CAL Poolie email rumor?

[Paul R. Smith]

On a different note, I flew with a Captain last week that had nothing but bad to say. Said that we could have a TA in 15 minutes if we would just extend POS 02!

Of course we would have a ta in 15mins if we agreed to continue under this current...WTF?!! What was his point? Was the guy that brain dead? Each day that goes by the more concessionary this contract is.

 

[motch]

Last December I had AJ not once, but twice on the jump seat in a week! Going out on a Monday and then back again on a Friday~ My luck... lol

As it turns out, on the first flight we chatted and turns out we were in the same guard unit, at the same time. Him a pilot, me a crew chief.. but we flew a mission together.
Anyhooters-
He commented that we could have avoided the furloughs if the union had agreed to the JrV LOA.. I countered with the fact that the LOA had ALOT of holes in it~ And we both agreed to not chat about it. Good call.
But he did mention that while we wanted to get those triple 7's that China Southern had, they wanted to much $ and there were serious issues with the paper trail on those aircraft. We all agreed that we needed more widebodies.

Here it comes...
He mentioned that we would probably be seeing an INCREASE in flying the next fall! And that it would also coincide with the deliveries of the 757-3's.

Therefor, in my opinion.. I would expect our guys (and gals) back by the fall, if not a few months sooner. Would have loved to have them back by now, or at least for the summer.. but I think this is just a game the company is playing...

I have also heard that the training department was planning a busy schedule for the fall. Put 2 and 2 together and you get 4.. unless of course you went to Airline Management School... lol

Hang in there people~
Always
motch

 

[Paul R. Smith]

He commented that we could have avoided the furloughs if the union had agreed to the JrV LOA.. I c

So if we agree to allow other airlines fly our routes for us we can avoid staffing reductions? I love the mgmt logic.

PRS

 

[motch]

Managements greatest fear is an educated pilot.
Sure, we can all fly planes and are a fairly educated bunch to begin with.. but the problem is, for the most part- we love what we do~
This sometimes clouds our other common senses and our ability to look long term.

Right now, (IMO) CAL Management is probably worried because we now have leadership in EWR that is EDUCATING and COMMUNICATING to its pilot group! JTK rock!

When I first heard about the JrV LOA, I was pretty excited. Once I actually saw the paperwork and all the loopholes, my excitement turned to sadness and disgust. But our union stopped the process in its tracks thereby actually saving CAL pilot jobs.

There is no doubt in my mind that had we signed this agreement, we would have seen the eventual loss of some of our flying to not only UAL, but any other carriers that might join the (Death) Star Alliance...

Stay informed, have an open mind and remember, Management has the job to get us to work for the minimum while reaping the profits from our stupidity!

Always
Motch

 

[ATRCA]

I'm furloughed and I'd rather be on the street than have that LOA hanging over our head. There was just no way we could allow that.

 

[HHH]

.. but the problem is, for the most part- we love what we do~

Motch

There is a cure for this problem Motch...it's called fly under POS '02!

BTW Rolling days off in IAH today - WEDNESDAY!!! Even the schedulers say they are dreading this summer.

 

[zonker]

Hey Larry, we'll never give a single seat of scope!

End of story.

 

[maxblast72]

As of today it is still my personal opinion based on all the information I know that I still believe our furloughed pilots will be recalled in the late Summer early Fall time frame with some new hires to follow.

I hope you guys hire soon as I have a good buddy who is in the bottom 10 over there who is about to buy a house and could use a few more pilots behind him.

However, yesterday Continental (the only airline that reports monthly RASM performance estimates with their load factor reports) reported systemwide March RASM to be down about 20% and Cargo revenues to be about 21% compared with March 2008. Considering the amount of capacity Continental has already pulled down, those numbers seem pretty bad, and the economy is still shedding 700,000 private sector jobs a month. Delta has already announced due to the weak international market, they will be reducing international ASM another 10-12% after Labor Day. Do you think that Continental will not be affected as much as Delta?

 

[samballs]

I knew the girl talking to Ferris on the school phone. Small bit part in the movie. Kristin Graziano was her name.

I went to school with the kid who carried teddy ruxpin(coolest bear of all) to the back of the bus.

 

[Ben Franklin]

I went to school with the kid who carried teddy ruxpin(coolest bear of all) to the back of the bus.

I was friends with and went to school with the kid who played "Louis" in "The Last Starfighter"

next...

Sincerely,

B. Franklin

 

[Ben Franklin]

But our union stopped the process in its tracks thereby actually saving CAL pilot jobs.

Always
Motch

I thought it was "stopped" because the MEC reps were innundated with phone calls from angry pilots after someone on the NC violated their confidentiality agreement and leaked the entire LOA on CALFORUMS prior to MEC debate?

Sincerely,

B. Franklin

 

[Instigator]

Ben's back. Yay!!!

