Any new ABX info?

[356emain]

Depending on what the company is willing to do on pay and pension we might have a TA by this weekend.

 

[penguin22]

I still think Hete's waiting to get our new contract in place before any pilot hiring. So the new guys fall under the new retirement program. What do you guys think?

Looks like a big confluence of events coming soon at ABX. ANA, new pilot contract, and pilot hiring (finally!)

 

[xspud]

I still think Hete's waiting to get our new contract in place before any pilot hiring. So the new guys fall under the new retirement program. What do you guys think?

I think that's a reasonable theory.

From my limited perspective, there's been a lot of uncertainty about staffing this year, ie: DHL pressure to reduce; DC8's how long?; How many DC9's?; ANA a domicile or ILN?

Result is we'll probably be short-staffed everywhere but 9FO's and 8FE's, but I don't think the company minds that.

 

[ABXbooger]

I've heard about the possibility of a TA by this weekend, we'll see if it passes. Looks like the company is planning on the ANA flying regardless of a TA.

What does everyone think about the 23 days on the road for the ANA flying?

I personally think we are setting a dangerous precedent which might be hard to recover in the future. Unless there is a mechanism in place to ensure that only those who want to do the flying do it and no one is forced into doing it. I know the union is talking about language that prohibits a junior guy from being forced into it two periods in a row, but that still means a ton of time on the road, regardless. I value my time at home above all. I would accept a block like we have currently (17-18 days) but 23 days is too much. My 2 cents.

 

[ABXbooger]

As far as hiring, anyone out there in the pool? I know there were people hired into the pool way back in '01, I hope they aren't still waiting. Thought maybe they would have an update from HR.

 

[Box-Hauler]

My .02 is that there should be a drop dead cluase in the ANA side letter. Not like the genius who wrote the side letter for the 767. If we are not careful we will end up with an ANA deal like we have on the 76 now. We have over 30 Boeings and we still have none conforming lines due to the original 767 "side letter." An easy fix to this is a hard number of A/C, crews, or months that the contract is ongoing. Anything over this "number" will force the company to meet "scheduling paramaters". I.E. once we have 10 767's or 20 crews or 36 months of straight service on an ANA Asian flight, all lines must conform to scheduling paramaters (15 days off a month) This way we have a definate date or number to renegotiate our options. This way we have the option of renegotiating the ANA deal. Note I said "option", that does not mean we have to but it give us the option to change something or leave it status quo. Renegotiations would then be based upon how the pilot group feels about the companys job of living up to its originally agreed upon contract (and we all know how well they do that)

Thanks for the time to rant.......

 

[penguin22]

Not like the genius who wrote the side letter for the 767. If we are not careful we will end up with an ANA deal like we have on the 76 now. We have over 30 Boeings and we still have none conforming lines due to the original 767 "side letter."

Let me let you in on a little secret... The only people who've been complaining about the 767 side letter are those whom it doesn't affect. Generally speaking, we actually LOVE those non-standard lines, particularly on a vacation month. If those lines were the crap that everybody talks about, they'd be going to the bottom of the seniority list. They're not.

 

[xspud]

The result of the side letter means that you have lines with more than 15 days off and you don't have to bid them back, right? I don't see any problem with that. I personally wouldn't be excited about WD days in ILN, but on the other hand you're getting paid for them, so again I wouldn't have a problem with it.

I noticed that the May 767 bid awards noted "owes X MLW days" on several lines. I thought those didn't have to be bid back?

RE: ANA schedules. UPS, FedEx and the legacies have fewer days away on international ops, but most ACMI's have about as many away with much less time off. Current ANA contract pilots don't have 23 on but they also have many fewer days off and commute on their own time as far as I know. It seems to me that we're somewhere in the middle. I agree that we may regret a contract that allows these same scheduling rules in other operations, or allows these same rules if the ANA operation evolves from intra-Asian routes to longhaul.

 

[penguin22]

The result of the side letter means that you have lines with more than 15 days off and you don't have to bid them back, right? I don't see any problem with that. I personally wouldn't be excited about WD days in ILN, but on the other hand you're getting paid for them, so again I wouldn't have a problem with it.

That's right. If you're a commuter, you get WAD days, but if you're local, you're home that day. So local guys like them even if its not a vacation month.

I noticed that the May 767 bid awards noted "owes X MLW days" on several lines. I thought those didn't have to be bid back?

You never see "owes X MLW days" on a non-standard line. (The non-standard lines have a N/S at the bottom. For May they are lines 664-675) You don't have to bid back MLW days on a non-standard line. So on a vacation month, you bid a N/S line, they have 18 or 19 days off, and then 7 more days drop for your vacation, you end up with most of the month off. Gotta love those non-standard lines!

 

[ABXbooger]

mega-bid (for us it is!) is out. 17 CA 17 FO's from 6/11 to 10/1. No september class, yet. This could get interesting...

 

[abxaviator]

mega-bid (for us it is!) is out. 17 CA 17 FO's from 6/11 to 10/1. No september class, yet. This could get interesting...

Well, it's a start, but Mega?, not with the numbers of a/c we have coming. Still doing things half way, I guess.

 

[LarryinTN]

That's good. Can we vote on who we think should take the bid?

 

[xspud]

Looks like we've entered the interesting part of negotiations. My inbox is filling up with e-mails about the compensation proposal apparently on the table.

Some say we're in line for a decent raise, others say virtually no raise based on interpretation of CPI's.

Some are claiming "no retro pay". That would earn a "no" vote from me.

I've been in favor of the ANA flying, but I fully support the position that there can be no ANA agreement without a full contract.

If you haven't been getting the e-mails, send some out and get in on the conversation.

 

[penguin22]

Some say we're in line for a decent raise, others say virtually no raise based on interpretation of CPI's.

Some are claiming "no retro pay". That would earn a "no" vote from me.

Anybody know exactly what statistic they've agreed to for COLA?

They could be using this...
http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/latestCOLA.html
that says its currently 3.3%.

or they could use this
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm
read down a bit...
"For the first three months of 2007, consumer prices increased at a
seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 4.7 percent. This compares with
an increase of 2.5 percent for all of 2006. "


My .02?
COLA +1? I dunno. The no cap feature does nothing for me, we all know COLA is not going to 10-15%. And I can't imagine the eboard would agree to no retro. That TA would NEVER fly.

 

[penguin22]

Astar guys take note...
we're not talking pay cuts here....

No Concessionary Contracts!!