Life isn’t fair. Nothing stays the same.
You are in the airline industry; your lot in life will change. It isn’t Mother Delta, American, Northwest, United, US Air or America West that it once was. This is a business. Businesses exist to make a profit. When they can’t make a profit, they seek a new model. We are labor and we are expendable. If you don’t like this, then quit and find another occupation. Don’t want to quit: then work to improve the system for your fellow man as best you can.
Figure out where you are in life as a responsible adult. Everyone needs a plan B. If you have all your eggs in one basket, you are nuts. ALPA (or your MEC) does not exist to hold your hand. ALPA exists to take care of ALPA which works to take care of the masses as best it can. Unions are run by the top 20% of pilots at every airline. These top 20% want to take care of themselves first and you second. That isn’t a bad thing; it is a seniority based system. If you are in the bottom 1/4 at any airline you are hoping and praying to move up to the top 1/4 so you can have other guys fly the crap you don’t want. We are just as professional as doctors and lawyers, we eat our young. The young hope to survive for better days tomorrow. As a baby boomer, one of things we keep saying about Gen X, Y, Z, is that they “whine” when life doesn’t go there way, it is always someone else’s fault. A responsible adult accepts that you make a plan, …and if it doesn’t work out, you find a new plan. But don’t “whine” about how the system screwed you. Stand up and be a Man and take responsibility for the road you traveled in life. Your life will fork left and right and you need to be ready to change – don’t blame the speed bumps on somebody else. But nobody has a right to forecast what might have been in the airline world. Here today and gone tomorrow.
The thing that burns the AWA guys the most is the strong sense of “entitlement” exhibited by the East guys. We were at our airline, jumping through the same hoops, and just trying to keep our career going. Then the merger comes along. Again, 9 out of 10 AWA pilots wish it never happened, but it is here, and the arbitration award is out. The US Air MEC negotiated the best they could, had numerous opportunities to mediate, but hung the hat on DOH. DOH was not used by the arbitrator. It isn’t our group’s fault.
What next? Cry over spilt milk, burn the house down, ridiculous. How about, we cinch up our belt and work to get the best contract possible and try to become the best airline in the industry. If you are still furloughed, we will work to get your back as soon as possible. Don’t want to come back, that is your choice. There are thousands of other pilots waiting for a chance to work at the New US Airways. There is always a new pilot that wants your job. So as an AWA pilot, I’ll see you in the picket line in PHX on May 8/24, in PHL on May 15/25, in CLT on May 21, in LAX on May 22, in DCA on May 23, or in LAS on May 26th, to do our part in making it better for ourselves and the guys following behind us. If you don’t want to come, ok, but I’ll be in one of the lines trying to get the East pilots to our contract/work rules as quick as possible and to give every furloughee a chance to get back to work as soon as possible. The rest is up to you.
imp: 
