SWA/FL Codeshare

[General Lee]

We didn't believe you because we believed Gary Kelly when he signed the Process Agreement that WE also signed in good faith that said we COULD go to arbitration and WOULD be integrated.

In an interesting, roundabout way, that your management's duplicity may eventually help bring the two pilot groups together IF Southwest pilots can ever quit blaming individual AirTran pilots or the pilots as a group and realize that your management team lead us down the path we took. If they had been honest from the beginning and said "If we can't come to an Agreement, we won't let the two airlines be combined", I'm sure this would have come out completely differently. They chose to hide their agenda, and here we are.

You can't change that one, simple fact, and the minute you guys can understand that and quit bashing the AirTran pilot group or its leadership, we might get past this. Truth is, you guys were right about your management team not being interested in playing fair with us, regardless of what they were saying to our faces. They were practicing The Art of War, and did it masterfully.

If you stopped being hostile to us about it and actually showed a little empathy for what we're all going through over here, we'd probably be able to acknowledge the "You were right, we were wrong" part of it as well, and we'd likely start playing nicer with each other.

It really is up to SWA pilots at this point to extend the olive branch. Right now we feel beat up by both management and your union, which translates to the average AirTran line pilot as "SWAPA = SWA pilots" since its pilots who run SWAPA. We're not going to somehow magically start feeling happy and nice after we got denied our rights and corralled into doing what we didn't want to do. You guys are going to have to build some bridges with our group, or we're going to have two very separate pilot groups for a very long time. It'll be a quiet separation, people will be professional and cordial in person, but you won't get the AirTran pilots on board with anything you want to do as a union until the relationship is built.

It's just human nature. We'll see if your union recognizes it EVENTUALLY. They certainly don't now. Hoping they will sooner than later.

Amen, and this above is exactly what the Corndogs DO NOT understand..


Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[Britpilot]

It really is up to SWA pilots at this point to extend the olive branch. Right now we feel beat up by both management and your union, which translates to the average AirTran line pilot as "SWAPA = SWA pilots" since its pilots who run SWAPA. We're not going to somehow magically start feeling happy and nice after we got denied our rights and corralled into doing what we didn't want to do. You guys are going to have to build some bridges with our group, or we're going to have two very separate pilot groups for a very long time. It'll be a quiet separation, people will be professional and cordial in person, but you won't get the AirTran pilots on board with anything you want to do as a union until the relationship is built.

Exactly how I and many others feel.

 

[SWAdude]

Exactly how I and many others feel.

And we get that but also why do you not recognize that we were not happy with this acquisition either? There is a two way street here. And if you don't take equal responsibility in making this relationship work then why should we expect you to take any olive branch?

And honestly, allowing types like General Lee get involved in this really is hurting both of us. You have to stop allowing him to get involved in your business. He is a horrible ambassador.

 

[SWAdude]

If they had been honest from the beginning and said "If we can't come to an Agreement, we won't let the two airlines be combined", I'm sure this would have come out completely differently. They chose to hide their agenda, and here we are.

Can you PM this letter to me? Or if any other SWA pilot on this board can tell me where I can find this letter?

 

[freightdogfred]

Can you PM this letter to me? Or if any other SWA pilot on this board can tell me where I can find this letter?

There is no letter, but as this is how it played out, it was obviously their intention all along, N'est ce pas?

 

[Britpilot]

And we get that but also why do you not recognize that we were not happy with this acquisition either? There is a two way street here. And if you don't take equal responsibility in making this relationship work then why should we expect you to take any olive branch?

And honestly, allowing types like General Lee get involved in this really is hurting both of us. You have to stop allowing him to get involved in your business. He is a horrible ambassador.

Fair enough.
Happy Holidays.

 

[SWAdude]

There is no letter, but as this is how it played out, it was obviously their intention all along, N'est ce pas?

But Lear70 said there was a letter from GK that said take this offer or you are unemployed. So there really is no letter? This is based on some type of insinuation?

 

[SWAdude]

http://forums.flightinfo.com/showthread.php?p=2362663#post2362663

Here is Lear70s quote from the thread above:

it wasn't our MEC that put us in this position, it was Gary Kelly the day he wrote the letter that threatened non-integration and the slow spin-down of AirTran and our careers in violation of the Process Agreement. It's just that simple.

So there must be some letter out there telling you this. Right?

 

[scoreboardII]

swadude, there isn't, they are bluffing.

 

[SWAdude]

swadude, there isn't, they are bluffing.

I hope not. Asking for olive branches while being disingenuous is really confusing. I would like to see his response though.