SWA transition bid needs to be reopened!

[texman]

iaherj ,

I only pointed the focasm out to the AT peeps because the company and Swapa are working together to make sure the company is successful in the long run. The AT people on the other side of the fence are a little worried. I wasnt braging just stating this to assure the AT guys and girls there are some positives coming and no one is going to get furloughed.

 

[Bwipilot]

All the above revolves around one issue:

Thanks to Obama, we're paying too much for fuel. Think about that next time you plan to vote for a liberal who panders to the green lobby.

 

[IAHERJ]

All the above revolves around one issue:

Thanks to Obama, we're paying too much for fuel. Think about that next time you plan to vote for a liberal who panders to the green lobby.

And I thought I was responsible for the thread drift. Highest fuel we have ever seen in this country was under a Republican president from Texas of all places. We have seen just how interested the big business party of oil company worshipers has done for the price of oil. I'll give Obama another term.

 

[chris69]

Probably a shot accross the bow to both mechanics unions and the SWA FA's. The later has been brewing for awhile. Rumblings from DAL seem to indicate a strong desire to establish minimum work targets to get benefits. Quite a few "senior mama's" give all their trips away to run their side businesses (ie. real estate, Amway or whatever) but still cost the company through sick calls (when they can't give something away), vacation (5 weeks at 30-40 TFP per X $55.74 per TFP), Profit Sharing (PS) on the vacation and family health benefits costing "tens of thousands" per family. Again, this is for someone who has zero productivity and never shows up to work except for training. When the company was very junior, this wasn't a problem. It is now now that those top of scale trips are being picked up by other top of scale employees costing the company, and as GK would say, us, quite a lot in PS. Moral killer? I don't know. I just know some of the midgrade FA's are beginning to grumble about this issue. While the FA's still want the ability to take tons of time off if they need to, alot are starting to want to see some targets enforced over something like a 3 month rolling period. Not to say all the "senior mama's" are doing this. I just flew with one out of DAL 2 wks ago (7XX - almost 40yrs) who averages over 120 TFP every month. Proudly showed her pic from 1978 with the hot pants and all. Time had taken its toll.

 

[PCL_128]

I seriously doubt Gary would furlough anyone, even on our side of the partition. If the 717s go away, he'll find a way to make sure that no one gets furloughed. No need to panic.

 

[asaflyer]

GK's comments about the 717 in the WSJ have changed things dramatically. The 717 seems like it will be leaving real soon with furloughs coming that will be out of proper seniority order. I know those of us that elected to stay on the 717 took a chance, but the pilots have not begun to transition.

So I take it that you're a glass half empty kind of guy.

 

[DonVerita]

All the above revolves around one issue:

Thanks to Obama, we're paying too much for fuel. Think about that next time you plan to vote for a liberal who panders to the green lobby.

Really? I take it you're not one for facts.

Presidents don't influence the cost of fuel. External market forces coupled with supply & demand do. Right now we have both in play and there is nothing that you, me, or anyone else can do about it in the short term. The long term solution is to slowly reduce demand and eventually get off of a finite resource (oil).

Domestic oil production is higher under Obama than it was under Bush. We are currently importing less than 50% of our oil consumption. We have the highest petroleum exports in the last 30 years. Thanks to efficiencies, such as CAFE standards for one, we are consuming less oil than in 1995 even though the country has grown every year.

Try to keep in mind that the U.S. owns 3% of the world's oil reserves, yet consumes 25% of the world's supply. Tensions in the Middle East have been going on for hundreds of years. The current one will get resolved too. Oil prices were going down when we had a faltering economy so it is logical that they would go up during an improving economy like we have now. Couple that with consumption increases in foreign markets that weren't there a decade ago and this is what you get.

Hopefully your car gets 35+ mpg per gallon. If it does, you can thank the "green lobby" for that. Otherwise, you'd still be stuck at 15 mpg.

 

[scoreboardII]

Lets be real, the green lobby has nothing to do with me buying a car that gets over 40MPG.

 

[texman]

They just need to regulate wall street speculators.

 

[SIG600]

It's not speculation alone, it's also inflation.

"Energy prices need to neccesarily rise." Who said it, anyone?

 

[texman]

True.

 

[redflyer65]

Hate to tell you Don, but we are hitting high oil production because of others, not Obama. Any change in the oil industry plays out 5-10 years from now. Obama has reduced the number of leases and their length (if you can get one) over his tenure. He's blocked one of the most important pipelines to date thanks to his 'green' lobby. We have literally hundreds of pipelines that criss cross this country now. We have a massive pipeline that runs right through Atlanta that runs from the gulf to the northeast. They alternate between crude and refined gasoline. Its been there for YEARS.

Our production of oil right now is in spite of Obama, not because of him.

As far as higher MPG, I'm glad we've made those advances no matter who gets the credit. It's better for everyone.

