The Truth about what AA did to TWA F/A's

[atrdriver]

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.

While the pilots and FA's probably got screwed the hardest, they were NOT the only ones. In ATL there were 3 gate agents who had 40+ years with TWA. They were made temporary employees, no benifits, and given a hire date of 4/2000. AMR did that, not the AA pilots or FA's. The APA could have easily asked for a merger of the list that didn't screw the TWA pilots, but they saw ALPA courting them and knew that they could get away with it. That's why the TWA pilots have every right to be mad at both management and the AA pilots.

 

[aa73]

While the pilots and FA's probably got screwed the hardest, they were NOT the only ones. In ATL there were 3 gate agents who had 40+ years with TWA. They were made temporary employees, no benifits, and given a hire date of 4/2000. AMR did that, not the AA pilots or FA's. The APA could have easily asked for a merger of the list that didn't screw the TWA pilots, but they saw ALPA courting them and knew that they could get away with it. That's why the TWA pilots have every right to be mad at both management and the AA pilots.

You pretty much reaffirmed what I said earlier... except that TWA pilots should be mad at the APA leadership who put this deal together - NOT the rank and file line pilots, who had no say in it. Regardless of how much people would like to believe we (the line pilots) have a say in how an integration is worked out, show me one merger/acquisition in the past where the pilots influenced their leadership's integration plan. The answer is none - because this stuff is always negotiated at the leadership level.

Recall the leadership? You can try, but you'd need a majority vote. And during merger/integration negotiations, the majority wants the best deal for
its own membership. Did you ever see SWA pilots actively trying to stop the 100% staple job for Morris pilots?

Otherwise, I agree 100% - the TWA employees have every right to be ticked off at AMR.

73

 

[Rik717pilot]

aa73 and atrdriver,

Ya gotta remember that the APA, AMR and ALPA all conspired together on the Supp CC integration. We are furious with all three. AMR pushed TWA into bankruptcy after the deal was announced, not because of true economic issues but rather to get rid of Carl Ichan and the Karabu ticket deal. Then they used the 1013 rule to hold a shotgun wedding for the pilots and forced the signing away of our scope protections..

 

[stlflyguy]

...and then they sat through "facilitated" negotiations between pilot groups when, in fact, APA had already cut a deal with AMR on Supp CC. Oddly enough, it was a few months and a few facilitated discussions before they announced to the TWA pilots what Supp CC actually was. Interestingly, it was six months...(get out your labor law and statute of limitations guides folks)


stlflyguy

p.s. Hey Reno guys, what's significant about April 9, 2001?

 

[XTW]

aa73 and atrdriver,

Then they used the 1013 rule to hold a shotgun wedding for the pilots and forced the signing away of our scope protections..

Minor correction. 1113. Hope all's well at "Citrus"

X

 

[Rik717pilot]

Yeah, I know. The 1113 vs. 1013 is the difference between Bud and Grolsch. Grolsch wins with a 1013 vs. 1113 score. Low score wins, kinda like golf. Go figure. The bottom line however is how APA/AMR/ALPA conspired to screw the TWA pilots with Supp. CC.

 

[Coool Hand Luke]

By DAVID KOENIG
.c The Associated Press

EULESS, Texas (AP) - Former TWA flight attendants picketed their own
union Friday, protesting what they say is the labor group's
unwillingness to help them get back their jobs, which were lost after
the 2001 terror attacks.

Beginning next month, the first of about 2,900 former TWA flight
attendants will lose their chance to be rehired at American Airlines,
whose parent bought Trans World Airlines. Their rehiring rights
expire after five years, and it's been nearly that long since the
first post-Sept. 11 layoffs.

The ex-TWA workers want to stay in the rehiring line, hoping that
better conditions in the airline business could result in their
rehiring. Getting their old jobs back could mean qualifying again for
health insurance and a pension.

About 30 former TWA flight attendants protested outside the
headquarters of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, or
APFA, which represents about 18,000 workers at Fort Worth-based
American. The demonstrators carried placards reading, ``A real union
protects all of its members.''

Inside, a representative of the picketers met with union President
Tommie Hutto-Blake. Later, they were to meet with American Airlines
officials.

The picketing highlighted the ``we''-and-``they'' tension that has
existed between the two groups of flight attendants ever since AMR
Corp. bought TWA out of bankruptcy months before 9/11.

The TWA attendants had been represented by the International
Association of Machinists, but when they became AMR employees, their
new union put them at the bottom of American's seniority list. That
made the TWA veterans - some with decades of experience - vulnerable
to layoffs.

``We had no other union standing up for us,'' said former TWA
attendant Jeanne Gibbons. ``And if APFA can put you on the bottom,
they do.''

A class-action lawsuit over stripping seniority from the TWA
employees is pending in federal court in New York. Friday's picketers
said they were instead focused on preserving their right to a job if
American calls back laid-off flight attendants.

They could be waiting in vain, however. AMR lost $8.1 billion and
shed 40,000 jobs from 2001 through 2005. And even though AMR made
money in the April-June quarter, the most recent for which figures
are available, American is still shrinking its U.S. capacity.

But the picketers took hope from Delta Air Lines Inc.'s announcement
Friday that it is recalling 200 flight attendants, and Northwest
Airlines Corp.'s decision Thursday to recall 1,131 furloughed
attendants in advance of a possible strike.

Mike Schwerm, who spent 24 years with TWA and was out of work for two
years before catching on with JetBlue Airways, said American doesn't
want the TWA workers because by contract they would get top wages,
about $46 an hour, instead of starting pay of about $17 an hour.

``And APFA wants us off the property because they want to protect
their membership,'' Schwerm said. ``It's the first time a company and
a union worked together to eliminate a specific group of employees.''

The union says they have tried to help the laid-off TWA veterans.

Union spokeswoman Leslie Mayo said Hutto-Blake, the union president,
has asked AMR Chief Executive Gerard Arpey to let the TWA workers
stay on the rehire list, but to no avail.

Tim Smith, a spokesman for the airline, confirmed that American will
only consider such a change when it negotiates a new 2008 contract
with the flight attendants. He said the five-year limit on rehiring
rights is common in the airline industry and based on the assumption
that long-gone former employees don't want to return.

The ex-TWA workers say many of their colleagues are interested in
rejoining American - some for pensions or health insurance, others
for the company's generous travel benefits. They have elicited
support from officials of the Teamsters and a rival union, the
Association of Flight Attendants.

But the five-year rehiring window closes between next month and July
2008 for more than 2,900 TWA veterans and about 900 American flight
attendants who were hired after the TWA acquisition in April 2001 but
before 9/11.

The laid-off workers could apply for jobs later - but at entry-level
pay with no seniority credit toward pensions.

 

[Rik717pilot]

and the screwing continues

 

[MQAAord]

I love how the TWA people think they're the only ones getting the short end.

I was a company transfer from Eagle, a 1995-hire who started over with AA in 2001. I started class on 5 March 2001, before the purchase and before any knowledge that the TWA people would get a hire date of 9 APR 01. F/As are not given their date until the day after graduation, which for me was 19 APR 01. So I got screwed too. And I'm not TWA! In fact, a lot of "nAAtives" wouldn't even consider ME a nAAtive, because I came from Eagle. Not that I would want to be wear that label anyway.

 

[Rik717pilot]

MQAAord: At least you weren't lied to by Carty, ALPA and APA about what was coming your way. Pilots don't get their date of hire until they graduate either, unless you got stapled by the APA. Get over it, you were a new hire.