MaxBlast feeling the LUV!

[Ty Webb]

Parethd...

Nobody is shouldering him with more or less of the blame. He has made himself into a lightening rod because he gets on here and can't stop himself from posting. It has been implied that this is why the ATN internal forum was shut down; at least until after the DRC case is arbitrated in October.

As you probably know, when a person is a member of a committee, including the MC, they do so at the liberty of, and receiving direction from, the MEC. Strict obedience to the governing body (the MEC) is a given and it is an unwavering requirement. Those "pizza parties" he was hosting, one of which you attended, were not sanctioned by the MEC. The information that he was spilling, was not authorized for distribution because said information was fluid. IOW, what seems to be cast in stone today, usually changes into something else tomorrow. Only at the end of the process, when signatures are put onto paper, do we have a final result. Only at that time does an MEC authorize release of negotiated agreements. Such a release is handled via controlled environments such as Road Shows.

Max's first mistake, after being part of a group of four MC members that delivered an absolutely piss poor product to the MEC (subsequently triggering an MEC rejection of that product) was that he went rogue. He had zero authority to speak to the rank and file outside of approved communications. The MEC approves communications to the pilot group after vetting it with the lawyers; only then does it get dispersed via avenues such as their Communication Committee or sometimes by a Committee Chairman, but only after being sanctioned to do so. Max is not and was not the MC Chairman.

Max is so far out in left field that he is in the parking lot. He is trying to rationalize and engage in revisionist history for his and the MC's failure; and the folks around here have had enough. He'll be going through the partition in November. I have no doubt that his ranting will continue over there too.

Nicely summarized, and 100% correct. The dude needs to be on meds.

 

[madjack]

Not that familiar with all the legal mumbo jumbo, but I believe DV et. al. would have liked to have seen the two pilot groups negotiate in a vacuum, and when a deal was not forthcoming, proceed to binding arbitration....

Expectations were that AAI would do better at arbitration than at the negotiating table, management stepped in and the rest is history...

Was it right/wrong for management to step in?

Why did they bother?

That is subject to endless debate...

But if the company broke its contract with AAI/ALPA, well that seems like a matter for the courts...

As to the flush bid and the fallout of the 717 going away, it does seem that mgmt is stepping over dollars to save pennies and is losing a LOT of good will on the AAI side...

But maybe, Mr Kelly was a little miffed that the first deal was not sent out for a pilot vote...nah, not possible....

Max Blast is taking a lot of heat from the "alamo" crowd, but having been close to discussions with management, maybe he drew a conclusion that it was best to take the first deal, you may not agree with his opinion, but he was chosen to do the best for the AAI pilots, I am sure he felt he did his job...

 

[-9Capt]

Don,

As a matter of fact every FAT I have flown with, wishes the membership had gotten a vote.


GK hooked up his homies (and that is very debatable at certain seniority cross sections on our list), but what did you really expect him to do??? I mean really, he held all the cards...

As of right now, nearly every FAT pilot over there went voluntarily. Conduct that survey again once integration is over.

What did I expect him to do? How about stay the hell out of it and let the process work like its supposed to. Like every other airline CEO does. By sticking his nose in and creating the animosity, he is responsible for alienating 30+% of his employees. Maybe he thought that would be better than actually doing what's fair and thereby pissing off the other 70%.

Yeah, I know, RSW guys are pissed too, except nobody thus far has been able to coherently articulate to me exactly why that is.

 

[madjack]

"thereby pissing off the other 70%. "

BINGO, we have a winner!! You guys made a good airline, and have every right to be pissed that it was sold and now your cheese is being moved to the tune of seniority and arguably dollars (for the FAT CPs, but that math is VERY debatable)...I would be pissed too but, then again, I might have been expecting AAI to be a temporary home, not a final career destination...

 

[K-Mart]

As of right now, nearly every FAT pilot over there went voluntarily. Conduct that survey again once integration

Yeah, I know, RSW guys are pissed too, except nobody thus far has been able to coherently articulate to me exactly why that is.

I think once everyone transitions over there may still be some anger left over but most will be happy after experiencing the culture and getting to really embrace the spirit of southwest. Paycheck is a nice plus all the other benefits like spirit parties, ice cream socials and if you're lucky enough to be at HQ on a friday get to experience a deck party. If you're still mad then you weren't meant to be happy anyways.

