JoeMerchant
ASA pilot
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2005
- Posts
- 6,353
August 25, 2005
Captain Duane Woerth, President
Air Line Pilots Association
1625 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington DC 20036-2212
VIA FAX AND CERTIFIED MAIL
Re: Resumption of Delta Mainline Bargaining
Dear Captain Woerth,
On August 19, 2005, Delta management formally notified ALPA of the company’s projected liquidity shortfall pursuant to paragraph 4(a) of the Bankruptcy Protection Letter. Both the company’s notice and the circumstances behind it are clear indications that another round of mainline bargaining may be imminent.
Consistent with our numerous letters concerning ALPA’s bargaining practices at Delta, we respectfully request that the Association ensure that it conduct itself in manner reflective of its duties to the ASA and Comair pilots. As evidenced by ALPA’s conduct at other carriers, the prospect of "crisis" bargaining at Delta increases the likelihood that ALPA’s mainline interests will seek to obtain provisions harmful to the ASA and Comair pilots or otherwise use our interests to create negotiating capital.
Of special concern is the possibility that ALPA’s arbitrary restrictions on the number of 70-seat aircraft Delta Connection may operate could result in significant job losses at ASA and Comair. As we wrote the Association prior to the last round of Delta bargaining, the 70-seat markets hold the key to ASA and Comair’s future. Should Delta elect to realign its small jet fleets by eliminating older RJ-50’s, then job losses and furloughs could be a direct consequence of ALPA’s arbitrary restrictions if ASA and Comair are not "permitted" by ALPA to replace their aging fleets with new market appropriate aircraft.
In a constructive sense, the prospect of additional Delta bargaining affords the Association another opportunity to undo provisions in the Delta scope clause that have proven not merely counterproductive but also markedly unfair. As we first warned ALPA four years ago, small jet restrictions are inherently unfair, fundamentally flawed, and incapable of protecting "mainline" flying.
It is clear from ALPA’s experience at Delta that discriminating against selected airliners and their pilots serves no useful purpose and is the root cause of many of the Association’s problems. Once free of the distractions caused by these misguided and harmful provisions, the Association could better focus on securing credible contractual protections while upholding its duty to fairly represent all its member groups.
We ask, yet again, that ALPA remove all unfair and unwarranted small jet restrictions on its own accord and take steps to avoid harm to the ASA and Comair pilots. But notwithstanding the circumstances in which the changes might be made, ALPA’s duties to the ASA and Comair pilots require that the following elements in the Delta pilots’ scope clause be addressed:
While ALPA’s duties to the ASA and Comair pilots should be reason enough to enact needed reforms, the added prospect of another organizing drive at SkyWest should give ALPA further incentive to change its ways. As evidenced by the requests made by ALPA’s own organizers to the RJ Defense Coalition, ALPA’s predatory scope practices constituted a major factor in ALPA’s unsuccessful organizing drives at Chicago Express and CommutAir.
Likewise, a more recent attempt to start an in-house union at SkyWest was overwhelmingly rejected by the SkyWest pilots once ALPA’s behind-the-scenes role in the effort became known. The fact that the ASA and Comair pilots have been forced to take legal action against ALPA will remain a prominent issue in any future SkyWest organizing campaign as long as ALPA’s conduct remains unchanged.
Therefore, in light of the fact that ALPA’s small jet restrictions constitute a serious breach of the union’s duty of fair representation and continue to prove harmful to all ALPA’s members, we again request that our concerns be addressed without delay.
As always, feel free to contact us directly or through counsel should you have any further questions.
Sincerely,
/S/ /S/
Captain Kenneth Cooksey Captain Daniel Ford
Atlantic Southeast Airlines Comair Airlines
cc: Executive Council
ASA MEC
Comair MEC
Delta MEC
Michael S. Haber Esq.
1. Ref. our letters dated February 26, 2004, July 3, 2004, September 24, 2004, October 17, 2004, February 19, 2005
2. Ref. the unilateral imposition of "Jets-for-Jobs" and "Slotted Bidding" at USAirways, ALPA’s "NWA70" proposal and the mandatory outsourcing of small jets at Northwest, and ALPA’s boast at Northwest that it received a $15-million dollar bargaining credit for "allowing" the operation of more small jets.
3. Pilot job losses caused by small jet restrictions are not analogous to the mainline furloughs; the distinction being the absence of any restrictions on the number of new Boeing or Airbus aircraft ALPA’s "mainline" carriers may acquire.
4.Ref. August 14, 2001 submission to ALPA’s Bilateral Scope Impact Committee.
5. ALPA’s organizers at Chicago Express quoted extensively from the RJDC’s publications, thus confirming the existence of serious doubts about ALPA’s conduct directed toward its own members.
6. In defense of its actions at Delta, ALPA’s attorneys have argued that its mainline interests can impose whatever small jet restrictions they so please. Such arguments raise serious questions concerning the sincerity of ALPA’s overtures directed at the SkyWest pilots.
