CAL giving up on EWR?

[IAHERJ]

Company claims they took into account all the displacements to EWR and EWR being the most junior base where our most junior have had to commute to(a lot of those commuters being from IAH) when they realigned the staffing. This will supposedly help out those on the bottom end of the seniority list from having to commute to EWR to sit reserve. Just passing along what I've heard. On the 757/767, I fly a lot of legs between IAH and EWR and we almost always have 2 cockpit jumpseaters joining us up front.

 

[Kugelblitz]

CAL pilots are a disgrace. They must be enlighted the hard way as to what an airline pilot is suppose to be like as they have never learned the basics of unionism in the past 25 years.

Unionism has been so very effective these last 25 years.

 

[Eagle757shark]

AirTran, Continental swapping slots at 3 airports
By HARRY R. WEBER (AP) – 2 hours ago
ATLANTA — Discount carrier AirTran Airways plans to stop flying to and from Newark, N.J., and will give its takeoff and landing slots there to Continental Airlines in exchange for Continental slots at airports in Washington and New York, where AirTran faces increased competition from Southwest Airlines, officials said.
An AirTran executive told employees in a memo Tuesday obtained by The Associated Press that the carrier's decision to cease operations effective Oct. 25 at Newark-Liberty International Airport will allow it to expand its operations at Washington Reagan National Airport and New York's LaGuardia Airport.
Southwest began flying to LaGuardia in June and would gain entry to National Airport in Washington if its $170 million bid to buy the parent of Frontier Airlines succeeds. A bankruptcy court auction to sell Frontier is set for Thursday.
The swap is for slots only, and no money is expected to change hands, according to two people familiar with the deal who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity because details have not been publicly released.
The officials said that AirTran will give its 10 slots, its single gate and a jetway at Newark to Continental. In exchange, the people said, Continental will give AirTran four slots at LaGuardia and six slots at the Washington airport.
Continental spokeswoman Mary Clark declined to comment.
Low-cost carrier AirTran, a unit of Orlando, Fla.-based AirTran Holdings Inc., plans to add new service to Indianapolis from LaGuardia as a result of its slot pickup from Houston-based Continental Airlines Inc.
AirTran's departure from Newark will come after serving the market for 10 years.
Kevin Healy, senior vice president of marketing and planning for AirTran, said in a memo Tuesday to employees that the carrier's employees at the Newark airport will have the opportunity to work at other airports once AirTran ceases operations at Newark.
"Consolidating our operations at both Reagan National and New York's LaGuardia creates a much more efficient operation and also significantly improves our presence in both of these leading airports," Healy said.
AirTran said the new flights it will add will better connect important markets in the Midwest and South to business and government centers and play an important role in its overall network structure.
Southwest's increased bid Monday to take Frontier out of bankruptcy protection is well above the $108.8 million offered by regional jet operator Republic Airways Holdings Inc.
Buying Frontier would give Southwest service in several new cities and take out one of its two big competitors in Denver.
Southwest has said it would keep all of Frontier's current markets, including Atlanta, one of the last big markets where Southwest doesn't currently fly. It would phase out Frontier's Airbus fleet in favor of Southwest's fleet of Boeing 737s over about two years.
A bankruptcy judge had already approved Republic's bid. But the bankruptcy process allows other bidders to step forward. That's what Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. did on July 30, initially offering a nonbinding bid of $113.6 million. That was basically a placeholder to give it the chance to look at Frontier's books and decide whether it wanted to submit a binding bid.
Denver-based Frontier has been operating under Chapter 11 protection since April 2008.

 

[luckytohaveajob]

Unionism has been so very effective these last 25 years.

Sticking together and telling management where to go and when often works. UAL has a twice renegoiated contract which is still better in every respect than CAL's. Scheduling, Duty Rigs, Vacation, Training, Reserve, Retirement, Benefits, etc. Every section is better at not only UAL, but also DAL, NWA, AMR, and SWA.

CAL pilots will never get what they don't know because they are not unionists. CAL pilots have no understanding of what works. 25 years of fractionating, splicing and beatings have worked.

CAL pilots will do anything management asks and continue to tell themselves nothing will work. They are defeated before they try.

 

[whatitdoing?]

Sticking together and telling management where to go and when often works. UAL has a twice renegoiated contract which is still better in every respect than CAL's. Scheduling, Duty Rigs, Vacation, Training, Reserve, Retirement, Benefits, etc. Every section is better at not only UAL, but also DAL, NWA, AMR, and SWA.

CAL pilots will never get what they don't know because they are not unionists. CAL pilots have no understanding of what works. 25 years of fractionating, splicing and beatings have worked.

