ASA State of company

[asapilot]

Thanks wil. It's more important than ever for us to all share information and I hadn't seen much said about Skip's talk, so I thought I'd post what I'd heard.

Well, I had written a long, drawn-out reply about this, but by the time I was done, I saw my reply was outdated. I'm going to suspend my decision until 12/5 when the MEC can present it all for us.

 

[sleepy]

"The talk around the lounge last summer was "quality of life" since we would not see too much of a raise because of the economics. But 2 years out we can go for quality of life and pay- without a doubt!"


I am sorry wil, but we won't get dick without some scope or control over a portion of DCI flying.

This contract extension puts us 3 years and 10 months behind where we are now, because we will have to start from the beginning in 10 months. So we start over in 10 months, then it takes 3 years from that date to finish the contract, now we are working for what we are making now for 4 years and 10 months. But we got retro pay, right? The last time we got retro pay it was about $600.

But what if they offer us another carrot in 2 years? What if we take their deal, and they still send the aircraft to Chit or now Midway, or Scumwest?

What if they liquidate us in 10 months and give all of our present flying to one of these other outfits? What would stop Fred?

I say make a stand now. If Chit will fly our 50 seat RJ's for peanuts, then give them to those kids. If Scumwest will fly our 70 seat RJ's for 50 seat pay, then the same applies. I'm sure that you are smart enough to find another line of work that pays better, and has a better QOL than what Chit and Scumwest will take your job for. Right?

Comair had it right!

 

[rjcap]

sleepy,

Your comments are dead on target !!!!!!

 

[wms]

Though I don't know how much I can buy into it, he did seem to express a committment to putting out a good bid on the RFP regardless of the outcome of our negotiation status.

One positive is that Skip seems to share our distaste for Chiquita's presence and seemed to not be pleased that we were all being played against each other.

I don't know if this is reliable, but I had a SKW jumpseater the other day who said their mgmt isn't going to bid on the RFP because they wouldn't make money. It seems that CHQ would have to include the expense of developing a CRJ program, which would increase their bid. ACA is on their own mission. Unless Mesa low-balls, which might be hard with the other battle they're fighting, I would say the bulk of the jets will come to ASA/CA anyway with some going to SKW for the SLC growth. If the DCI mgmts all refuse to give in, DAL will just have to put the jets where it make the best business sense, labor agreements or not.

 

[asapilot]

As sleepy said, retro pay sounds like a great thing until you hear the specifics. If they said they'd pay us what we end up getting for the term of the extension, then we wouldn't really be losing anything. I'm sure though they've factored how much retro they can pay us and still be viable though and I highly doubt it will be a number we really want to see. I, like many others, tend to believe that Delta already knows where it wants the planes and who it makes the most sense to give them too. After all, we and Comair are wholly owned, do you really think that Delta doesn't already know exactly how much we cost and what our bid will be? I think we need to be open to how we can best position ourselves in the current market, but not sell ourselves out for a short-term win that will have long-term negative ramifications.

 

[btflyer2]

How about this, if they want to know what "our" (loosely said, I am a poolie) costs will be for the RFP, just match Comair's rates and/or contract, immediately. Get the negotiations over, then costs will no longer be the "big unknown"!!!!!

And for those who say the economy will be better in 2 years, can we get that in writing??

 

[asapilot]

btflyer-

Well, it sounds like a simple solution, but I think that's exactly what they're trying to avoid. They wanted Comair to get cheaper, so obviously they don't want us to get more expensive, hence the extension.

Also, what Comair gets is good, we know that we're quite likely to get better. It's not so much a matter of being greedy. With ACA going off to do their own thing, it's essentially just us and Comair keeping up the level we've worked for in the regional industry. While getting what Comair has would be a slight increase for us, I think we're all committed not so much to keeping the pay going up and up(though up a reasonable amount), but to improving work rules and securing a viable future for our group(and hopefully for you as well). We like to think of ourselves as industry leaders(and we are in lost bags and involuntary denied boardings) so we've got to move forward.

 

[sleepy]

Remember that with the rate of inflation (2 to 3% per year) a pay freeze is a pay loss. It is a concession.

 

[FL000]

Remember that with the rate of inflation (2 to 3% per year) a pay freeze is a pay loss. It is a concession.

Thanks Sleepy. I've been trying to hammer that point home. It doesn't matter if one perceives this as concessions or not. It IS a bid for growth.

Not a good path to choose.

 

[asapilot]

not exactly

Remember that with the rate of inflation (2 to 3% per year) a pay freeze is a pay loss. It is a concession.

While I don't want to argue whether this is a concession or not, we're not being asked to take a pay freeze. Our current contract remains in effect which pay increases based on longetivity just as it has been since we've been in negotiations. Also, it might interest you to note than our current longetivity pay increases yearly are about 2% until you get to around year 10 when it's about 3%. So, you're getting your inflationary raise as it is.

I'm not of the opinion that the proposal as it is is a good idea for us either, I just want to make sure we don't misunderstand what's being asked of us.