SWA searching for more deals, SWAPA salivating----article

[fiel12]

No, it's what SWAPA wanted to do. The fact that it was illegal and an end-run around the McCaskill-Bond regulations didn't matter to them. If you feel any bankrupt company should be stapled, tell me how you feel about USAirways maneuvers over the last four years.

HAL

For the 1,000,000,000,000,000,000th time. There was nothing "illegal" about negotiating a staple with pay protection. There was a "Labor contingency clause" which required an agreement between FAPA and SWAPA before any acquisition would take place. There was NOT an agreement, and WN lost the bid. A-H, B-M ONLY applies if there IS an acquisition/ merger AND the unions do NOT reach a SLI agreement and it is sent to arbitration.

GET IT??????

Some of the dumbest people I know are pilots.

 

[PCL_128]

Ok...go read A-M. It says "Fair" integration. That's it. It doesn't say "relative seniority". Do you understand yet?? Plus it doesn't provide any language for the employees, only pilots.

What A-M provides is a process that leads to a "fair and equitable" integration. That process includes direct negotiations (you did that, and failed), mediated negotiations, and binding arbitration. You guys are unwilling to take part in the arbitration phase, so you can pretty much forget a merger with just about any pilot group out there. Despite your delusions of grandeur, every pilot in this industry isn't willing to bend over and take the SWAPA rape-job just to get an SWA number at the bottom of the list. No thanks.

 

[Lear70]

What A-M provides is a process that leads to a "fair and equitable" integration. That process includes direct negotiations (you did that, and failed), mediated negotiations, and binding arbitration. You guys are unwilling to take part in the arbitration phase, so you can pretty much forget a merger with just about any pilot group out there. Despite your delusions of grandeur, every pilot in this industry isn't willing to bend over and take the SWAPA rape-job just to get an SWA number at the bottom of the list. No thanks.

Ayuh.

One thing SWA and SWAPA came out of this with is probably a little dose of reality that they're going to have to either pick up pieces of airlines after they file for liquidation or they're going to have to deal with an equitable SLI with anyone they try to acquire OR merge with.

That's the reality we live under with the new regulations. If they don't like it? They can sit back and keep burbling along with slim profit margins, or even losses if things continue like they are for this year, and a slow, downward spiral of their stock price.

Sometimes you gotta bite the bullet to stimulate the stock price again, and a fair seniority integration might be one of those bullets in the next airline you guys look at.

Either way, best of luck to you. Seriously. It's brutal out here...

 

[The Victors]

What A-M provides is a process that leads to a "fair and equitable" integration. That process includes direct negotiations (you did that, and failed), mediated negotiations, and binding arbitration. You guys are unwilling to take part in the arbitration phase, so you can pretty much forget a merger with just about any pilot group out there. Despite your delusions of grandeur, every pilot in this industry isn't willing to bend over and take the SWAPA rape-job just to get an SWA number at the bottom of the list. No thanks.

You are uninformed. I know this will surprise you, but your definition of "fair" might be different than others. Now don't go kick the dog, there's hope for you yet. SWAPA has the ability and intelligence to look at merger situations differently and form a course of action. You may still get your chance to get on the SWA list.

 

[PCL_128]

You are uninformed.

It seems to me that you are the one that is uninformed, not understanding how Allegheny-Mohawk really works. You'd think after this latest episode you would have actually looked into it a bit, but I guess not.

You may still get your chance to get on the SWA list.

I'd rather go back to Pinnacle.

 

[Fubijaakr]

Alaska and Airtran are the only things that make sense to me.

Kelly said all 737s, southwest to purchase itself, all employees will be stapled!!!!

You've got to be kidding, twice. Alaska is ALL 737s with international and Hawaii NOW not sometime in the "Air Tran" future.

But, if you think Alaska pilots would accept a staple then, NO DEAL.

 

[Benjamin Dover]

Seeing how SWA botched this one, SWA, SWAPA and the true believers actually thought that you could buy F9 out of bankruptcy, ignore A-M, furlough the F9 employees and only interview them on an as need be basis, that it's obvious who knows nothing about mergers and acquisitions.

"Pushing the auction back to get an agreement shows how interested SWA is in this transaction. Ultimately they'll probably press forward with or without the pilots coming to an agrement"

Wait, who said that.... was that me ...

 

[Benjamin Dover]

Tell that to SWA management.....they don't seem to trust their own pilots it seems....


Bye Bye--General Lee

GL,

I think it is FANTASTIC that all your "Delta Connection" regionals get to fly all those routes that management doesn't trust mainline to fly to anymore. I flew MD-88 there for many years. YYZ and YUL were some fun layovers - who flies those now? Some CRJ for somebody. I know - just business right, just like all those domestic cities that are now exclusive RJ's. I'm sure it's FANTASTIC for those RJ crews. Not so FANTASTIC for my buds who were furloughed due to lame scope in DL contract. Glad it's FANTASTIC in the E concourse. Not so FANTASTIC elsewhere. My domestic DL buds would kill for my 3/2/3 leg 20 + hour for pay, max 10 hour duty day 3 days trips at SWA by the way. Please feel free to post a 3 day MD-88 trip on here if you'd like to truly compare GL. Oh, I didn't think so. I think most of our 3-days pay more than your ER 3 days day for day too by the way.

Cheers. Standing by for how "you can take it, always have". You kill me - just like Leno. Really/

 

[bravodude]

What A-M provides is a process that leads to a "fair and equitable" integration. That process includes direct negotiations (you did that, and failed), mediated negotiations, and binding arbitration. You guys are unwilling to take part in the arbitration phase, so you can pretty much forget a merger with just about any pilot group out there. Despite your delusions of grandeur, every pilot in this industry isn't willing to bend over and take the SWAPA rape-job just to get an SWA number at the bottom of the list. No thanks.

I see! So I guess its better to have mgt just fire you. Hows that going for your pilot group.

 

[Dude]

I am loving the Merger and Acquisition experts on FI. Comical commentary from the newly minted ALPA dude, PCL. GL, as usual knows how to stir things up. Tanker is schitzophrenic. As for the SWA folks on here, we certainly have some issues there. But judging from this board, I see no one here that truly understands how arbitration and tha law works. It should be no surprise, we're all pilots that think we are the smartest d0uche in the room and woder why our CEOs don't call us more often to run a multi-billion dollar business.

Southwest had a few hours to try and negotiate a deal that would best protect its pilots-a few hours. Given the gravity of the negotiations and our responsibility to take care of the pillots we represent, we said staple. There is NO way to engineer an equitable seniority integration of two very different seniority lists in three and a half hours. That is not something you do in haste. It would have been as unfair to the F9 folks as weel as ours.

They hung on to arbitration and we were unwilling to go there. Thankfully, our company was ill-prepared for Republic and the USCC which had a head-start on us. The labor-contingency language was laughab;e, but we are still thankful it was in there as to give us leverage to "pull the breaker" if needed. It should take months to investigate all the variables to execute a SLI and we were given 3.5 hours. No deal.

Y'all have fun saving the industry with your flavor of fairness and statute interpretation.