 

[-9Capt]

I think once everyone transitions over there may still be some anger left over but most will be happy after experiencing the culture and getting to really embrace the spirit of southwest.

I just puked on my keyboard.

 

[-9Capt]

"thereby pissing off the other 70%. "

I can't help but notice you conveniently left off the first half of the sentence.

 

[madjack]

Fair? Well that depends on your perspective. It seems pretty UNFAIR to me that a former FAT CP, who left AAI to come to SWA, now has folks in his AAI new hire ahead of him on the ISL...What really, really cracks me up is that you find it so distasteful that the CEO of SWA took the side of his employees, yes perhaps at the expense of his future employees, yeah the same guys that told him in so many words to go F-off after SL9...

 

[madjack]

"I just puked on my keyboard."

I think he was joking? I hope...

 

[-9Capt]

Fair? Well that depends on your perspective. It seems pretty UNFAIR to me that a former FAT CP, who left AAI to come to SWA, now has folks in his AAI new hire ahead of him on the ISL..

That was his choice to start over on the bottom of the SW list, sucks to be GB.

.What really, really cracks me up is that you find it so distasteful that the CEO of SWA took the side of his employees, yes perhaps at the expense of his future employees, yeah the same guys that told him in so many words to go F-off after SL9...

Again, he could have played fairly, stayed out and let the unions work it out among themselves to arrive at a fair and equitable solution. Instead he picked sides, which over the long term, will end up degrading his employee centric culture of SW.

We told him to F-off? Really? How do you figure?

 

[-9Capt]

"I just puked on my keyboard."

I think he was joking? I hope...

So was I.

 

[Bake]

-9Capt, the scene is amazing but the legs are too skinny. Can you photoshop that some?

 

[madjack]

-9cpt, he was pretty vocal about wanting the pilots of both groups to have a chance to vote, by saying no, your side may have p-offed the new boss...just saying

 

[-9Capt]

-9Capt, the scene is amazing but the legs are too skinny.

I hate to ruin it for you, but she's about to drop a #2.

 

[madjack]

"which over the long term, will end up degrading his employee centric culture of SW. "

Just how is taking sides with your employees, degrading the culture? I would be more alarmed if did NOT take sides with his employees!! Many folks, right or wrong, on the SWA side feel that by taking all the AAI pilots sans 88 dc9s was throwing your side a pretty big bone...

 

[-9Capt]

-9cpt, he was pretty vocal about wanting the pilots of both groups to have a chance to vote, by saying no, your side may have p-offed the new boss...just saying

So by doing that we told him to F-off? Geez, exaggerate much?

It wasn't his decision whether ALPA members get the chance to vote on his proposal. That was our MECs decision. He had a right to offer a solution, however his threats and ultimatums crossed a line into scumbagdom. What makes him think that it's his place to influence our union proceedings? Like I said before, he can want whatever he wants to want, but the fact is, it wasn't his decision to make. When he didn't get his way, he decided to play in the gutter. Real nice.

 

[-9Capt]

Just how is taking sides with your employees, degrading the culture? I would be more alarmed if did NOT take sides with his employees!! Many folks, right or wrong, on the SWA side feel that by taking all the AAI pilots sans 88 dc9s was throwing your side a pretty big bone...

To answer your question, eventually about 1/3 of SW pilots will feel, to varying degrees, as if they were not treated fairly, their seniority was "stolen", their capt seats were "stolen", etc. That will degrade the SW culture. I know many of us will be less than willing to lift a finger for this place.

As for the last sentence of your post, I would refer those pilots to my signature line.
| | |
VVV

 

[madjack]

Do what you got to do, we got plenty on this side who are NOT drinking the Koolaid... It's a good job and we are all lucky to have jobs at a major...

 

[madjack]

It seems to me he decided to look at options when a negotiated agreement was not looking good...right or wrong that is what he wanted for the company...a negotiated SLI...why, if he could avoid it, should he let your union dictate how the deal got done...I can understand if u feel his actions were Anti-ALPA but I do feel he really felt a negotiated settlement was better for SWA...it would have been easier for him to stay out of the process and let a judge decide...

 

[-9Capt]

And by doing so he disregarded signed agreements and resorted to making threats and ultimatums. I'm sure glad he got what he wanted. I'll never trust a thing this management has to say. I'll show up when it's convenient for me then go home and enjoy my days off.