No furloughs @ Mesaba

[othello]

Well It looks like the August new hires get to stay at least another month.

"NOTE: All pilots (both voluntary and involuntary) who were scheduled to be furloughed 01 Dec ’03 have been cancelled. Pilots who were scheduled for class in Dec and all furloughed pilots should bid for December schedules in their current
position."

Hmm well that threat fail to get us to sign and we really can't cover the flying with out them.

Gee I wonder what the next scam will be to try and get us to give in and sign a sub par contract.

 

[flap operator]

So, did they cancel these because:

1) they realized were already short staffed and having 16 less would be out of control?

2) has attritian increased since the London like bombing of bad news over the last month or two?

3) perhaps the avros really aren't going away? Perhaps the few scheduled to be parked in December aren't?

Who the heck knows, but this announcement is suprising to say the least.


FO scratching his head

 

[8HourPilot]

Anyone think that NWA might be pulling the initial three ARJ's down to throw the new paint on them and also complete the tail mod?

 

[flap operator]

Could be true... only the idiots in Eagan know WTF is going on (and that's a stretch at times). It'll be hard to disguise the whereabouts of these planes in the next few weeks. They're hard to miss.. you know, big, fat and red. Not to mention we don't even fly to the city in FL where TIMCO is located, so some pilots flying reserve will get ferry assignments. Unless they use mgmt pilots for that to keep us all guessing. Who knows... but you know how word travels at XJ - it'll be hard to disguise.


pissed on FO

 

[8HourPilot]

With NWA owning 14 or the ARj's outright, it just makes sence that they would not get rid of them. Lot's of market's that the ARJ's go, they provide the only first class service.
In the end it's all about the almighty buck.

 

[flap operator]

According to ir.nwa.com they only own 11 outright, but I see your point. They've identified a need for a 70 seat a/c, otherwise why would they be pushing for scope relief with the NWA pilots? Without the avros, they'd be left with only 50 and 44 seats with the next bigger plane the handful of baby 9s. In addition, NW only parks planes that are owned outright and not leased. And that only makes sense, parking planes that produce no revenue, but require lease payments is stupid. But you're right, the almighty buck will be the controlling factor. Not common sense, good business or ethics.

Have you read the latest question to Spanky on mymesaba? Talks a little about the avro and then he winds up and takes his pitch. He throws a fast one that sets the pilots up as the deal breaker for growth. More and more are these fools preparing themselves to blame us for the companies issues.


dumped on FO

 

[8HourPilot]

yeah I did see his message, i might be wrong on the 14 owned, but even if they own one, it makes no sence to sit them. and with the reminder of them being leased...you are right, you dont sit leased a/c

another simple thought on the Avro situation. xj has been flying the avro for years now and making some big profit. if nwa relaxes their scope and allows ther avro to go to lets say 80 seats....which is low, that bird just beacme a big money maker, and also the premier 70+ seat rj for the time being (dont know how good the erj-170 is going to be, but it certainly kills the crj-700)

nwa has to see this, pretty weak bluff i think

 

[flap operator]

I sure hope you're right... I'd rather not get furloughed. I'd also like to be around for our new contract, when we get it.


FO

 

[metrodriver]

They already furloughed almost all your brothers from Big Sky

 

[xjavro85]

Why is everyone so hooked on this tail mod? Its not that big of a deal. Would take the avionics guys about a week in CVG to do it. Which is interesting because it looks like they are looking to add another avionics tech in CVG. Hmmm wonder why that is after they gave most of CVGMX that shaft....

 

[belchfire]

Good news for you guys!!! I hope that
this all works out for you and that they
are not just waiting for the seasonal drop
in traffic in JAN.

could you fill an ignorant junkstream driver
in on the tail mod? I heard something
about a speed limit that was imposed...
from a ramper at another airline, so I don't
know how valid it is.

Also, how do the seat mile costs stack up
on the ARJ compared to some of the other
new 70 seat class rj's?

Thanks,

Belch

 

[xjavro85]

The AVRO is speed rescricted due to pitch oscillations that have caused damage to elevator controls. Not sure which airline it was but I beleive it was in Europe someplace, they had a very violent pich vibration that caused some serious flight control damage. The tail mod is the fix for this problem. By what I have heard from the mx guys it involves a pitch damper located in the tail and a couple wires run from the tail to the back of the avionics rack. Sure hope they do it soon, the avro was slow enough to begin with

 

[NuGuy]

Originally posted by 8HourPilot if nwa relaxes their scope and allows ther avro to go to lets say 80 seats....which is low, that bird just beacme a big money maker, and also the premier 70+ seat rj for the time being (dont know how good the erj-170 is going to be, but it certainly kills the crj-700) [/B]

8 Hour,

You can pretty much forget this. With the exception of the Avros, the NWA guys own the 55+ seaters, and there is ZERO interest in providing any sort of 1-1 replacement even for the Avros there aready are over 55 seats.

From what I hear, this is a huge line in the sand for them because 70 seats is very close to 100 seats, which is what 130+ of their DC-9s have.

Now, normally I would agree that there might be some give and take, but this is a really, really big deal for the NWA pilots basically because so much of their bread in butter is the 70-100 seat markets in the midwest. They've already proved time and again that they have the stones to walk over core issues.

Personally, unless XJ comes up with a jet order of their own, 55 seats or less, I think they are out of the jet business for the time being.

JMO,
Nu