CAL pilots will do anything management asks and continue to tell themselves nothing will work. They are defeated before they try.

YAWN!!!!!

 

[SFR]

Yeah, but I doubt I will lose my seat here in the IAH......booyah!!

 

[contrail67]

Probably has some to do with the STAR alliance thing too...there is shifting going on everywhere...almost looks like a new stage is being set. Get Ready.

 

[DontFeedTheBear]

Sticking together and telling management where to go and when often works. UAL has a twice renegoiated contract which is still better in every respect than CAL's. Scheduling, Duty Rigs, Vacation, Training, Reserve, Retirement, Benefits, etc. Every section is better at not only UAL, but also DAL, NWA, AMR, and SWA.

CAL pilots will never get what they don't know because they are not unionists. CAL pilots have no understanding of what works. 25 years of fractionating, splicing and beatings have worked.

CAL pilots will do anything management asks and continue to tell themselves nothing will work. They are defeated before they try.

How about scope??? Think before you say the word "every"!!!

 

[densoo]

Meanwhile, Delta establishes an LGA hub.

 

[100/hour/5y]

Scope???? Maybe, but it will not save us from Colgan's Q400....

 

[RSRVWINDSURFR]

CAL pilots will never get what they don't know because they are not unionists. CAL pilots have no understanding of what works. 25 years of fractionating, splicing and beatings have worked.

CAL pilots will do anything management asks and continue to tell themselves nothing will work. They are defeated before they try.

When it comes to the upper 2/3rds of the senority list, you are correct. But if you think that management shrinking Newark has nothing to do with trying to dilute the power of EWR LC 170, you have no clue. This is the one part of CALALPA that is actually trying to change all the problems you just listed above. They are running a very effective educational campaign, and gathering loads of support. They have management running scared, thus this bullcrap bid.

 

[Kugelblitz]

Sticking together and telling management where to go and when often works. UAL has a twice renegoiated contract which is still better in every respect than CAL's. Scheduling, Duty Rigs, Vacation, Training, Reserve, Retirement, Benefits, etc. Every section is better at not only UAL, but also DAL, NWA, AMR, and SWA.

CAL pilots will never get what they don't know because they are not unionists. CAL pilots have no understanding of what works. 25 years of fractionating, splicing and beatings have worked.

CAL pilots will do anything management asks and continue to tell themselves nothing will work. They are defeated before they try.

The entire industry has tanked in terms of work rules, pay, scheduling, and any other litmus you wish to use. I suppose one could say that a Russian coal miner has it better than a Chinese coal miner because they stick together- but it all still stinks. Especially when you look at where this industry was compare to where it is now. Want to blame that on CAL? Go ahead, no question the 147 newhires that are on the street got their just desserts for not being good union people. If we furlough more, outstanding, show those non-unionist a thing or two.

Before you start blaming CAL for all our woes, just remember this; it was DAL - that one with the great contract you mentioned- that could have set the precedent for RJ's flying on the mainline back in the early '90's and didn't do it. Nothing has eroded this industry more than the 50, then 70, now 90, and some day no doubt 100+ seat RJ. It didn't take airline management long to figure out that one could make tons of money having larger and larger airplanes flown by a pilot with little hope for moving up because they are unemployable to the mainline (and therefore not mainline compensated). I will have more on that on a seperate, later post.

That is not to say that everyone flying RJ's right now is unemployable on the mainline, we are all stuck where we are at the moment. For all of our crappy contract, no other airline is towing the line better than us on the RJ issue. Or at least the jet RJ problem.

 

[Super Monkey]

Yeah, but I doubt I will lose my seat here in the IAH......booyah!!

You are one of the most selfish pilots I have ever had the unfortunate circumstance to listen to. Your selfish and one sided banter is not welcome here at CAL. Climb out of your isolated hole in IAH and think about other pilots, their families, and what could and has happened to our brothers and sisters during these troubled times and unwarranted reduction bids.

 

[luckytohaveajob]

CAL brand has more non mainline airframes than mainline aircraft

For all of our crappy contract, no other airline is towing the line better than us on the RJ issue.

Rebuttal: How could CAL possible be the leaders in scope issues?

CAL total mainline fleet equals 341 aircraft as of Aug. 11, 2009. Regional aircraft flying under the CAL brand- 460!!!.

Under the CAL brand more regional aircraft are labeled CAL than mainline aircraft. CAL has the worst scope of any legacy and has lost the highest percentage of mainline pilot positions of any legacy to regional ratio. Not to mention the code share lost jobs, not easily counted. CAL entered the Star Alliance domestically because CAL has no west coast presence, even after CAL was originally established as a west coast airline.

