Email from Airtran MEC: Secret MOU between SWA and SWAPA

[waveflyer]

#1 in the ALPA play book

Angry pilots are way easier to manipulate

Sounds like our AT brethren are way more tired of their games than anyone watching from the outside

 

[roughneck]

The SWAPA President sent out a response yesterday. ALPA is a joke and you are correct, this is just a waste of everyones time. You don't get something you were not able to negotiate for just because you cry the loudest after the fact.
The deal is done. Move on.

 

[slaquer5]

ALPA just wants us to keep paying. Why else put this memo out?

Here is a summary of the last few ALPA memos:

1. Atlanta base. You think it sounds good but you need ALPA to make sure: Keep paying.
2. We have filed a DRC complaint. See we are still fighting with SWAPA: Keep paying.
3. We found a secret MOU. You really need us now: Keep paying.

I'm not a lawyer but I'm sure the last thing you tell a client is: "Hey this MOU is the smoking gun. Tomorrow we are filing several suits and asking for an injunction... before we do that please tell 1700 people.... Oh yeah and make sure you tell those 1700 not to share it with anyone."

Watching the clown show is hilarious. We now have the:
1. See, we should have taken #1 group
2. We told you so group
3. Wake me up if anything changes or I have to go to Dallas group

All the while ALPA is laughing all the way to the bank.

Could not have been said better, no mater how you feel about it.


Very well put CP

 

[PropPiedmont]

You guys are kinda like a cult over there.....

'Kinda like?'

Did you not hear about the bunny rabbits?

 

[Dan Roman]

Looks like this one really struck a chord. The SWA folks seem particularly agro in their response to this on here. If the ALPA lawyers deem this worth going to court over this they will. Bash them all you want, but they are much better qualified to make that call than any of us.

 

[CaptWidgeon]

are dan and TO related?

 

[SWA717]

Are you afraid that people will actually see how SWA operates? That you guys have weaknesses just like everyone else? And that the Airtran pilots were getting screwed from the beginning.....

You guys are kinda like a cult over there.....

ALPA asked us to not discuss this on a forum and this jackass goes and posts their letter.

 

[Bill Nelson]

That's Funny.

 

[scoreboardII]

February 12, 2013


Fellow Pilots,

In the past few days, the MEC has learned of the existence of two previously unknown Memoranda of Understanding (MOU), signed between Southwest Airlines and the prior leadership of the Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association (SWAPA). Both documents were negotiated and agreed to without the knowledge of or consultation with the ATN MEC or the ATN pilot group.

The first MOU appears to have been agreed to on September 20, 2011, although it was not signed until November, 2011. The ATN MEC, without being informed about those discussions or the MOU itself, sent the current Seniority Integration Agreement (SIA) for membership ratification on September 21, 2011.

This 2011 MOU states that current Southwest Airlines pilots would be awarded any future captain vacancies resulting from the transition of the AirTran B-737 and that the vacancy bid would close no later than the September, 2014, bid period. In essence, this MOU attempts to front-load captain training for Southwest pilots and further states that former AirTran pilots would be excluded because they are barred from holding a captain seat at Southwest prior to January 1, 2015. To put it even more plainly, it potentially provides a mechanism for current Southwest pilots to claim upgrades much more quickly than we thought was likely under the provisions of the three-party SIA.

The second MOU, signed on December 11, 2012, requires the company to establish a Southwest B-737 domicile in Atlanta in August 2013, in exchange for waiving the SIA provision requiring a B-717 domicile with 15 RON aircraft on January 1, 2015. We are still examining its implications and do not want to comment further on the legal issues—under the SIA, for example—until we have completed our analysis.

On many levels, it is unacceptable that Southwest management secretly negotiated an MOU with SWAPA while engaging in three-party talks with us, and that the MOU would run counter to the letter and the intent of the agreed-to SIA. It is also troubling that management then repeated the process this past December, with the domicile MOU.

Yesterday, in a Regular MEC Meeting held in our office, the MEC officers and status representatives communicated our deep dissatisfaction with this course of events to Vice President of Flight Operations Captain Chuck Magill and Senior Vice President of Labor Relations Captain Randy Babbitt. Though we will continue to engage management on this serious issue, it is the intent of your MEC to fully enforce the terms of the SIA agreement as negotiated, and as agreed to by Southwest Airlines, SWAPA and the AirTran pilots. We are working closely with our legal team to explore the full meaning and impact of these newly discovered MOUs, and we will use all of the resources at our disposal to rectify this situation.

In the meantime, it is very important that you continue to perform as the consummate professionals that you have proven to be. It is also imperative to avoid commentary in public or on any forum that can and will be read by Southwest management. The MOUs are attached in this message and posted on the ATN Merger Hub website. Please direct any questions to the P2P volunteers or send e-mails to [email protected]. They are your conduit to the MEC and have been fully briefed on this matter. We will keep you updated as we move forward.


In service,

Your ATN Master Executive Council

You mean the secret email posted on the public swapa website in Sep of 2011? This goes nowhere except to fan the flames of hate that ALPA has spread.

 

[scoreboardII]

Their airline got purchased by a company that is rated one of the best in the USA, we

before the purchase it used to be rated top ten, now SwA doesn't even make the top 100. All in a few short years since the " deal" of a lifetime.