancies created by the pilots who have returned to the Mainline. When US Airways pilots are recalled to Mainline, remaining vacancies will be filled by the Express Operator’s pilots.

7. If captain vacancies become available at an Express Operator during the term of this Letter of Agreement, such vacancies shall be offered to the furloughed US Airways pilots serving as first officers at the Express Carrier in seniority order. All US Airways furloughees shall be qualified as captains when they are trained to assume their positions at the Express Carrier.

8. After the initial bid, if additional vacancies become available at an Express Operator because they receive additional US Airways Small Jets, such vacancies shall be made available for bid to the furloughed US Airways pilots in seniority order.

9. If through no fault of his own a furloughed Mainline pilot loses his job at a participating Express Operator, the pilot shall be eligible to bid for any vacancy at any other Express Operator in accordance with his seniority.

10. No US Airways Mainline pilot will be obligated to tender a resignation letter to US Airways to obtain employment with any Express Operator.
 
What utter rubbish!!!! These guys should be ashamed of themselves! How do they look in the mirror?
 
The nerve of those guys demanding something for giving up their scope provisions. Shocking!
It is unlikely that the US Air pilots will get called back. This is not as much about scope as it is rats trying to get on a piece of driftwood as the ship is sinking.

As you APA guys love to remind the TWA pilots - the US Air pilots made the decision to come to US Air from some other flying job. That doesn't give them the right to go to the top of another airline's seniority list.

Has anybody looked at recalling ALPA Executive Vice President Captian Matt Kernan?
 
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4. A pilot who accepts employment under this provision shall be subject to rates of pay, rules and working conditions of pilots employed by the operating carrier, except that, for pay purposes only, a US Airways pilot?s date of hire at the Mainline shall determine the pilot?s longevity for compensation. A Mainline pilot will not be subject to a training or employment contract at the Express Operator. The pilot shall retain all recall rights at the Company and shall continue all accruals under the Agreement applicable to a furloughed pilot.

Talk about a sweet deal, you get to go to a company you do not work, most likely never worked for and get paid better than any new hire... and you get to take jobs away from the actual company employee's. Why would TSA, CHQ or Mesa people go for this $hit?


Ironically I spoke with a few TSA guy's a few days ago... Thier spin was something like 100 jet's for each of the contract carrier's and explosive growth potential... The down side was that TSA guys most likely would not all be recalled...
 
Another factor I am told is that Airways is on record as saying it will rid itself of turboprops. So if the wholly owned pilots agree to this nonsense, they can expect to see their go away as Airways replaces props with jets. And by the language of this proposal, the Airways furloughees are furlough protected. This clown Kernan is backing a proposal which would incrementally put all Alleghney pilots (and all of the wholly owned pilots he represents) on the street. Not to mention diluting the resolve of those same pilot groups with a bunch of mainline people who don't care about those on the bottom.... they have their jets and pay. Some union leader Kernan is... Helping destroy the foundation of the pilot groups he is supposed to represent.

There is ALPA Group "C" (the one Kernan is supposed to represent) recall sentiment brewing.

Another conflict that should be noted is that Kernan's father was once the Airways MEC Chairman (as noted in ALPA's "Flying The Line"). He has deep ties to Airways and the heads of state at ALPA national. That's why it is no surprise that he is selling the commuters out.
 
psyops said:
There is ALPA Group "C" (the one Kernan is supposed to represent) recall sentiment brewing.

Do you understand what is entailed in recalling an EVP? Whatever your opinion, there's little chance of that happening.
 
Matt the Rat

My friend at PSA tells me that recalling an EVP is next to impossible, but just letting the people he represents know what a rat he is, would be better than nothing. If nothing else, it will kill his re-election hopes.

People like him are the embodiment of everything bad in union representation. From what I've heard, he is as bad as the thieving companies he allegedly fights against.
 
I am really surprised the WO's would go for the deal... Airways has burnt them more times then they can remember and they have been getting promises of jet's for years... If this went through I would think the WO's would love the idea as there jobs are protected and the contract guys are going to be out on the street.

It just does not make sense... why offer something the WO's will almost never see Let's be realistic too, Airways would never give over Jet's to the WO's, there contracts are superior to the contracts carriers by leaps and bounds. Heck if I was at mainline I would look to the WO's before any contract carrier as the WO's have the better deals and better companies than the contract carriers...

One thing that is still perplexing, a few of the named contract carriers fly more than one color, would airways still allow that? Thier mainline guys could technically fly for the competition...

this will get interesting if it ever get's off of the ground...
 
I spoke to several connected pilots from Mesa and Trans States this week, and they indicated that their MEC's were currently in talks with their companies and US Airways ALPA reps about the questionable protocol. Word has it that the pilot groups in question are giving it serious consideration.

Obviously, management would love a deal like this. They get to increase the size of their airline and get a polarized, mercenary pilot faction willing to sacrifice the existing group for their own needs. What a perfect opportunity for management to whipsaw the two groups against each other.

"Hey, jet guys. The company will increase eight to twenty year compensation upward by twenty bucks an hour if you agree to lower the minimum days off to eight and agree to unlimited, unregulated junior manning. What say?"

The jet boys reply, "Throw in hot crew meals for the jet flights and you're on!"

Imagine that. Guys who get to keep their Airways seniority get paid huge bucks and never have to worry about minimum days off or getting junior manned. Since Airways wants massive numbers of Small Jets, the furloughed pilot ranks would soon overwhelm the old hands at the regional airlines.

The contract carriers had better think any proposal offered by the Airways pilots over VERY carefully. Ask any of the Eagle pilots what they think, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, about the flow through agreement with AA. The overwhelming majority now think it was a totallly one sided deal. A few hundred Eagle pilots flowed up to the mainline, but now they are faced with massive flowbacks causing pilots to be furloughed off the bottom of the Eagle list.
 

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