From the ACA MEC today, 12-27-05. A sad day.
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Like every other pilot the MEC officers of Independence Air received their furlough letters in the mail today. While this development is not unexpected it does represent the first time that the company has put out some kind of notice "i.e." furlough, reduction in force and the like, and not given a courtesy call to the MEC letting us know. Unfortunate as this development is at least the company has done the pilot group the courtesy of not suddenly and without notice ceasing operations which is what usually happens.
While the details of the bids submitted remain confidential a reading of the furlough notice cannot help but shed some light on where we stand. Clearly the company does not believe that it will be able to continue flight operations after January 7th which tells us that it has not received an acceptable bid to operate the company as a going concern.
We are going to solicit all carriers to help distressed Independence pilots through jump seat and employment opportunities. The track record to date has been excellent for pilots seeking employment at other carriers like Jet Blue, MaxJet, Atlas, Continental, and the fractionals, just to name a few. We still are being paid, so we still have a job to do. One sure way not to get paid is not to come to work. I have been told that all work performed will be paid on the normal pay schedule, even after the shutdown. We can only hope that this is true.
While the future does seem dark I know that the men and women of Independence Air are a special group. Never in my life have I been as proud to be associated with a group of people as I have been to be associated with this pilot group. No matter what happens in the future you will be able to look back on your days at ACA/Independence Air with your head held high in the knowledge that you did a difficult job and did it well. This pilot group has done everything that could be asked of it through out the years and sadly barring some miracle we will now join the ranks of Eastern, Pan-Am, TWA and others as a once proud airline that was mismanaged into obscurity.
I encourage everyone to stay focused on finishing strong, on carrying out the sacred trust of transporting our passengers safely to their destinations until that last day arrives and the planes fall silent for the last time. On being true professionals in every sense of the word. And in these dark times don't forget to stay focused on the things that truly matter in life. For I know that the men and women that sit in our cockpits are people of quality and people that can look forward to brighter days ahead.