Pinnacle questions (vs. Eagle)

[Lear70]

What's up ATA man!

H*ll yeah we're still on reserve, but it looks like the three-year reserve stint will be over soon (July for DTW guys, August for MSP)! Bouncing out to MSP for the per diem and hotel next month, then sport bidding back and forth between MSP and DTW all summer just for grins, a little cash, and to p*ss D.W. off!

I got all my stuff in there just in time to have the hiring door shut. Hopefully they'll gear back up sometime soon and I can get out of here, otherwise it'll just be time to buckle down and prepare for a strike, 'cause you KNOW that's the only way we're ever going to get any kind of decent money or quality of life. The Union guys are keeping things quiet as usual (Great Northern Mississippi Flying Club thing at work still)... hopefully they will be up to the task, if not, there's always alternatives.

How's the fam? Still enjoying those Hawaii runs? Take care over there, have fun with the kids for Easter, and keep the oil burning for us!

 

[smokey999]

Lear70, I'm confused. Have you been on reserve at PCL for 3 years, or preparing for strike at Mesaba? Maybe I'm just missing something.

 

[Lear70]

Both.

Seriously though, back in '01 the company was just starting to receive a large number of jets but the training program was all screwed up and the failure rate was somewhere between 60-70% for Saab CA to CRJ CA. The course was built by Flight Safety for guys who had already flown a jet and did not give ANY basic jet performance and handling characteristic instruction. So they hired a bunch of street Captains, I thnk around 30 or so of us, promising the street captain hirings would continue and we'd be off reserve in 90 days. Almost all of us were furloughed from cargo ops like Kitty Hawk, Express One, Emery, Polar, etc and had plenty of jet time so the transition was relatively painless despite the negativity of the training department ("Memorize these or you'll be fired!" - I'm exaggerating a little, but you get the picture).

That was May, June, and July... then September of '01 came and we all found ourselves furloughed in October. Then back by the end of December but VERY slow hiring, plus they fixed their training problem so upgrades started coming from within again, as they should anyway... So everyone upgrading was WAY senior to us, and we have spent three years on reserve, albeit at Captain pay so we can pay the bills, but we had no life outside of PCL during this period (two days off when you live out of base is barely enough time to keep the wife from divorcing your *ss); it's the price we paid to be able to come into the airline straight into the left seat of the jet and most of us have just sucked it up with a minimum of whining... OK, I whine more than some, but not more than all!

As far as preparing for a strike goes, I haven't been saving for Mesaba's strike, I've been saving for OURS. We're starting negotiations in three months and I've been saving the last year and a half. If things go well, I'll simply have a nice chunk to help pay off the car and a strike fund won't be necessary. But I always prepare for the worst while I'm still hoping for the best, so my Strike Fund by this time next year will be almost three month's salary (after tax). I'm not leaving myself ANY reason to vote for a contract that doesn't put us in the top 3 of the regional carriers for pay, days off, retirement and other QOL issues! If our MEC brings us something less than that I'm likely to set it on fire right there in the roadshow! H*ll, they might be lynched on the spot...

 

[smokey999]

I have been truly enlightened. Thanks. And congrats on hopefully holding a line.

 

[ForgedBlade]

Yeah, having fun at ATA, but the rumors keep flying. Been to Europe and the desert a bunch, but staying domestic for a few months! The 2nd year pay raise is nice, just have to get away from my ex- first!! Drop an e-mail my way! JG