CommutAir Changes

[MesaFlying]

Looks like the crew over at CommutAir is reaping the benefits of their union vote. Ontime bonus is gone, healthcare changes, and ROC closed. Would be interesting to see how that vote would go now.

 

[Smacktard]

Looks like the crew over at CommutAir is reaping the benefits of their union vote. Ontime bonus is gone, healthcare changes, and ROC closed. Would be interesting to see how that vote would go now.

It would be a good point if it came from someone WHOSE PILOT GROUP HAD A LEG TO STAND ON. Last I heard CA 19 seater rates were on par with Mesa 70 seat rates...

 

[beech1900kid]

So someone explain it to me....it's a financial benefit for this comapny to close ROC but it makes financial sense for these same people to keep PLB open as a crew base? What's that smell?

 

[shamrock]

It would be a good point if it came from someone WHOSE PILOT GROUP HAD A LEG TO STAND ON. Last I heard CA 19 seater rates were on par with Mesa 70 seat rates...

Wow, Mesa starts their 70 seat Captains off at $30 an hour? And their FOs at $18 an hour with $1 an hour raise per year after that?

 

[khsgt]

Wow, Mesa starts their 70 seat Captains off at $30 an hour? And their FOs at $18 an hour with $1 an hour raise per year after that?

Actually for the B1900 FO's are at 18 bucks and CA's are 28.....even with our 18 month DOS raise. Ain't life great as a beech

 

[I.P. Freley]

So someone explain it to me....it's a financial benefit for this comapny to close ROC but it makes financial sense for these same people to keep PLB open as a crew base? What's that smell?

Other than the fact that PLB is the company headquarters and their MX base, your position makes perfect sense.

 

[MesaFlying]

At least our 1900 are painted to match our codeshare partner's planes.

Oh yeah, your mother dresses you funny.

 

[elguapo9]

The way I see it, management's main mistake was dropping the bomb on a Friday before they took off for the weekend. This allowed the crews the whole weekend to stew over the changes, with no direction from management. Other than that, everything else they did was fine, it just sucks.

There has been much b$tching on the CA website about how dropping the bonus wasn't negotiated with the pilots, closing ROC isn't really cost effective, etc. The bottom line is that management doesn't have to talk pay cuts over with the pilots, and they obviously felt closing ROC was the way to go. If the pilots don't like the way the airline is run, their only option really is to leave. Welcome to America's workforce.

Another item that is brought up time and time again is training costs for replacement pilots after the mass exodus. But, you see, those are future dollars. If the airline isn't around to have to spend that money, it won't matter, if you see where I'm going. This is how management thinks. Most managers would gladly save $10K of todays dollars at the risk of having to spend $50K of next years dollars.

When things like this go down, it is always tough. My advice to the ROC crews would be to learn to commute, it's how most of your coworkers in CLE having been doing it for the past year or so. Or, you can go work for CHQ, they have a base in BUF. You'll have to get over your case of '4-stripe-itis' and be an FO again. If they ditch the health insurance, you can get BCBS for yourself at about $81 pre month.

Good Luck

 

[Nova]

CommutAir keeps half of their 1900's in USAirways colors just incase they come calling.

 

[NEDude]

PLB is no longer the MX base, it has been in ALB for well over a year now.

The govt keeps PLB open due to the EAS contracts for SLK and PLB.

Me thinks a new push for ALPA, or some union will be coming VERY soon.

 

[T-Gates]

At least our 1900 are painted to match our codeshare partner's planes.

I didn't know Airways was still flying airplanes with the early 90's paint on it.....

Hell, I have a hard time seeing the USAir on the tail of half your airplanes I see in CLT.

 

[Captain X]

If the pilots don't like the way the airline is run, their only option really is to leave.

Or organize. Funny thing is that as part of the ALPA organizing campaign for CommutAir I met many CommutAir pilots on both sides of the fence. The pilots that were opposed to ALPA insisted they would see a negative change (if the joined ALPA) in their:

Healthcare

Pay (bonus)

Quality of Life

We tried to tell ya'.

 

[burrito]

Or organize. Riiight. You can't even begin to tell me that the almighty ALPA could have done anything to prevent this. We would have been wasting perfectly good beer money on dues with the only result being that we would have a different kind of circle jerk than our current MIC. Oh yeah, and that super fancy and informative ALPA newsletter. Even if we had voted them in, there hasn't been enough time to get organized and do anything productive. Give it a rest.

