Jack Lewis E-mail

[Los1]

Anybody have any thoughts on what the e-mail from the CP means...?
Los1

 

[klhoard]

I'm sure someone will post it in it's entirety soon.
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However, I think the gist is that the bean counters should have been hiring more in the past, but now it's gonna take us a couple years to catch up.
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In the mean time, expect your phone to be ringing off the hook!!

 

[USMCFDX]

why bother here it will just be moved

 

[PurpleTail]

All I know is that I'm bidding out of LAX and going back to MEM on this next bid.

The flying in LA is going down hill, tons of brutal Out-n-Backs and very ineffecient flying because very few trips actually hook together. It is tough to commute from outside the LA area and unless you live within 50 miles of the airport traffic sucks a$$. JL said himself he wold close the base down if it was up to him so you know the clock is ticking.

 

[slowdryver]

I think he is trying to get people to bid accordingly to help sovle some of the staffing needs and all the headaches that come with it. There's going to be a lot of movement in the next few years.

 

[TonyC]

I've been scratching my head about the e-mail, too. Did anybody get the Reader's Digest version, the Cliff's notes, or the English translation? I read it twice, then copied it to MS Word to change the font and read it again. The best I can figure is he spent 1129 words (no, I didn't count, that's one of the cool features of MS Word) to say, "Bid what you want to fly."


Am I way off base there?


PurpleTail... as for LAX flying... first off, bid what you want to fly. Then, consider the value of the paid move. If they decide to close the domicile, I expect it will be a slow painful process where the flying gets so bad that people voluntarily bid out, and they won't receive the move package. If you can stick it out to the bitter end, there should be a monetary reward. Only you know if that's worth it to you.

By the way, they could make the decision to close LAX after the bid closes and before the results are announced. You never know. I have never been happy with a coterminal domicile (LAX, ONT, what are the other two? Long Beach, and John Wayne?). I don't know how you guys manage to sit reserve and be available to report to any of the four airports. Anyway...


The overall impression I got from the e-mail was this: Woe is us, we're going to have a lot of guys in training. Could y'all just settle down in one seat and stay put for us, please?


Yeah, right....

 

[NightFlyer]

Tony, I've been based in LA for a year and a half now and I've only flown out of ONT a hand full of times. It's really not that bad as long as you're not driving during rush hour.

Also, I think PurpleTail needs to stay in LA since he's senior to me and I'm going to be based in Memphis now.

NightFlyer

 

[PurpleTail]

Don't worry NightFlyer MEM will be a much easier commute for you...besides I don't think one more guy in front of you (480 pilots growing to 550) will effect our Reserve bidding anyway

After reading the letter I will say this...next peak is going to be VERY interesting. My point being...Lots of guys in training=shortage of line pilots=open time/volunteer/draft. If we haven't made significant progress on the new contract (18 months after amendable date) the natives (read pilots) will hopefully start getting restless. I wonder what would happen if we stopped accepting draft/volunteer trips to send a message to management??? I know, I know...we will always have pilots chasing the money but we could be in a pretty good position. Lets stay unified, lets stay strong.

Two words...RETRO PAY, RETRO PAY

 

[2Aoff1Bon]

The letter said that training freezes would be upheld and to read the contract on what applies. I have -10 S/O training starting next month, but I'm pretty sure I will hold a right seat on this bid. I just missed the Boeing right seat last time (had no idea I would be that close to it). If I get it this time (or a wide-body right seat), will my -10 training slot go away or not? I didn't see anything in the contract about that scenario (then again there's a lot of stuff I read in the contract that I don't really understand.) The letter spoke of all the ripples when someone doesn't train for the seat they were awarded, so I just wonder how that is handled. I know training freezes apply to failures, but not sure about this situation.

 

[NightFlyer]

I think you'll be okay as long as you haven't started training by the time the bid closes. Then again I've been known to be wrong a time or two.


NightFlyer