B6 is a LCC... was a start up when the intial low wages were being paid. When we had 20 jets you can't even begin to tell me that we were even considered more than a gnat on DAL's radar... it's your fault to have ignored B6 until it was too late and the market share out of jfk had shifted to B6 over DAL over the same routes. Shame on your leadership for letting that happen. Now, you guys are correct... wages have been lowered but isn't that ALPA's fault and your mec's fault for not standing strong (fraternally yours brother.... something like that, right alpa stooges?) and holding the line. B6 is not the reason why all of your wages came down. It's was due to alpa's ineptitude for not standing strong and holding the line... oh yeah i know... i am furloughed for 5.5 yrs now from nwa and am on bypass b/c i can't afford to go back to a crappy contract and 1st yr pay of 29.55 and hour... and get no credit for any time i've been out. So don't sit behind your computer and credit B6 for the erosion of your benefits. Stare at your face in the mirror and repeat the following.... I let my MEC and Alpa drive down my wages and I did nothing about it.... because that's what happend.
Tail
No, Tail. Guys like you don't "get it." ALPA "holding the line" doesn't work when you have 100's of LCC jets flying for wages that are less than half of ALPA's "going rate" flying around and undercutting you. Any airline that "holds the line" with wages and workrules and pensions only delays the inevitable. The first ALPA airline that "holds the line" eventually dies because its costs can compete with the LCC's when their pilots, for example, are making less than half of what was the going rate. The LCC's with their low wages and crappy work rules would have simply grown into that void left by the first failed ALPA carrier. The LCC's would then grow and start undercutting the next ALPA carrier's market share, until it slowly fails as its costs are massively undercut by LCC wages and workrules. Lather, rinse, repeat until the entire industry is dragged down to B6 (or enter favorite LCC carrier here) pay and work rules.
Shame on ALPA for letting that happen? We ALPA carriers had NO CHOICE but to bring our wages and work rules DOWN to the LCC level or else we would just slowly bleed to death. When my carrier (UAL) was getting dragged through bankruptcy, who's pay and work rules do you think my management slid across the table for us to match? I'll give you a hint: B6, Frontier, Airtran. They took the worst of all three and said "gimme" so we can compete with these guys or the judge will give them to us. It's amazing to me that guys like you can simply wash your hands of what happened in this industry and say, "it wasn't us that dragged down legacy pay rates. It was ALPA ineptitude" Yeah Tail, it was ALPA's fault for "not standing strong." Gee, if we only had "stood strong" we'd all have our pensions. If we only had "stood strong" we'd be making 200 bucks an hour to fly the Airbus instead of making B6 rates. That is absolutely ridiculous and illustrates what little knowledge you have of airline financials and the affect low labor costs can have on subsidizing an airline's bottom line.
Like I said before Tail, if airlines like Skybus, Allegiant, Virgin, etc., succeed in the up and coming years, you're going to see first hand what discount airline labor can do to your airline's wages. Tail, you had better tell your co-workers to "stand strong" now before market share starts to shift. All you have to do is "stand strong" and they won't be able to use their low cost labor to subsidize their profits and undercut you. Stand strong Tail!
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