Massive furloughs at Polar

[KeroseneSnorter]

Got an ALPA e-mail, according to it, Cato held a conference call today with the union and announced that all classics would be parked by July 1st. One more 400 would be added to Polar but the end result is a massive furlough at Polar.

The Classics account for about 50% of the total pilot group.

 

[Whale Rider]

The next few months are going to be very interesting....well see how much water our contract really holds.:bomb:

 

[bman]

Maximum Suckage fellas!!

Please do your best to keep us up dated on the situation!

Do the Polar contract allow for furloughs by equipment without regards to senority? Otherwise that'd be a mess tryin to retrain people!

Good Luck

 

[B747FR8DAWG]

These are interesting times!!!!

 

[furloughfodder]

No, they can't furlough out of seniority, and the most senior person on our list is an F/E.

They will put out a new system bid, and all the classic pilots will be allowed to bid the -400. The cost of retraining all of these pilots in this massive shuffle will be millions.

Smart move Cato.

 

[Whale Rider]

Nice Little article..........

Atlas Air Worlwide Earnings Soar, 2005 NET Income totals.........
noticias.info, Spain - Apr 17, 2006

http://www.noticias.info/asp/aspComunicados.asp?nid=167770&src=0

 

[RideandDrive]

April 18, 2006


Hi everybody this is Jeff with a special message.

As you know, the Company announced some time ago the need to begin reducing our Classic fleet. Simply put, these aircraft are not profitable in any of our service segments other than AMC and charter, our most volatile market segments.

As early as last year we planned to park and sell or sub-lease two Pratt-powered Classic aircraft at Polar, in particular 920 and 921. While we elected to keep these two aircraft in 2005 to meet the unexpected spike in AMC demand, now that our AMC flying is back to where we thought it would be we have had them on the market, and 921 was sold two weeks ago, while 920 is parked awaiting sub-lease. Additionally, our only –100 aircraft, 858, has always been scheduled to be parked once its remaining economic life expires, which will be in June when its next heavy check is due. The net result is that by July the Polar Classic fleet will consist of only four aircraft.

Unfortunately, given the Crew inefficiencies, it is just not economically viable to operate a Classic fleet of this size. Faced with this reality, we are left with no choice but to park the Polar Classic fleet effective July 1.

I know that this is very disappointing news, and it’s disappointing for me to have to deliver it. We’ve known for some time that as the start-up competition in the marketplace grew we would be challenged to place all of our Classic fleet. This was one reason why our Board directed management to merge the two Polar and Atlas Crew forces nearly a year and a half ago, as doing so would have ensured as productive a Classic fleet as possible for as long as possible. That is not to say that we wouldn’t still have had to reduce the fleet over time. But certainly the need to do so would not have been as accelerated, and perhaps not as deep, as it now is.

I know this raises the question of why Polar can efficiently operate a –400 fleet of only five aircraft, yet we can’t be as Crew efficient with the Classics. The answer lies in the fact that the -400s are used exclusively for scheduled service, where we can control the use of the aircraft and we can do so in a manner that ensures efficient Crew utilization. This is not the case with the Classic, however, where the ad hoc nature of the flying in which we place these aircraft makes them very Crew inefficient.

As you know, the Company has strived to avoid the situation where it would be necessary to hire at either Atlas or Polar while furloughing at the other carrier. We face this same situation today as, in the absence of any changes, Atlas would likely have to hire additional Crewmembers to support the level of –400 flying that we are seeing from our ACMI customers.

That being the case, I’ve made the decision to move one of the Atlas -400 aircraft that is currently being utilized nearly full time to support Polar scheduled service in South America - - and this is flying that can’t be profitably performed using a Classic aircraft - - back to Polar, thus increasing the Polar -400 fleet back to six aircraft as it was last year.

While this flying is permitted as part of the alliance agreement between the two carriers, moving the –400 back to Polar will have the positive effect of reducing the number of Crewmembers to be furloughed. While doing so will create a small Crew overage at Atlas, we will absorb this overage as part of normal attrition that is projected to occur in 2006.

I know this is a very troubling announcement and will affect many lives. The Crewmembers at Polar will receive a letter shortly that discusses the system bid that will be run and also addresses the Flight Engineer issue, as there will be no Flight Engineer positions remaining at Polar. Certainly, those Flight Engineers who have the qualifications and seniority to hold a Pilot position will be awarded those positions as part of the system bid.

But those who do not will either be furloughed or terminated, depending on how we can work it out with the Association.

Our preference, of course, is to furlough these individuals, since once the merger is completed and we have a single integrated seniority list we would like them to have the opportunity for recall should Flight Engineer vacancies occur down the road on the merged carrier. Indeed, some of these individuals may obtain the requisite Pilot qualifications while on furlough, which would allow them to also be eligible for recall to Pilot positions at the merged carrier.

And as a result of this decision, there will also be some Ground Staff implications. By July 1, we will have reduced our overall fleet by seven aircraft, which is nearly 20% of the total fleet. I have asked each of the department heads to look very seriously at their staffing, and have put a moratorium on backfilling any non-critical operational vacancies for the time being. It is my hope that we can absorb through attrition between now and July 1 as many positions as possible rather than have to implement any layoffs. I think we can get there.

When a Company makes the decision to furlough employees it is always a very difficult one. I know that lives and families are affected, and it is particularly hard to be part of this decision right before I leave the Company. I do know, however, that this is a necessary decision to ensure the long-term viability of this Company. This decision does not affect the merger, which is going forward. And, again, I call on both MECs to help us make this happen, sooner rather than later.

We have a successful airline and we are going to continue to have a successful airline going forward…. but only if we face up to the realities of our business and deal with the hard challenges as they occur, not ignore them and find ourselves in the position where any action we might take is too late to make a difference.

I appreciate your taking the time to listen today. I will be holding an Employee Exchange down the road where we can talk about this some more and I can field your questions. In the meantime, I ask you all to do your best to stay focused. It is going to be a challenging year, but I know it can be a successful year, just as it was in 2005 as we came out of our bankruptcy. We will get through this.

I will be talking to you again soon.

 

[Classicdriver]

No, they can't furlough out of seniority, and the most senior person on our list is an F/E.

They will put out a new system bid, and all the classic pilots will be allowed to bid the -400. The cost of retraining all of these pilots in this massive shuffle will be millions.

Smart move Cato.

So the FE's will be unable to bid the -400. Hence a furlough out of seniority?

Intersesting, you blame Cato. Might want to look a little closer to home.

Your MEC was told over and over that the margins were very thin in scheduled service and a 26% pay raise was out of the question, yet they continued their demands for a raise. Even though your works rules led to a pay very close, sometimes more than the Atlas crews.

Well, you got a raise, and for 60% of your crew memebers its a good thing, ops, maybe for only 30% of the crews, with all the downgrades to FO coming. Those direct hire captains will be sitting pretty. Bottom of the list, yet still captains.

I assume a grievance is being put forth in a very short time to contest the Alliance agreement again. Hopefully it was written and waiting for a date and signature. I don't think we've heard the end on this one yet.

This explains why the MEC ran down to MIA in Feburary to get current on the -400.

 

[Steve]

Good luck guys

 

[bman]

Now I don't know much, but I don't think that the pay raises over at Polar had anything to do with what is happening. I know it may seem that way but airline management is rarely ever quick to react. They have had this plan in the works for a while now. Anyone who thinks different is nuts!!

So what happens now?!

How does this affect a merged "Polass" list. There doesn't seem to be much of a standard for "merger Policy".