ASA parking planes???

[Jorgy50]

Just to clarify things. Our contract (ASA) has a no furlough provision. It states that no pilot may be furloughed who is on the senority list at the time of signing. So for anyone hired after that date they can furlough; is that correct? It was signed on Nov. 20 and the last pilot hired before that date has a senority number of 1589. There are now 1731 pilots on the list which makes a possible 142 furloughs (I'm not saying there are going to be furloughs). That's what I see in the contract. Everyone's talking possible furloughs. Am I missing something?

 

[McNugent]

No Furlough

OK now that someone is thinking the same thing as me, here's what the contract says:

J. No Furlough
For the duration of this Agreement, notwithstanding the provisions of Section 23 and the provisions of paragraph 1.E.4., above, the Company will not furlough any pilot whose name is on the seniority list on the effective date of this Agreement except in circumstances over which the Company has no control. The term “circumstances over which the Company has no control” includes, but is not limited to, a natural disaster; grounding of a substantial number of the Company’s aircraft by a government agency; reduction in flying operations because of a decrease in available fuel supply or other critical material due to either governmental action or commercial suppliers being unable to provide sufficient fuel or other critical materials for the Company’s operations; revocation of the Company’s operating certificate; war emergency; owner’s delay in delivery of aircraft scheduled for delivery; or manufacturer’s delay in delivery of new aircraft scheduled for delivery. The term “circumstances over which the Company has no control” will not include the price of fuel or other supplies, the price of aircraft, the state of the economy, the financial state of the Company, or the relative profitability or unprofitability of the Company’s then-current operations.​

http://asacontract2007.alpa.org/Contract_pdf_docs/2008 0229 ASA Contract - Final with links.pdf​

Doesn't say anything about capacity reductions...

 

[79%N1]

Seriously, step away from the doomsday machine. Every post you've made is doom and gloom.

ASA has never furloughed anyone and doubt they're about to start now. .

Oil has never been nearly $150/barrel and climbing every day. This is not some short turn run up by speculators, or some bubble that will pop. This is worldwide global economics. Demand will not be reducing, and until we find alternatives in the distant future, the prices will remain unsustainable for this industry. People cannot afford what the prices will be by probably next summer. Capacity will be cut. The days of 8 flights a day to MEI, LFT, VLD, etc will be gone. I'm just looking at the reality of this, and not putting my head in the 'things will be rosy' sand.

 

[Medeco]

COMA's now listed on FLICA. Pretty sure that is new today.

Medeco

 

[JustaNumber]

Doesn't say anything about capacity reductions...

That's an excellent point. I would have thought that Delta's financial problems/schedule reductions should have been included in the no furlough clause, one way or the other. The way I read it as written, Delta's actions would be beyond ASA's control, so we're screwed. Not that we've necessarily reached that point yet, but I don't think that clause will help us much if it come to that.

 

[McNugent]

Just noticed COMA's myself. I feel like I've been in one after working on my bid the last hour... What does COMA mean exactly? Is it the same as a COLA?

 

[Cpt Oveur]

Company Offered Monthly Absence. Page 46 of the contract, or 52 of the .pdf.

 

[thesource]

I really wish people would stop pinning any hope on a no furlough clause. It is not worth the paper it is written on and for that matter history shows these clauses have never done anything to stop a furlough.

If a company wants to do it they will and that clause will not stop them.

 

[Speedtape]

I really wish people would stop pinning any hope on a no furlough clause. It is not worth the paper it is written on and for that matter history shows these clauses have never done anything to stop a furlough.

If a company wants to do it they will and that clause will not stop them.

FALSE! Do your homework!

 

[CFI2766]

FALSE! Do your homework!

No NEED to do his/her homework!

Yup, I know what the contract says. Yup, at first glance, it's got pretty good language with regards to a furlough.

Seriously though, if ASA gets to a point where furloughs are needed, they'll simply propose a dollar per hour increase to the senior captains in exchange for furloughing the bottom 'X' number of guys. Given the choice between possible liquidation (which will be the stick used by management) and keeping their jobs, the senior guys will play ball. It might take a period of 'intense negotiations', and visible hand-wringing by the MEC, but it'll happen. Our pilot group wouldn't do that you say? Really now, think back: How was the 'signing bonus' distributed after the contract was settled? I've yet to meet a single FO who thinks that was fair.

Now, in defense of the folks making that decision, a certain amount of greed and selfishness amongst a pilot group is not unique to ASA. It's simply a fact of life now-a-days, especially in the regional airline side of the pool.