Rich,
What really suprised me somewhat, was the arrogance of Nonconnah in announcing in the Memphis Business Journal that Pinnacle purchased the aircraft...to be flown by Colgan...etc....everything was Pinnacle. They are so emboldened that they aren't trying to skirt around scope. Just as Hunt said to AV week. They are unconcerned about pilot agreements. If I were them I would have downplayed the issue and led everyone to believe that Colgan had purchased the aircraft. Their ego's are just too big for that.
We all saw this one coming. The deliveries start in December, plenty of time for whatever legal proceedings to go forward. I do not understand the reluctance of the Colgan pilots to combine. They have far more to gain even now.... than standing alone. There has been an announcement of a conference call on Friday. I plan to push the executive team some questions about Q400 pay and the likelyhood that they will hire off the street captains at Colgan to staff the expansion.....I bet the questions won't be answered politely ........
Heh heh... NONE too politely, I'm sure you're right.
I guess the arrogance doesn't really surprise me. While testifying on a pilot's behalf in Federal Court against the company, I got to see first-hand how little Pinnacle Management thinks of pilots and of contracts in general.
The company doesn't have anything to lose either way. The legal team is already paid for. The law suit will have time to make it to court BEFORE they begin operating the aircraft so, if they lose, there are no damages to pay; they simply shift the flying back to PCL pilots and combine the two operations. Worst-case scenario for Nonconnah.
If they win, they get to grow with other business as-planned, all with Colgan pilots, Street Captains as well, all while leaving PCL pilots to fester under pressure to sign a new T.A. to enjoy any growth.
Colgan pilots will certainly get a better pay rate for this new aircraft (albeit still well under industry standard), and they all become Captains as quickly as the aircraft come on property, so Nonconnah is betting they won't organize for years to come.
Eventually, the NWA contract will expire, the CRJ's will start to go away, and PCL will be shrunk just like it was 10 years ago. History will repeat itself.
It's a win-win, either way, for management, from a purely money-generation standpoint. That's why it was so easy to see coming.
Good luck to all my PCL friends; it's going to be a rough battle, emotionally as well. Hope you get a judge who actually believes in justice and honoring contracts as they were intended at Date Of Signing.
