JC Resigns Comair MEC

[Occam's Razor]

JC is a good man. I've worked with him a lot.

His leadership during the '01 strike was superb. I witnessed it first-hand.

I wish him well.

 

[N2264J]

His "need for greed" in getting the highest pay for regionals netted us a $1 billion loss at mainline...Why again could you not help our furloughed pilots?

When the Comair pilots went on strike, it cost Delta, by their own admission, some $680 million dollars. That's $680 million dollars no longer available to say, fund a pension plan or help finance new aircraft for mainline pilots to fly.

Many Delta pilots had Delta stock in their 401K and the strike had an adverse impact on its value. So is it reasonable to assume Delta pilots, who are big on talking the "union" talk, have a deep seated resentment and animosity toward Comair pilots for striking their airline?

They kept saying we are separate airlines but that's not the way it really is, is it?

Everyone "knows" the regionals are supposed to be a stepping stone and not a career. Apparently, we're not even allowed to aspire to make our airline a career. But the Delta pilots found themselves in an awkward position. (No Delta pilots bothered to walk our picket line after they closed the deal on their contract). As union "brothers," they wouldn't be able to say in public what they really felt because the strike was considered throughout the industry, both inside and outside of ALPA, by mainline and "regional" alike, as a success.

As accolades were showered on Comair pilots as the strike progressed, mainline pilots gritted their teeth - only three people crossed the line (one ex management, one already retired) and Comair pilots were praised for their unity while the mainliners bit their tongues. Comair pilots got to wear a star on their ALPA wings and while the Delta pilots couldn't, their ears turned red as a symbol of the "pecking order" had been stood on its head.

The accrimony grew and they needed a canard so they could rebuke the Comair pilots under the guise of playing "union brothers as victims." Enter the furloughees.

So while Delta pilots were picking up open time as fast as they could which has the affect of keeping the furloughees furloughed, they slam Comair pilots to this very day about a management hiring policy.

 

[PCL_128]

You had me agreeing with your right up until the point that you started defending the MEC's actions on the DAL furloughee situation. Sorry, but there's just no way to defend that.

 

[SKYWRJGUY]

GL is almost comical at this point and the Glass House comment is right on. CMR MEC thought they were acting in their own best faith, they were approved to strike, and all the union-back patters did so for their sticking it to management and trying to raise the bar. Retrospect is sorta easy to denigrate eh? GL--won't you just ever go away or you just like hanging with the in-crowd [since yours ignores you]?

 

[C425Driver]

I agree that JC and the MEC should have tried to persuade Comair management to change their hiring policy for furloughed pilots, but only if our back was scratched, too. In conversations that I had with JC and other members of our MEC in the crew lounge, they told me that the DAL MEC wanted the seniority number resignation issue lifted as well as preferential hiring at Comair. In return Comair pilots would get preferential interviewing at DAL - not preferential hiring. They wanted a lot from us with very little in return - there was room for more negotiations between the two pilot groups to come to an amicable agreement and the opportunity was not siezed. Instead, both sides turned their noses up to the other and cried foul on each other.

Even if the Comair MEC agreed to this all they could have done was ask for a change - it is a Comair policy, not a union policy. There is no guarantee that Regional Randy, Phred Betrayal, or anyone else at the Comair GO would have changed anything to help a pilot in need. My personal belief is even if the MEC did ask for a change nothing would have come of it. Perhaps the blame should be shifted, at least partially, to the Comair management for having such a policy. No, I guess it's self-serving to only blame JC and the Comair pilots.

There are many things that I agree with as well as disagree with as far as JC and the MEC go during my 5 years at Comair. I think he was a good leader and motivator during the strike and he was a great advocate for the regional pilot in a union where the regional pilot is looked down upon as a second-rate citizen by it's top national leaders. However, the pre-bankruptcy concessions were unfathomable to me. I still can't believe it ever went to a vote. I was a very junior Captain at the time and I had a lot to gain by adding 45 new aircraft to the fleet but I still voted against the concessions because I felt it was wrong on so many levels. It became even worse when it was revealed that Phred Betrayal (or was his first name Fraud?) made a promise to the pilot group to get all of these shiny new airframes when he couldn't get financing.

