jetexas said:
Try and look at this from the eyes of the Eagle pilot. ....
Jetexas, eaglefly,
With all due respect, the Eagle pilots have not really tried to defend themselves against the AA group. What you
have tried to do is "flow" to AA and, in the process, concede your flying in an effort to get some of theirs. I really hate to say this because I truly feel sorry for all of you, but the truth is the handwriting has been on the wall for a long time and you have been so busy trying to "get a mainline job" that you haven't taken care of your own jobs.
You said that "folks at AA want to come here to Eagle." I disagree. They do not want to come to Eagle, they want to eliminate Eagle. They can't quite do that so they are content with transferring as many Eagle jobs to American as they can. What they are doing is grand theft equipment and grand theft jobs. No, its not "ethical" but this has nothing to do with ethics. It's about money and power. There are no ethics in your "union" (ALPA) and there are none in their union (APA). The sooner you come to accept that, the better off you'll be. That's not "nice" but it is certainly true.
In this business, when the chips are down, its dog eat dog. Theres' nothing "new" about that. ALL of the "big five" pilot groups have traditionally taken advantage of every under dog to the extent they could, whenever they could, througout their existence. If you expect that to change, you will be disappointed.
For a long time a lot of people have been trying to tell you that the AA pilots were out to take your airplanes and your flying. You responded by trying to "make love" to them while all they were interested in doing was planning to screw you, without as much as a kiss. Now that they've apparently done it, why are you complaining? It may well be too late now, so take the $2 they left on the night stand and feel good.
If the TA passes, they will have succeded in taking your CRJ-700s and the Captain slots in your smaller jets. You still, based on your posts and those of your fellow pilot eaglefly, don't seem to get it. There is no such thing as "fair" in this business and there never has been.
Don't worry eaglefly, from the looks of the TA, they won't be in your crew lounge, but your airplanes will be in their "hangar" and it is YOU that will not be in THEIR crew lounge.
Based on the TA, they are agreeing to fly your airplanes for less money than you get to fly them now. They are underbidding you for the flying (that's the only way it can be "cost competitive").
They are using your jobs and your futures as one of their bargaining chips. They've been doing that for a long time. You can't really expect your "union" to do anything about that, for it sanctions the very same thing by one "ALPA carrier" against another "ALPA carrier", which is far worse. At least the APA is not your union and its members have NO responsibility to protect your interests. They are protecting themselves (which is their right) and YOU, gentlemen, have not been doing much to protect yourselves. It appears you will now pay the price.
Here are some thoughts of others that might apply to your situation as well as ours.
"If you make yourselves sheep, the wolves will eat you."
- Benjamin Franklin-
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Winston Churchill