CommutAir management has proven once again that they cannot manage any situation where they don't have entirely too much money being thrown at them. Sure, it was easy in the late 80's and early 90's when they had a guaranteed profit, but now that they've had several years to try and figure something out to make a profit the normal way, they just can't do it. They've backed themselves into a huge corner and just won't admit it. Sounds kinda like W, if you ask me. And a 20% paycut for upper management isn't going to do a dang thing.

 

[deskjobssuck]

I've always enjoyed working at CommutAir, even with the problems we've had during the four years I've been there. Most of management is a great group of people that I believe truly cares about the company and the employees. We came to CommutAir with specific hopes and dreams, but for the most part times have changed too much for these dreams to come true. That does seem to be industry wide, however.

Over the last few days, several crewmembers have posted legitimate concerns on the company website. Some were inflammatory, but most were well written and backed by facts. The problem is that management has just erased all of them and won't allow any more criticism to be posted because it's bad for the company. Taking away pay, closing bases and implementing a royally flucked up sick policy can all probably be rationalized by our favorite beancounter in PLB. However, removing our right to free speech and honest attempts to understand what is occurring are very disturbing trends. I think that something is very wrong with this and wouldn't mind hearing some ideas of what we can do to combat it.

And ALPA doesn't count. It would just take too long to fix this particular situation.

 

[I.P. Freley]

PLB is no longer the MX base, it has been in ALB for well over a year now.

If this is the case, I stand corrected. It's still HQ, though, and home of the most senior pilots if things are anything like they've been in the past... Not surprising, then, that they keep PLB open no matter what.

However, removing our right to free speech and honest attempts to understand what is occurring are very disturbing trends.

If it's a company-sponsored message board, you have no "free speech" protection whatsoever. If they don't like what they read, they can delete it... Especially if it turned into the kind of animal that a similar board (non-company) from four years ago did... Accusations that certain persons in HQ preferred the company of farm animals and the sort.

Has anyone considered starting a discussion group/msg board on Yahoo? I think they're free and they're beyond anyone's control (other than the individual who starts the group). If you truly want a place to exchange ideas that won't be deleted, go that route. Just make sure the person running it is adult enough to know that some things DO need to be "removed".

 

[91100 100 set]

Alpa

Been there, done that, and all I'll say is that ALPA, or any union group, at any given company is only as strong and united as the pilot group wants it to be.

 

[B190Captain]

I didn't know Airways was still flying airplanes with the early 90's paint on it.....

Hell, I have a hard time seeing the USAir on the tail of half your airplanes I see in CLT.

I agree. Seems like Mesa has let those planes (1900's) go to absolute sh*t. Those planes are in horrid condition. Some planes have both old and new liveries on the same plane.

 

[beech1900kid]

Other than the fact that PLB is the company headquarters and their MX base, your position makes perfect sense.

Aside from the MX thing which has already been corrected, explain how having HQ in PLB necessitates a crew base there. There is no strategic reason to RON planes there or have a reserve pilot there who gets Dead headed to ALB whenever he gets an assignment.

New Hire training, MX, and the FBO plans are all in ALB. The reason they continually give for not moving HQ is that the admin people are all up there. Plz....I can get a monkey to make the schedule work and the paychecks out on time.

 

[beech1900kid]

There has been much b$tching on the CA website about how dropping the bonus wasn't negotiated with the pilots, closing ROC isn't really cost effective, etc. The bottom line is that management doesn't have to talk pay cuts over with the pilots, and they obviously felt closing ROC was the way to go. If the pilots don't like the way the airline is run, their only option really is to leave. Welcome to America's workforce.

Good Luck

C'mon dude...what about all the guys that have 100% of their retirements vested in the company, or that are single income families that can't make ends meet back on FO pay? Your advice sounds great in theory but doesn't really work for some.

 

[routeskd]

For those of you who want the facts about the ROC/PLB domicile costs I suggest you actually ask someone who makes these decisions to justify the numbers to you rather than take half-assed guesses at what make sense and what doesn't. The doors of the desicion makers in PLB are open for those that know how to knock and ask questions vs. sitting on some message boards and compalin.