Ladies and gents,
One thing that should NOT be said is "Get over it." When you take a furlough for whatever reason, your life is pretty much in shambles. It's pretty easy for someone who's never been furlouged to say "Get over it."
That said - as someone mentioned above, TWA employees have EVERY RIGHT to be ticked off at anything represented by the AA logo. Very simply, they were furloughed by AA management as a result of the seniority hit they took as part of the deal. Who wouldn't have bitter feelings over that? I know I would.
One important fact needs to be brought up, however, and it's this: If you were to take a look at some past mergers/acquisitions, you'll notice that in cases where the new airline prospered, the newly merged employees are quite happy with the outcome - REGARDLESS of the seniority integration.
Take SWA/Morris. They not only stapled 100% of the pilots, they gave them one years' probation! Talk about a screw job, huh! Well, go find a Morris pilot today, and ask him/her about whether they got screwed. Screwed? Heck no, I'm a captain at SWA! Best deal I ever got!
Here's my point - had TWA pilots and FAs stayed on the property and upgraded per their normal career expectations, you would have barely heard a peep out of them. Had AA propsered after the buyout, everyone would've been somewhat content with the outcome - because they would have all stayed on the property, upgrading when able, earning a living under a company that was prospering.
But when the chips are down, and the new company starts laying off, and most of those layoffs are from the new employee group, believe me, you're gonna hear about it. This, then, is the case with TWA.
Ladies and gents, my hat is off to the fine TWA employees - several of which are friends of mine from having attended Parks College in STL - who made TWA what it was. I'm truly sorry you had to go through all this nightmare. Above all, for those of you who are able to come back some day - IF you want to come back - you will all make a fine addition and contribute greatly to our pilot group, as we've already seen with those who stayed on the property.
v/r,
73
an "SNB" who never really agreed with what went down.
One thing that should NOT be said is "Get over it." When you take a furlough for whatever reason, your life is pretty much in shambles. It's pretty easy for someone who's never been furlouged to say "Get over it."
That said - as someone mentioned above, TWA employees have EVERY RIGHT to be ticked off at anything represented by the AA logo. Very simply, they were furloughed by AA management as a result of the seniority hit they took as part of the deal. Who wouldn't have bitter feelings over that? I know I would.
One important fact needs to be brought up, however, and it's this: If you were to take a look at some past mergers/acquisitions, you'll notice that in cases where the new airline prospered, the newly merged employees are quite happy with the outcome - REGARDLESS of the seniority integration.
Take SWA/Morris. They not only stapled 100% of the pilots, they gave them one years' probation! Talk about a screw job, huh! Well, go find a Morris pilot today, and ask him/her about whether they got screwed. Screwed? Heck no, I'm a captain at SWA! Best deal I ever got!
Here's my point - had TWA pilots and FAs stayed on the property and upgraded per their normal career expectations, you would have barely heard a peep out of them. Had AA propsered after the buyout, everyone would've been somewhat content with the outcome - because they would have all stayed on the property, upgrading when able, earning a living under a company that was prospering.
But when the chips are down, and the new company starts laying off, and most of those layoffs are from the new employee group, believe me, you're gonna hear about it. This, then, is the case with TWA.
Ladies and gents, my hat is off to the fine TWA employees - several of which are friends of mine from having attended Parks College in STL - who made TWA what it was. I'm truly sorry you had to go through all this nightmare. Above all, for those of you who are able to come back some day - IF you want to come back - you will all make a fine addition and contribute greatly to our pilot group, as we've already seen with those who stayed on the property.
v/r,
73
an "SNB" who never really agreed with what went down.
While I've always maintained that there should NEVER be any stapling in any merger/acquisition, I do believe that had 9/11 not happened, we all would have been singing a somewhat different tune, and that you would not have been furloughed, and probably would have remained a CA to this day.