 

[motch]

BF..
It was stopped because of what you said. But never forget- We are The Union!

Either way you look at it, it was stopped and we should all be happy. Now lets hope that we start the recalls in the summer and have some of these guys (and gals) back in the Fall. Still to late but it is what it is...

Always
Motch

PS> Welcome back!

 

[SuperFLUF]

Hey Jayson,

Good to hear that. We need those guys back. I can't figure out why they would be brought back after summer though. Seems like before summer would be more logical....

There is a very high probability that the pilot's penion fund will hit a liquidity shortfall for retirements after Jan 1 2010. (thus discontinuing lump sum payments)

If this happens the company is expecting at least 150 to retire. I have heard the union is predicting more like 300.

That would be the most logical reason why they are planning to bring back the furloughs in the fall and some new hires as well.

The retirement of the classic 73's should accelerate after the summer schedule (we still have 55+ classics to retire this year) so I doubt that it has anything to do with an increase in flying.

 

[RSRVWINDSURFR]

There is a very high probability that the pilot's penion fund will hit a liquidity shortfall for retirements after Jan 1 2010. (thus discontinuing lump sum payments)

If this happens the company is expecting at least 150 to retire. I have heard the union is predicting more like 300.

That would be the most logical reason why they are planning to bring back the furloughs in the fall and some new hires as well.

The retirement of the classic 73's should accelerate after the summer schedule (we still have 55+ classics to retire this year) so I doubt that it has anything to do with an increase in flying.

I hope you're right about the retirements (the reason sucks, but some movement would be nice...) Also, I don't think 55 a/c are going this year, but more like 25 300's (most of the 500s will be here for a while unless they figure out how to get out of the leases. Whatever happens, I hope we get our furloughed brothers and sisters back asap!

 

[whatitdoing?]

I'm guessing it'll be way over 300 that'll retire the very next day.

 

[NavinRJohnson]

Liquidity Shortfall

SuperFluff:

Any news or numbers about your prognostication on liquidity shortfall? Or is that an educated guess on your part? No flaming, just curious.

I think management would love to get rid of our highest paid (most senior) pilots and replace them with lesser paid individuals. The bean counters have probably found it would save them money to do so. In a way it plays right into their hands IMO.

Anyone knows what whould happen to the A-Fund if there was a run on it (ie 300 pilots retiring at once)?

The Navin

 

[SuperFLUF]

I hope you're right about the retirements (the reason sucks, but some movement would be nice...) Also, I don't think 55 a/c are going this year, but more like 25 300's (most of the 500s will be here for a while unless they figure out how to get out of the leases. Whatever happens, I hope we get our furloughed brothers and sisters back asap!

You're right, that 55 number is high. My math skillz have never been the best.

I wag'd the 55 number at the time so I dug up what info I could find.
The April fleet info (flight attendant privileged information ) isn't published yet but based on the March fleet info, we are losing 38 total 737's from that date.

We still had 32 300's and 50 500's on property as of the end of Feb. The fleet plan has us ending the year with 34 500's and no 300's. That's a loss of 48 classics. Add to that 10 more -900ER deliveries and we're down 38. If mgmt. can find someone to lease any of the 34 500's we're stuck with we could be down even more.

Certainly it sucks if the pension loses the lump sum option. (especially since the company should be obligated to fund it fully) But with 38 aircraft leaving the fleet and the economy floundering, a wave of retirements is the only reason I can think of for bringing the furloughs back.

 

[SuperFLUF]

SuperFluff:

Any news or numbers about your prognostication on liquidity shortfall? Or is that an educated guess on your part? No flaming, just curious.

I think management would love to get rid of our highest paid (most senior) pilots and replace them with lesser paid individuals. The bean counters have probably found it would save them money to do so. In a way it plays right into their hands IMO.

Anyone knows what whould happen to the A-Fund if there was a run on it (ie 300 pilots retiring at once)?

The Navin

I don't have the hard facts on the liquidity shortfall prediction. It came from a financial planner I know. I mentioned it to an FO I flew with and he told me the prediction he heard from a union official.

My financial planner friend is a sharp guy and he all but guaranteed the lump would be gone by Jan. or possibly even sooner.
Of course, the company could choose to fund the pension at the proper levels or the market could come back and recover the pension funding on its own but those are some big "ifs".

I really don't know what will happen to the pension if there is a run on the bank. I didn't ask that question because I haven't been including it in my retirement calculations for some time now so it really didn't come to mind. The company may be forced to put some cash in to keep it at minimum funding if that happens, I don't know.

 

[SuperFLUF]

I'm guessing it'll be way over 300 that'll retire the very next day.

One of the changes that came about with the furlough mitigation LOA is that retirees have to give a bit more notice than that.
I don't recall how much notice, but if they want their bridge medical they can't just pull the plug.