CAL is a huge brand but a tiny mainline. It is all hype done with the bait and switch, CAL style with an 80% compliant pilot group who will sign off on anything management wants.

Airline Pilot.com data

CAL Total- 341/ Regionals flying under CAL brand- 460
777-200: 20
767--400: 16
767-200: 10
757-300: 17
757-200: 41
737-900ER: 21
737-900: 12
737-800:108
737-700: 36
737-300: 20
737-500: 40

XJT- total 244
EMB145XR: 100
EMB145: 140

Chautaququa/Republic- 83 total
EMB145: 60
EMB140: 15
CRJ200: 13

Colgan-96 total-- 46 more Q4's on firm order
Q4- 14
SB340B-36

Commute Air- 16 total
Dash 8: 16

Jetstream- 21 total aircraft
B1900D: 21

 

[Farva]

Rebuttal to Rebuttal

The line drawn in the sand is here.

E170/190 : 0
CRJ700/900 : 0

We are leaders in this respect.

 

[luckytohaveajob]

Rebuttal to Rebuttal

The line drawn in the sand is here.

E170/190 : 0
CRJ700/900 : 0

We are leaders in this respect.

60 Q4's are 60 more than zero.

And more non brand airframes flying than the mainline airframes is worse than anyone else.

 

[Kugelblitz]

My rebuttal is that I have a bit too much of a life to keep statistics like that! My hat is off to you for your thoroughness but I think the later point about the EMB170/90's is what I was referring too. If the majors want to try and entice people to climb onto a 120 seat turboprop someday and fly coast to coast, more power to them. The problem are the DC-9/Md-80 like regional jet replacements that are kicking us out of jobs and decent pay.

As far as the compliant pilot thing, that is truly an issue in the past and not the present but if you need to pigeonhole us that way, go ahead. Nobody has signed off on anything over here lately, and the scabs are dying off (literally). I am not stoked about being a CAL pilot, but I wouldn't be excited about Delta, United,SWA, or anyone else for that matter. These are not the same airlines we grew up with and all of them have had their best days long behind them. All the majors are nothing more than pantomimes of what they once were, led by a bunch of a-moral Harvard business school types.

Again, want to blame the rapidly deteriorating pilot industry on CAL, go ahead.

 

[100/hour/5y]

CAL has great work rules.... FARs

 

[rjacobs]

Rebuttal: How could CAL possible be the leaders in scope issues?

CAL total mainline fleet equals 341 aircraft as of Aug. 11, 2009. Regional aircraft flying under the CAL brand- 460!!!.

Under the CAL brand more regional aircraft are labeled CAL than mainline aircraft. CAL has the worst scope of any legacy and has lost the highest percentage of mainline pilot positions of any legacy to regional ratio. Not to mention the code share lost jobs, not easily counted. CAL entered the Star Alliance domestically because CAL has no west coast presence, even after CAL was originally established as a west coast airline.

CAL is a huge brand but a tiny mainline. It is all hype done with the bait and switch, CAL style with an 80% compliant pilot group who will sign off on anything management wants.

Airline Pilot.com data

CAL Total- 341/ Regionals flying under CAL brand- 460
777-200: 20
767--400: 16
767-200: 10
757-300: 17
757-200: 41
737-900ER: 21
737-900: 12
737-800:108
737-700: 36
737-300: 20
737-500: 40

XJT- total 244
EMB145XR: 100
EMB145: 140

Chautaququa/Republic- 83 total
EMB145: 60
EMB140: 15
CRJ200: 13

Colgan-96 total-- 46 more Q4's on firm order
Q4- 14
SB340B-36

Commute Air- 16 total
Dash 8: 16

Jetstream- 21 total aircraft
B1900D: 21

Your numbers are completely wrong.

XJT operates 205 airplanes for CAL currently, CHQ operates 15-20 aircraft for CAL right now(the rest for other carriers), Colgan operates 14 Q's and maybe 10 or so(not sure the exact number) of S340's(the rest for United and USAir), Commute Air and Gulfstream numbers are correct since they only fly for CAL. So using the correct math CAL has 286 total regional aircraft flying for them. Colgan will be flying 15 more Q's starting summer 2010, but at the same time the CHQ contract is ending then so their 15-20 aircraft will be parked.

The numbers dont seem to favor the regionals when you use correct numbers.

 

[luckytohaveajob]

Yes, but don't forget by years end 2009, CAL will have parked all its old gen 737-300. And will continue to park additional 737-500 reducing its total airframe count of 341 further.

CAL will have 300 airframes by 2010. Pretty darn close to the regional count which will further increase with that wonderful CAL Scope.

You just got scooped.