MidAtlantic New Hires ?

[Mercy98]

While this is far from official, it may actually come to this sooner rather than later.

All 1,879 furloughed pilots from USAirways are offered positions at MidAtlantic (MAA) in seniority order. They can make preferences for capt. only, any seat, or no preference at all. If the latter is true, then they "generally" will not call you for anything.

As it stands now, when there are only 4 classes in session for a total of 40 line pilots (check airmen were earlier), the people who call for these classes have already gone completely through the furloughed list, gone back up the list AND back down again calling people for the class that started this week and for the one next week. They were calling for f/o positions, and were having a very hard time finding pilots willing to take the right seat.

What is going to happen when there are 3 or 4 classes every month with as many EMB-170's coming onto the property? They may have to start looking at interviewing for new hires. By the end of the year, they should have (so it's been told) 40-42 airplanes, which would equate to over 480 pilots.

There are many things to consider here, in that for now, all the left seaters will be recalled pilots, but with the company already getting surprised with the f/o shortage, will the left seat find itself in the same position?

Another question is the contract. MAA is operating under the Am. Eagle contract, which has yet to surface in mailboxes. Our working conditions should be shadowed by theirs. Pay rates? It's in the AE contract; I don't know what rates are for first year or anything else beyond that.

Setting aside the problems associated with this alter ego of mainline, and of course what the pay does for all of us as a whole, there may be some possibilities here for some of you. Don't forget that as MAA does operate under the same certificate as mainline there may be some good future possibilities for transitioning to mainline...provided they are able to successfully exit their never-ending funk.

Regards.

 

[LearLove]

Hello, knock knock, j4j and our pay cuts and the TA put the WO guys inline for MDA after the mainline guys.

But we'll get screwed out of that also as we're about to be sold.

 

[FurloughedAgain]

Gee, thats a shame. With your attitude towards furloughed mainline pilots it seems you would be simply delightful to work with.

 

[dlredline]

. . . the people who call for these classes have already gone completely through the furloughed list, gone back up the list AND back down again calling people for the class that started this week and for the one next week. They were calling for f/o positions, and were having a very hard time finding pilots willing to take the right seat.

Mercy98,

I think you made a slight error here. All 1879 pilots have been called for at least one J4J position (ie. Mesa, PSA, Midway, Chataqua, etc.), not MDA. The calls for MidAtlantic have only recently begun, and they started from the top of the list, and are still working their way down. The calls for a J4J position and MidAtlantic are seperate, and from my readings they are not having a problem filling MAA positions (J4J slots, well now, that's another matter).

Best of luck!

Red

 

[Steve 737]

Last I heard they were only down to about 800 on the APL furlough list for right seat at Mid-Atlantic and about 150 on the list for Captain.

 

[Mercy98]

There is someone who is in class now who has a 1999 or 2000 doh at mainline. Someone else I know was offered an f/o slot for the same class (he declined) that was a 2000 doh. He was the one who said they told him they went through the list. As a matter of fact, he had a "no preference", and they told him they were going back down the list calling those who had "no preference" listed like himself.

There are those furloughed from mainline who are at another j4j position now that will take an maa slot. Their one year period is coming up, as long as they are not held from it for up to 9 mos. by their present carrier. Even if that happens, they will have the chance to go to maa eventually.

LearLove, you are correct about WO taking those positions. I obviously didn't say it but its true.

 

[F82C]

I was a U 1999 DOH and never received a 'call' for any J4J position (though I filled out the paper work) - they may have said that they have gone through the list but I do not think that is an accurate statement. What you read in the papers it probably ...

 

[Mercy98]

Houston, we've got a problem.

Don't know what to say about that. I'll ask more tomorrow, when I see them.

 

[Iflewjetz]

same here Mercy. I was called for a PSA class but never for a MDA one. I was a January 99 DOH. Sounds like something fishy here. I might consider working for MDA but I didnt want to at Mesa or PSA.

 

[aroundtheblock]

I was a July'99 doh. I got a Mesa FO letter in Dec. I'd rather collect garbage than work for Mesa. Heck, I'd make twice as much money and would have Christmas off! No word on MAA though. Though I did state I'd pass on all right seats for J4J.

 

[Mercy98]

Check back tomorrow night, I'll see if I can get any specifics for the last class this past Monday. I do know that one of the guys was called last Friday for the class. Actually what he said was they were offering both the Mon. 12th or Mon. 19 class. He had a choice.
Might end up doing a PM to you guys if needed.

 

[KFpilot]

They have not gone down the entire APL list for MAA. They have for Mesa. The people that were called for the Jan classes were actually hired at USAir in Jan of '99. The new Rumor is....No more classes until March. Problems with the certification still. And all the other problems they are encountering.

Hope that helps clear up some things

 

[Mercy98]

The most junior person in the latest class has a seniority that is 1999. I do not know the month. The bulk of that class falls in the middle of 1989. Somebody in this class told me today that they are keeping the classes on schedule; so far there are no delays. Interestingly enough, the class this week is not 50-50 capt. and f/o split. There are only one or two captains in a class of either 10 or 12.

There is still a class scheduled to start next Monday. I would be interested to see how their seniority falls, and what the seat ratio is too.

As far as what I said in the beginning of this post about having gone completely through the list and back again, that is what someone who was called told me. I even asked them to repeat it, because is sounded farfetched. I certainly hope that is the case, especially if some of you haven't been called. Someone else did say today that they have gone through over 800 people for the last two classes, as one of you posted. That even seems like too many phone calls for about 50 positions, especially when that number includes captains as well.

The captains do seem to be still keeping to about very late 1988 as the most junior.

Next time I'll ask for documentation to back things up.

Regards.

