Well guys, it's been real but I'm out of here after today. I've been here for nearly 9 years and after doing the DFW-SLC-ATL-LAX-ATL shuffle, I've had all the ASA I can stand and then some. For those keeping score at home, my seniority # is 379, so congratulations to everyone below me.
Some sick part of me wanted to stay and see how the contract played out, but I'm over it now. I grew up in Southern California so the 6-month tease in LAX before being forced back to ATL was the final straw. If I never set foot in ATL again I'll be a happy man(though I did enjoy the sweet tea).
ASA has got some fantastic people and I've learned much in the time I've been here. The level of experience in our pilot group is outstanding and we've got a top-notch training department to back it up. And this is the real tragedy of ASA: Between our pilot group, our equipment, our route structure, and our financial strength, this company has got the largest unrealized potential in the industry. All those tools and not a single joker in the G.O. can figure out how to use them. It's a shame for both our employees and our customers.
So, with that, I leave you the top ten things I think I know about ASA:
1) ASA will hire anyone, especially now.
2) Anyone who doesn't think R.C. in the CP office is a good guy either a) is a screw-up, b) has no sense of humor, or c) hasn't ever really talked to him.
3) Moe's is the best thing to happen to Concourse C in a long time.
4) No matter how bad you treat them, people will fly anywhere, anytime.
5) 30 hours in Montreal is a good thing
6) S.H. is not always the enemy. I was as skeptical as anyone, but in dealing with him personally and directly, I've found that if you're right, he will get your back and he will fix it.
7) J.B. can complain all he wants about ALPA and how it's wronged us all and in many ways he's right, but until he actually offers a solution, a real answer for what we should agree on, how it helps us, and how we can move forward to get what we deserve, he's just noise and a distraction to the people who believe that they are worth more than just "living to fight another day"
8) If you're overnighting in Alabama or Mississippi, there's a good chance you'll be mugged, stabbed, or shot at or, barring that, get food poisoning from one of the several hundred Waffle Houses(they use the same utensils for everything they cook people!)
9) If everyone stopped using their cellphones for just one day, our operation would come to a grinding halt before lunch time.
10) Scheduling and Dispatch both appear to operate with only an abacus, a dartboard, and a single phone line. Oh, and Payroll doesn't understand math. They get it wrong with disturbing regularity.
Good luck to everyone at ASA. We deserve much, much better and I can only hope that it will improve. Thank you all for all the wild and crazy times!
Andrew
PS- USC Trojans suck
Some sick part of me wanted to stay and see how the contract played out, but I'm over it now. I grew up in Southern California so the 6-month tease in LAX before being forced back to ATL was the final straw. If I never set foot in ATL again I'll be a happy man(though I did enjoy the sweet tea).
ASA has got some fantastic people and I've learned much in the time I've been here. The level of experience in our pilot group is outstanding and we've got a top-notch training department to back it up. And this is the real tragedy of ASA: Between our pilot group, our equipment, our route structure, and our financial strength, this company has got the largest unrealized potential in the industry. All those tools and not a single joker in the G.O. can figure out how to use them. It's a shame for both our employees and our customers.
So, with that, I leave you the top ten things I think I know about ASA:
1) ASA will hire anyone, especially now.
2) Anyone who doesn't think R.C. in the CP office is a good guy either a) is a screw-up, b) has no sense of humor, or c) hasn't ever really talked to him.
3) Moe's is the best thing to happen to Concourse C in a long time.
4) No matter how bad you treat them, people will fly anywhere, anytime.
5) 30 hours in Montreal is a good thing
6) S.H. is not always the enemy. I was as skeptical as anyone, but in dealing with him personally and directly, I've found that if you're right, he will get your back and he will fix it.
7) J.B. can complain all he wants about ALPA and how it's wronged us all and in many ways he's right, but until he actually offers a solution, a real answer for what we should agree on, how it helps us, and how we can move forward to get what we deserve, he's just noise and a distraction to the people who believe that they are worth more than just "living to fight another day"
8) If you're overnighting in Alabama or Mississippi, there's a good chance you'll be mugged, stabbed, or shot at or, barring that, get food poisoning from one of the several hundred Waffle Houses(they use the same utensils for everything they cook people!)
9) If everyone stopped using their cellphones for just one day, our operation would come to a grinding halt before lunch time.
10) Scheduling and Dispatch both appear to operate with only an abacus, a dartboard, and a single phone line. Oh, and Payroll doesn't understand math. They get it wrong with disturbing regularity.
Good luck to everyone at ASA. We deserve much, much better and I can only hope that it will improve. Thank you all for all the wild and crazy times!
Andrew
PS- USC Trojans suck
