CNBC reports US Air / United in merger talks

[ToThePain]

You know something the rest of us don't??

Should the moment someone takes a snap shot of an airline condem those that happened to be out on the street at that moment to being junior to everyone, even a new hire. Their years of service means nothing??

Once again no. That is why there is more than one factor to be looked at. This is not a black and white issue. Until their is a nationalized seniority system the process will never be "fair" Should the guy that has 15 tears service at UAL be screwed because of a "snap shot", no. Should someone who has been at CAL and waited their turn to be captain there lose that chance because of a merger...no. ALPA has a responsibility to look at all factors not just one, if they only looked at longetivity they would be wrong, if they only looked at career expectations they would also be wrong.

 

[eaglesview]

.Finally something we can agree on. Having said that, do you think Prater was smart in the way he handled the Easties after the Nicolau Award was announced?

From a business stand point it was a complete failure. Anyone should have been able to look at the numbers (East vs West) and seen the writing on the wall. 700 USAir pilots made their intentions known outside of his office in Herndon before ALPA signed off on the list.

Make no mistake I do not agree with how the East conducted themselves. I think they gambled, lost, and went to plan B. In that respect I admire how they will defend every USAir job(east) with vigor. I can only hope UAL ALPA has the same motivation, just maybe play it a bit smarter.

 

[eaglesview]

Once again no. That is why there is more than one factor to be looked at. This is not a black and white issue. Until their is a nationalized seniority system the process will never be "fair" Should the guy that has 15 tears service at UAL be screwed because of a "snap shot", no. Should someone who has been at CAL and waited their turn to be captain there lose that chance because of a merger...no. ALPA has a responsibility to look at all factors not just one, if they only looked at longetivity they would be wrong, if they only looked at career expectations they would also be wrong.

Well I can't really argue any of these points. It is indeed difficult. I will come out and say I hope we do have to figure it out, rather than this mess we are flirting with at USAir. I believe, politics/seniority issues aside, A CO/UAL merger if done correctly would be a powerful airline. Much less of a warm fuzzy with USAir.

 

[ToThePain]

Well I can't really argue any of these points. It is indeed difficult. I will come out and say I hope we do have to figure it out, rather than this mess we are flirting with at USAir. I believe, politics/seniority issues aside, A CO/UAL merger if done correctly would be a powerful airline. Much less of a warm fuzzy with USAir.

Agreed. I dont think CAL will durvive longterm withouth the merger. Whats important to me is that we have a relative fair seniority integration. If both sides walk away pissed off....or walk away happy then the merger committees did their jobs. No matter what some say on this board the last thing you want is to have an unfair integration with one side pissed off. This makes for a very unhappy work place....not one that I would want to be a part of anyway.

 

[beagle pilot]

700 USAir pilots made their intentions known outside of his office in Herndon before ALPA signed off on the list.

Signed off? Are you talking about the binding arbitration list? If so, what's to sign off? Any signatures are a mere formality in the case of an arbitration since there is very little legal recourse once the ruling is made.

ALPA has a responsibility to look at all factors not just one

ALPA National can only offer recommendations on this issue. It's up to the two (or more) pilot groups to negotiate the SLI.