 

[surplus1]

Related News FYI

MidAtlantic up in air as US Airways merges units

Thursday, January 15, 2004

By Dan Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

As US Airways' new MidAtlantic Airways regional jet operation stalls on the runway in Pittsburgh, the money-losing carrier is merging two of its turboprop operators into one company, a cost-saving move designed to reduce US Airways' reliance on propeller-driven planes.

The goal is to fold the 1,700-employee Allegheny Airlines into the 2,000-employee Piedmont Airlines by March 31, with a headquarters in Salisbury, Md. If unions do not agree to work rule changes as part of the consolidation, most of Harrisburg-based Allegheny will be liquidated, the company said yesterday.

In either case, the impact to the Pittsburgh area will be minimal since Piedmont employs only three people locally and Allegheny employs no one. Both companies fly the same number of turboprop planes.

The amount of jobs lost as a result of the merger will be determined by negotiations between management and labor.

When the two sides met for the first time yesterday to talk about the deal, the company immediately took a hard line, saying that it would merge the commuter affiliates without liquidating assets only if labor groups agreed to timely changes in work rules. It did not spell those changes out.

US Airways might have a fight on its hands. Neither Piedmont nor Allegheny has agreed to fly the regional jets that are now part of US Airways' larger strategy at MidAtlantic, a commuter airline planned for Pittsburgh International Airport.

Allegheny's pilots, in fact, tried unsuccessfully to disrupt the ratification of an agreement that awarded all future jet flying at MidAtlantic to furloughed US Airways pilots.

But MidAtlantic is not free from labor problems, either. In fact, a dispute over pilots' pay is one of many factors threatening to ground the newly formed commuter unit before it has a chance to get into the air.

When US Airways announced its intention in May 2001 to start a commuter airline at Pittsburgh International Airport, it envisioned an army of smaller, cheaper-to-operate regional jets employing hundreds and providing an ailing US Airways with the wherewithal to battle low-fare carriers such as JetBlue and Southwest Airlines head-to-head.

Regional jets also were a core part of the airline's strategy for returning to profitability, but even that thinking is uncertain as the Arlington, Va.-based airline contemplates an array of options to raise much-needed cash fast. One such option is a sale of some US Airways assets; the company has hired New York investment bank Morgan Stanley to shop those assets.

Several carriers have already expressed interest in looking at what US Airways has to offer, including Phoenix-based Mesa Air and Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, which admitted yesterday for the first time that it had seen a proposal from Morgan Stanley.

Delta Chief Executive Officer Gerald Grinstein said in a quarterly earnings conference call with analysts that there were "areas of interest" for Delta to consider. The airline overlaps in several of US Airways' East Coast markets. Other interested buyers may include British entrepreneur Richard Branson, owner of Virgin Atlantic Airways, Continental Airlines and Northwest Airlines.

With all the upheaval and uncertainty, the plan to start MidAtlantic in May gets more tentative by the day. "We are still targeting the end of March," said US Airways spokesman David Castelveter, but "that outcome is determined by our ability to resolve the other issues."

Those issues include:

A dispute over how much the pilots at MidAtlantic will be paid.

There has been a concern on the part of union leaders that expanding regional jets at the expense of mainline operations could lead to the loss of higher-paying jobs, since regional jet pilots earn up to 50 percent less than their mainline counterparts.

The pilots agreed in 2002 to a contract similar to the one at American Eagle -- another commuter operator -- paying pilots $50 per hour flown. But the pilots now claim they agreed to the American Eagle contract except in areas where the American Eagle example does not apply, such as the size of the plane. The Eagle contract applies to aircraft as large as 70 seats. The MidAtlantic jets are 76 seats.

"They were assuming we would overlook that provision and operate a 76-seater for the price of a 70-seater," said Bill Pollock, head of the US Airways pilots union. "If it had been resolved back then, it wouldn't be an issue now."

The pilots instead want $55 per hour flown. The dispute has been moved to an arbitrator. "I'm concerned that the company may be reevaluating the whole business plan," said Pollock, who also sits on US Airways' board by virtue of his post as the pilots union head. "It could be they don't want [the regional jets] anyway" and, seeking an out, will claim a "lousy five bucks [difference in pay rates] is the straw the breaks the camel's back."

The planes are not yet certified and ready for flying.

Brazil aircraft maker Embraer, which is delivering half of the 85 of the 170 jets, was supposed to have the certification done in November, but it recently pushed back that date to February. Before being used, the planes need to be certified for flying by the federal government.

Although about 60 pilots so far have been trained to fly the planes, only seven planes have been delivered from another manufacturer and those seven are being used by PSA, another US Airways-owned commuter subsidiary.

The financing for the regional jets could be at risk.

The airline agreed to pay $4.3 billion for 170 jets after receiving financing from GE Capital Corp. But GE has said that if the airline's credit rating dips as low as 'C," the financing could be pulled.

Last week, Standard & Poor's lowered the airline's junk rating from B to B-. Airline Chief Executive Officer David Siegel even noted that in a letter to employees last Friday, saying "we cannot let that impact our ability to maintain the financing of the regional jets that are coming into our system."

US Airways may not have enough room at Pittsburgh International.

Its agreement to sign a long-term lease last week for 10 gates is not enough to support a long-term regional jet hub at Pittsburgh. US Airways has said it wants to use its Pittsburgh hub as a base for the MidAtlantic operation, assuming it can reach a deal that would slash the airport's $640 million debt and thus lower the airline's share of that cost. Kent George, the airport's director, has not heard anything about MidAtlantic for awhile.

A US Airways spokesman said his company still wants to base MidAtlantic in Pittsburgh, but now that is an "unresolved issue" because of ongoing negotiations with the county and the state. "It is an issue that will be decided based on our ability to reach a solution in Pittsburgh in bringing down the debt."