I left Comair and the regional airline industry shortly after the first round of concessions went into effect. When I walked through the turnstyle for the last time I left behind any anger and angst I had toward anyone or any group. I worked with some of the best people in my career and I appreciate the time that I had at Comair. I wish JC all the best.

 

[PCL_128]

I agree that JC and the MEC should have tried to persuade Comair management to change their hiring policy for furloughed pilots, but only if our back was scratched, too. In conversations that I had with JC and other members of our MEC in the crew lounge, they told me that the DAL MEC wanted the seniority number resignation issue lifted as well as preferential hiring at Comair. In return Comair pilots would get preferential interviewing at DAL - not preferential hiring. They wanted a lot from us with very little in return - there was room for more negotiations between the two pilot groups to come to an amicable agreement and the opportunity was not siezed.

Wow, that's some great revisionist history, but that's not what took place at all. DALPA scheduled a meeting with JC to discuss this issue, because CMR management had specifically stated that the reason they would not change their policy is because the pilots wouldn't support it. When The DAL MEC Chair showed up to the meeting, instead of JC being there, he was met by the Executive Admin. The EA proceeded to state that for the CMR MEC's position to change, that DALPA would have to agree to talk about easing their scope restrictions on CMR. It had nothing to do with pref hiring of CMR pilots, it was all about further eroding DALPA scope. Since the loss of scope was directly responsible for the furloughees in the first place, it would be asinine for DALPA to consider easing scope yet more, resulting in the furloughed pilots being out of a job for even longer. The DAL Chairman stated that he refused to discuss scope concessions, that this was about one MEC helping the furloughed brothers of another MEC, and that he was only there to discuss the change of the CMR MEC's policy. The EA said that there was nothing further to discuss in that case, and the DAL Chairman walked out.

 

[Nindiri]

Is it true that Delta pilots were picking up open time while there were still pilots on furlough? If true, then it's hard to have very much sympathy for their complaints about the Comair MEC's policy on Delta furloughs. Lead by example.

 

[General Lee]

GL is almost comical at this point and the Glass House comment is right on. CMR MEC thought they were acting in their own best faith, they were approved to strike, and all the union-back patters did so for their sticking it to management and trying to raise the bar. Retrospect is sorta easy to denigrate eh? GL--won't you just ever go away or you just like hanging with the in-crowd [since yours ignores you]?

Glass house, eh? It's great that they tried to get the high pay. Any striking group is obviously going for high pay. But, they went up against Leo Mullin and he crushed them, and they still didn't get what they wanted. The unsuccessful strike cost us (mainline) $1 billion (which hurt after 9-11), and the result was a modest pay increase, and hardly any SCOPE, which was exploited by Leo later on. CVG was invaded by other carriers, and the result now is a smaller Comair, lower pay, BK, and JC Lawson leaving. We all got pay cuts in BK, but Comair is continually getting hammered, and will for awhile.

And no, I won't go away, especially on Comair issues. Their actions after 9-11 were ridiculous and incredibly insensitive to many who were furloughed, many just leaving Comair to go to Delta themselves. Lawson knew he was asking for too much, but did anyway. He will be remembered for just that.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[wmuflyguy]

So did JC get hired at Delta?

 

[General Lee]

Is it true that Delta pilots were picking up open time while there were still pilots on furlough? If true, then it's hard to have very much sympathy for their complaints about the Comair MEC's policy on Delta furloughs. Lead by example.

That probably did happen a bit, but we were capped at 75 hours of pay per month, and the rest went into a bank that filled up pay checks to 75 hours when someone had 70 or so hours that month. Did you know that we were actually sued for not picking up overtime, and LOST. We actually LOST a court case with the Federal Court for not keeping with the status quo. So, any stoppage of picking up overtime would have resulted in damages awarded. But, you didn't know that, did you?


Bye BYe--General Lee