What worries me the most is our industry has only one product it can burn, and every single airline is beholden to it. Could be trouble ahead.

 

[DonVerita]

Lets be real, the green lobby has nothing to do with me buying a car that gets over 40MPG.

Only you can decide which car you want to buy; that's obvious. What the "green lobby" did was have a hand in giving you high (relatively speaking) mpg cars to choose from. Had we done nothing, all we would have in choices would be gas guzzlers.

Increasing efficiencies and especially CAFE is good for the country, the consumer, and the environment. Sadly, this is opposed at every turn by Big Oil and the GOP.

 

[Ty Webb]

Don,

MPG started improving in the 70's as a result of high oil prices under Carter. That's when you started seeing Toyotas, Datsuns and Hondas being driven by everyday Americans. Anyone remember the colors of those early Japanese cars? uke:

Perhaps the "Green Lobby" kept the pressure on the government to push for continued improvements once the economic demand for high MPG dropped off again, but it seems to me that the original impetus for high MPG cars was the high price of gasoline at the pump.

 

[DonVerita]

Hate to tell you Don, but we are hitting high oil production because of others, not Obama. Any change in the oil industry plays out 5-10 years from now. Obama has reduced the number of leases and their length (if you can get one) over his tenure. He's blocked one of the most important pipelines to date thanks to his 'green' lobby. We have literally hundreds of pipelines that criss cross this country now. We have a massive pipeline that runs right through Atlanta that runs from the gulf to the northeast. They alternate between crude and refined gasoline. Its been there for YEARS.

Our production of oil right now is in spite of Obama, not because of him.

As far as higher MPG, I'm glad we've made those advances no matter who gets the credit. It's better for everyone.

What worries me the most is our industry has only one product it can burn, and every single airline is beholden to it. Could be trouble ahead.

Red...sorry for the thread hijack. I'll say this and then be done with it so that we can get back on original topic.

The President is opening up oil and gas leases left and right. But he wants it done safely. That's why Keystone XL was blocked. I realize, like you, that we have pipelines all over the place. But this one was posing just too great a jeopordy to Midwest underground water supplies. Having said that, I do believe that if the proposed route gets modified a bit then the project will get approved. The other thing that has to change is the exporting parameters. As it stands now, a fair portion of that oil can be exported to China and other places rather than being kept for the U.S. domestic market. So in essence, this extremely dirty tar sands crude comes down the pipeline, endangers our water supplies and our environment should there be a leak (and they ALL leak to varying degrees), then the refining process belches out the most toxic waste into our air and the refined product gets loaded onto ships bound for someone else. Hardly fair to the U.S. This must be changed.

U.S. crude oil production has jumped 14% from 2008 to 2011, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Natural gas production is up by about 10% over the same period. The Obama administration plans to sell off oil and gas leases on 38 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico seafloor.
The leases could yield as much as 1 billion barrels of oil and 4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, the Interior Department estimates.

The Administration also has plans for a dozen more lease sales through 2017, which it estimates will open up three-quarters of the recoverable oil and gas below the outer Continental Shelf.

All fine, as long as it is done safely. But we also must remember that even if the Drill Here Drill Now pundits got their way, it would take years for such action to move the markets and since we only own 3% of the world's oil reserves, the impact would be only 1 or 2 cents of price reduction.

I think we all can agree that fossil fuels are damaging to our environment and are a finite supply. They will run out. How many wars will be fought over that dwindling supply in the future? We must step up the pace of clean alternative energy solutions...or we will make ourselves extinct through our own hand. I am reminded of a lesson from the past - the last tree standing on Easter Island.

 

[Bulldog Price]

The Green Lobby does not produce anything. The engineers are the ones with ideas to increase MPG. The Green Lobby spends money doing research to support the need to keep their job. They do not produce anything, especially not engines that have better gas mileage.

 

[bravodude]

I seriously doubt Gary would furlough anyone, even on our side of the partition. If the 717s go away, he'll find a way to make sure that no one gets furloughed. No need to panic.

What the heck are you still doing here, I thought if we SWA ever bought you guys you would be gone! Leave man, leave!

 

[dicko]

That is 1 seat more than our current 767-200 configuration.

Quite remarkable considering the SWA 737-800 has exactly the same seat pitch (32inch) in economy as a Continental 767-200. The SWA seat back is also slimmer which will give more room. Probably an extra half inch.

The 737-800 also burns less gas.

 

[PTinbound]

I wouldn't worry about a furlough just yet (unless the economy gets a lot worse). I don't know if I speak for all SWA pilots, but I know I'd vote for a pay cut long before I'd see ANY Airtran pilot furloughed. We are one pilot group now. Welcome aboard!

 

[Ty Webb]

That is nice to hear, and much appreciated.

Regards,
Ty