Disclaimer: I don’t have all the answers and I don’t know all of the answers. I am not an active pilot, I am retired. I can’t suggest how Comair pilots should vote but I do believe that they should vote and hope that every one of them will. Why I believe that is just a personal opinion.
You asked why Comair pilots are voting and why the MEC would endorse this concessionary TA.
First off – in my opinion this is being called a “Tentative Agreement” but that really isn’t what it is. This is a proposed bankruptcy settlement. It’s pretty much established that Comair pilots or the Comair MEC don’t “agree” with any of this. The choice is between settling the bankruptcy claims of the company or not settling them and letting the company do what it wants to do and impose its own terms. There is no agreement in any of this. If approved it will be a coerced settlement from the company forced by the courts. Let’s keep that clear.
Knowns & Unknowns:
The bankruptcy court has granted the company the right to impose specific changes to the Comair pilots’ CBA. Comair pilots know what those changes would be.
The bankruptcy court has enjoined Comair pilots and the union from exercising self-help of any kind in protest of those changes - if and when the company imposes those changes. We cannot strike. Should we declare war against an enemy with WMD when we have been disarmed by the courts? Someone said – “never bring a knife to a gun fight”, but maybe we’re better with knives than the enemy is with WMD.
If Delta imposes the terms authorized by the court, those terms will not go away when Delta and Comair emerge from bankruptcy. They will remain in place until they are negotiated away under the RLA.
The imposed conditions do not erase the contract; they just change some of the terms of that contract. Therefore the “amendable date” does not go away. The earliest amendable date of the status quo appears to be May 1, 2007. If that is true, the imposed conditions would be in place and remain in place while negotiations take place.
Obviously such negotiations would be acrimonious in the extreme and the chance of progress is next to nil. Given the NMB, they could literally go on forever. The make up of the NMB is not going to change until a new POTUS is elected. If that individual is another Republican, the anti-labor attitude of the NMB will not change.
We know from experience that in good times it takes 3 years. How long it would take in these circumstances is anybody’s guess. Meanwhile, we would have to work under the imposed terms. No one knows how long it will take but we do know that it won’t happen any time soon.
Keep in mind that Comair pilots are NOT negotiating against Comair management. They are negotiating against the management of Delta Air Lines, directly. Don’t overlook what that management was able to do to the Delta pilots’ PWA. Do not overlook what UAL management was able to do to the UAL CBA, and USAirways and NW Airlines. Do not overlook what happened to ASA negotiations when that company was sold – and that’s outside of bankruptcy. They’ve been at it more than 4 years and the NMB will not release them.
Now consider the power of Delta Air Lines vs the power of Comair pilots – there are only 1500 of us. Do not forget that, in bankruptcy, all of those airline’s respective managements were able to gut the CBA’s and extract billions in concessions from the affected pilots, including the theft (except NW) of their pensions. Every one of those pilot groups eventually voted on and accepted a bankruptcy settlement. None of them did so because they wanted to or liked the terms. What do you think their reason(s) were for voting?
We could appeal the judge’s decision; both the 1113 decision and the injunction decision, separately or together. How long would that take? No one knows; it could be years and it would cost a ton of money. What are the chances of winning an appeal? No one really knows but the best legal advice is that we would probably lose. Then what? Back to 4 or 5 or more years of trench warfare while we work under the imposed conditions? What is the cost/benefit of that?
Would an appeal stay the imposition of the court’s decision? Probably not. If it did would Delta just wait for the outcome indefinitely or would they continue to implement the gradual destruction of Comair [which they have already been actively doing]?
We also know the terms of the proposed settlement (TA). Are they good? Compared to our contract they are not. However, compared to the terms of existing contracts or working conditions in airlines of similar size, they are still considerably better than many. For example, there is no comparison between the MES contract and the CMR contract. There would still be no comparison if the settlement is approved. The settlement does NOT put us at the bottom of the barrel.
We know where our company is today. We do not know where it will be in 2011. There are 4 possibilities: 1) out of business; 2) worse off; 3) the same; 4) better than now. If you pick #’s 1 or 2 – what does it matter? If you pick #’s 3 or 4 is that a better environment to improve the then status quo?
It is up to Comair pilots to decide whether they want to confront all the unknowns and the negative knowns or whether they want to live with an undesirable – but known – quantity until they have a reasonable chance of improving it.
Comair pilot leaders are sometimes unpopular for a variety of reasons; that is par for the course. However, they are experienced. The Comair Negotiating Committee has 10 years of experience (each, individually) – at the bargaining table. I believe that is more than any other airline’s pilot negotiating committee but whether or not that is so is moot. The point is these people are not ‘cherrys’ – they’ve been in the arena for a long time.
Does that mean they are always right? NO. Does it mean that they do know what they’re doing? YES.
Our NC has recommended that we vote on this bankruptcy settlement agreement (TA). Our MEC has endorsed their recommendation and the proposed settlement and, in turn, recommended a vote to ratify or not ratify. In my personal opinion, both of those decisions are wise.
I know the negotiators and the MEC Officers personally. They are Comair pilots with a “vested interest” in Comair and Comair pilots. They will have to live with and under this settlement, if it passes, just like every other Comair pilot that makes the personal decision to stay at Comair.
They are not infallible by any means but they, more than anyone else outside our pilot group, whether in ALPA or not in ALPA, are dedicated to defend the interests of Comair pilots to the best of their ability. Probably they have not satisfied everyone in the process of trying; but, they are probably the only people in all of this mess that are not in it with the ulterior motive of screwing Comair pilots. They each have just as much to lose as any Comair pilot. In fact they are senior enough to where they all have more to lose than 50% of the pilot group. Sure that affects their decisions – why shouldn’t it?
None of them “like” this settlement and they’re not trying to sell it with “spin”. They all know what it will cost Comair pilots and what it will cost them individually. Nevertheless they have recommended that Comair pilots should vote on this issue and express their will. Voting is the only way that all Comair pilots can express their collective and individual decisions.
The pilot group has been fully informed in minute detail. They have all the numbers and all the language in full. They also have all the comparisons to the contracts of other carriers like Comair. They are fully informed with respect to every aspect of our current situation and the TA. It is now time for the pilots to decide their own future.
That is why Comair pilots are going to vote. I’ve probably said a whole lot more than you wanted to know, but when you ask a question to which you don’t already know the answer, that’s the risk you take.
Best wishes.
