BIG NEWS at AE and AA

[Airline Pilot27]

This is Gregg Overman, APA Director of Communications, with the
APA Information Hotline for Thursday, January 17.


The following is the text of a news release that APA issued this
afternoon:


The Allied Pilots Association (APA), which serves as collective
bargaining agent for the 11,000 pilots of American Airlines,
today presented a proposal to American Airlines that is designed
to address management's stated need to preserve commuter feed to
American Airlines and keep the carrier's recovery going strong.


"This proposal addresses the needs of all parties," stated
Captain John Darrah, APA President. "While AMR Corporation has
stated that they will have to furlough American Eagle employees
if APA does not agree to their demands, our proposal will
preserve American Airlines, TWA LLC, and American Eagle jobs
while enabling American Airlines to continue its recovery."


According to Darrah, APA's proposal consists of a phased approach
that would return all flying to American Airlines, thereby
removing the primary job-security issue in the minds of American
Airlines' pilots: the outsourcing of American Airlines' flying.


Phase One consists of all 70-seat Regional Jets being flown by
American Airlines pilots.


This would prevent American Eagle from reaching the contractual
cap on Regional Jets. This step would also reduce the likelihood
that management will trigger the available-seat-mile (ASM) and
block-hour limits in effect on American Eagle's operations while
any American Airlines pilots are on furlough.


"Recalling American Airlines and TWA LLC pilots to fly these
70-seat Regional Jets will hasten the removal of this cap on
American Eagle," said Darrah.


Phase Two calls for AMR Corporation to exchange their 44-seat
Regional Jet orders for 50-seat Regional Jets and have them
delivered to and flown by American Airlines. Once all American
Airlines and TWA LLC pilots are recalled, American Eagle pilots
would rapidly flow-through to these new American Airlines jobs.


Phase Three would consist of the transfer of all other flying to
American Airlines, with the remaining American Eagle pilots also
transferring to the mainline carrier to perform the flying.


"To permit AMR Corporation to grow American Eagle at the expense
of American Airlines so AMR can feed Delta Airlines in California
and build an Eagle hub in Raleigh-Durham would result in further
outsourcing of our flying. That would be a huge disservice to
our pilots, particularly when 595 of them are currently
furloughed," he said. "If CEO Don Carty truly intends for
American Airlines to be the world's premier airline, he should
join the Allied Pilots Association in an effort to resolve the
commuter feed issue once and for all."
----------------------------------------------

For Eagle pilots this could be salvation or **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED**ation...the details will tell.

 

[TurboS7]

AA needs to do something, I just bought a $187.00 round trip non-stop ticket FLL-LAX for my daughter. It was a great deal but they have to be hurting to let ticket prices slip that low.

 

[FlyinBrian]

Wow. This is huge news... I can't quite decipher it all though. I'd sure like to see a timetable for this plan. It sounds as though they plan on going for one list by having American absorb ALL jet flying.... Unfortunately it also sounds like Eagle pilots will get screwed during the transition as the furloughees from TWA take jet spots away from Eagle pilots. Of course this flying may put Eagle over the ASM cap anyway in which case it's not stealing flying... Whatever the ramifications, it's big news.

 

[eagleatr]

This sounds like a great deal for Eagle, but I think you'll see the chances of AMR acceptting this are zero. Just wait, this is only the second shot in this public war of what to do. Management will come back with a counter proposal.

 

[surfnole]

I don't know where the cheap airfares are.

I need to go to Colorado Springs from Orlando on 4/1 returning 4/5. Travelocity showed the cheapest fare as roughly $550 and it was flying on RJs all the way.

Comair from Orlando to Nashville, then Ozarks (never heard of them) on a Fairchild jet from Nashville to Colorado Springs. Some deal huh. Over $500 and I get to get crammed into an RJ to go 2/3rds of the way across the continent.

I think I will do a Saturday stayover and fly Frontier to direct to DEN on an Airbus.

By the way, one of my options had a leg from Dallas to Colorado Springs on a Skywest RJ.

 

[jetexas]

AMR has a history of pitting one employee group against another to achieve their goals. While I think the APA proposal is a fantastic idea, I too, doubt AMR will bite. It sure would create some harmony around here and raise our dangerously low morale ten-fold, however.

 

[MartinFierro]

Somehow, I fail to see how this deal would be good for Eagle pilots. First, in no clear language does it ever state an "integration" of seniority lists. It only mentions "Eagle pilots will rapidly flow thru to these new American positions," or something to that effect. Any assumption that the lists would be integrated is dangerous. And talking about flow-thru...if AA/TWA are flying all the jets, how would Eagle pilots flow (based on our current agreement)???? The agreement expires in 2007? I haven't heard of anybody talking renewal. So maybe the "assumption" is that since AA would be doing the RJ flying, that means AA would be in a position to hire more Eagle pilots? Well, so far AA has not had a good track record of dipping into the Eagle well for pilots. Why should we believe this will change?

I see this as a proposal that no one expects to get accepted, not even APA. Call me cynical, but I see it as little more than political maneuvering. To pass, not only would AMR have to accept it, so would Eagle ALPA. And since it would mean immediately putting more Eagle pilots on the street, I think it has no chance.

I for one don't want to see this enacted. It would mean I'd be on the street for a very long time from Eagle. I agree with what someone else posted earlier elsewhere: Eagle pilots must stop looking at list integration with APA or flow-thru as a saving grace. We will probably end up getting shafted again if we continue to.

 

[jcb071]

APA and Eagle

APA is only looking out for themselves. Anyone that thinks this is a good deal for Eagle has no idea what they are talking about. Tell me how is losing my job to AA pilots is helping me. I have a family to support just like everone elce. I would like to talk more, but it will just make me more upset than I already am.

 

[publisher]

Consolidation

They needed to counter the pub of American asking to expand Eagle flying.

As I said in another thread of the same subject, consolidation of regionals has now turned to distancing from regionals. The Comair strike did more damage than it appeared.

If American ever accepted this, it would say they are too far down the path to do what say Continental is doing, getting rid of their regional.

 

[Bluestreak]

Hoo boy ! Lemme see here....Phase I,II and III = more jobs for AA/TWA pilots,no "new" jobs for Eagle.How long to cycle 595 mainline pilots through this ? 595 pilots = another airline the size CHQ used to be.Will mx,F/A's,dispatch,ramp also be mainline ? Can you have Eagle F/A's working AA trips ? How many airplanes are we talking here ? At 4 crews/plane,about 70.Accepting delivery at 3/month,at least two years.THEN,to recall all AA/TWA pilots would be how long ?It would appear that an AE RJ Capt. would have to move to the 70 seater before flowing thru to the heavy metal.Just seems like another obstacle in the flow-thru path.Oh,I forgot-they'll call the 70 and 50 seaters AA....Hmmmm.Well,hasn't APA always had the Eagle pilot's best interest at heart,just like Airways mainline looks out for the wholly-owned pilots ?