Captain Duane Woerth, President
Air Line Pilots Association
1625 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington DC 20036-2212
VIA FAX AND CERTIFIED MAIL
Re: Resumption of Delta Mainline Bargaining
Dear Captain Woerth,
On August 19, 2005, Delta management formally notified ALPA of the company’s projected liquidity shortfall pursuant to paragraph 4(a) of the Bankruptcy Protection Letter. Both the company’s notice and the circumstances behind it are clear indications that another round of mainline bargaining may be imminent.
Consistent with our numerous letters concerning ALPA’s bargaining practices at Delta, we respectfully request that the Association ensure that it conduct itself in manner reflective of its duties to the ASA and Comair pilots. As evidenced by ALPA’s conduct at other carriers, the prospect of "crisis" bargaining at Delta increases the likelihood that ALPA’s mainline interests will seek to obtain provisions harmful to the ASA and Comair pilots or otherwise use our interests to create negotiating capital.
Of special concern is the possibility that ALPA’s arbitrary restrictions on the number of 70-seat aircraft Delta Connection may operate could result in significant job losses at ASA and Comair. As we wrote the Association prior to the last round of Delta bargaining, the 70-seat markets hold the key to ASA and Comair’s future. Should Delta elect to realign its small jet fleets by eliminating older RJ-50’s, then job losses and furloughs could be a direct consequence of ALPA’s arbitrary restrictions if ASA and Comair are not "permitted" by ALPA to replace their aging fleets with new market appropriate aircraft.
In a constructive sense, the prospect of additional Delta bargaining affords the Association another opportunity to undo provisions in the Delta scope clause that have proven not merely counterproductive but also markedly unfair. As we first warned ALPA four years ago, small jet restrictions are inherently unfair, fundamentally flawed, and incapable of protecting "mainline" flying.
It is clear from ALPA’s experience at Delta that discriminating against selected airliners and their pilots serves no useful purpose and is the root cause of many of the Association’s problems. Once free of the distractions caused by these misguided and harmful provisions, the Association could better focus on securing credible contractual protections while upholding its duty to fairly represent all its member groups.
We ask, yet again, that ALPA remove all unfair and unwarranted small jet restrictions on its own accord and take steps to avoid harm to the ASA and Comair pilots. But notwithstanding the circumstances in which the changes might be made, ALPA’s duties to the ASA and Comair pilots require that the following elements in the Delta pilots’ scope clause be addressed:
- Unilateral and arbitrary definition of "Permitted Aircraft Types"
- Unilateral and arbitrary imposition of block hour ratios and limits.
- Unilateral and arbitrary hub and route restrictions.
- Unilateral and arbitrary restrictions on the operation of aircraft not carrying the Delta code.
- Unilateral and arbitrary preconditions on the operation of additional 70-seat aircraft.
While ALPA’s duties to the ASA and Comair pilots should be reason enough to enact needed reforms, the added prospect of another organizing drive at SkyWest should give ALPA further incentive to change its ways. As evidenced by the requests made by ALPA’s own organizers to the RJ Defense Coalition, ALPA’s predatory scope practices constituted a major factor in ALPA’s unsuccessful organizing drives at Chicago Express and CommutAir.
Likewise, a more recent attempt to start an in-house union at SkyWest was overwhelmingly rejected by the SkyWest pilots once ALPA’s behind-the-scenes role in the effort became known. The fact that the ASA and Comair pilots have been forced to take legal action against ALPA will remain a prominent issue in any future SkyWest organizing campaign as long as ALPA’s conduct remains unchanged.
Therefore, in light of the fact that ALPA’s small jet restrictions constitute a serious breach of the union’s duty of fair representation and continue to prove harmful to all ALPA’s members, we again request that our concerns be addressed without delay.
As always, feel free to contact us directly or through counsel should you have any further questions.
Sincerely,
/S/ /S/
Captain Kenneth Cooksey Captain Daniel Ford
Atlantic Southeast Airlines Comair Airlines
cc: Executive Council
ASA MEC
Comair MEC
Delta MEC
Michael S. Haber Esq.
1. Ref. our letters dated February 26, 2004, July 3, 2004, September 24, 2004, October 17, 2004, February 19, 2005
2. Ref. the unilateral imposition of "Jets-for-Jobs" and "Slotted Bidding" at USAirways, ALPA’s "NWA70" proposal and the mandatory outsourcing of small jets at Northwest, and ALPA’s boast at Northwest that it received a $15-million dollar bargaining credit for "allowing" the operation of more small jets.
3. Pilot job losses caused by small jet restrictions are not analogous to the mainline furloughs; the distinction being the absence of any restrictions on the number of new Boeing or Airbus aircraft ALPA’s "mainline" carriers may acquire.
4.Ref. August 14, 2001 submission to ALPA’s Bilateral Scope Impact Committee.
5. ALPA’s organizers at Chicago Express quoted extensively from the RJDC’s publications, thus confirming the existence of serious doubts about ALPA’s conduct directed toward its own members.
6. In defense of its actions at Delta, ALPA’s attorneys have argued that its mainline interests can impose whatever small jet restrictions they so please. Such arguments raise serious questions concerning the sincerity of ALPA’s overtures directed at the SkyWest pilots.
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