There Is A Ta!!

[KingAirer]

NEW CHQ TA!

 

[TWAER]

September 5, 2003

This is a hotline message from Jason Hedgepeth, Communications Manager for Local 747





On Friday, September 05, 2003, Chautauqua Airlines and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters reached a tentative agreement subject to ratification by the pilots. Specific details of the agreement will be forthcoming.



The agreement provides security for all Chautauqua pilots and insures that all flying performed by Chautauqua or any subsidiary of the parent, Republic Airways, Inc., will be flown by pilots from the Chautauqua seniority list.



The agreement also provides for substantial wage increases, while at the same time giving the company the opportunity to compete in a very vigorous and competitive regional airline industry. In settling on the final terms of the contract, CEO Bryan Bedford stated that, “Chautauqua pilots are the best pilots in the industry and deserve enhanced job security and a fair wage rate.”



The Chautauqua Negotiating Committee believes they have achieved the very best contract possible in today’s economic environment.



There will also be a road show taking place on Tuesday, September 9th through Friday the 12th in the following base locations: IND, LGA, CMH, STL, PHL, RIC, and MCO.



Specific times, locations and an outline will be posted on Saturday, September 6.



It is planned to have the contract mailed out on Monday, September 8th.

 

[Airpiraterob]

thank christ...

cant wait to get my grubby little hands on it....(better be mailed to the furloughed too)

anyway this still has to be ratified folks!

 

[RJPilott]

"substantial wage increases"? "enhanced job security and a fair wage rate.” " spoken by the CEO? WAY TO GO TEAMSTERS!!! Modern day ALPA could learn a thing or two from you guys. I suppose this post is premature till we see the details but you wont see those words spoken by an ALPA Regional Carrier i assure you.

 

[lazy8s]

The credit needs to go to the EC for negotiating a contract for us!

Republic disolved...... UNITY it's all about UNITY!!

If you can stand together, you'll be able to accomplish anything!

Way to go CHQ EC!!!!!


Lazy8s

 

[RJPilott]

Im sure if ALPA was at CHQ, ALPA National would give them "expert" advice as they have done to Mesa, ACA.. etc...

Its good to see a national union stand up for what is right and stand behind the EC decisions even in todays environment. Teamsters for ACA!

 

[grog_sit_reserv]

I hope your boys got it done.

I guess my "all will cave" comment shall now be eaten by me.

 

[dispatchguy]

While I congratulate you guys on getting a TA, who was it that said "the Devil is in the Details"?

 

[atpcliff]

Hi!

I know that was Pink Floyd, and I think it was their album about post-war problems-it had a song(s) about the Falklands War on it.

Am I correct?

CLiff
DTW

PS-I LUV Pink Floyd. I had almost all of their albums.

 

[Palerider957]

Way to go CHQ!!! I'm glad you guys had the nads to hold the line while others caved in. Congratulations, I'm really interested to hear the details.

 

[reject007]

EC quote:

"Scope: All flying will be from CHQ pilots list

Comp: 4 year deal 5 year pay rate Avg 7.5 increase, 4% signing bonus, rates higer than everyone but Horizon and ComAir. 100% line guarentee provided 98.5 completion factor, 75% deadhead pay, PerDiem 1.45

9 month max until PBS system
Defined rules for displacment and Reserve"




Sounds good to me and we'll have to wait to see the rest in a few hours if you have nothing better to do on a Friday night like myself.

 

[lazy8s]

For those who are wondering.....

"PBS system" = Preferential Bid System

Lazy8s

 

[jdru25]

Hopefully all of the furloughs will be back in November for sure. I am planning on making some calls on Monday to see what's going on. I talked to a fellow furloughee and he talked to G.S. in the training department. He said that he was assuming that all the furloughs will be back in November. This was said before today's announcement so we'll see what happens.

 

[George Jetson]

Re: EC quote:

"Scope: All flying will be from CHQ pilots list

Comp: 4 year deal 5 year pay rate Avg 7.5 increase, 4% signing bonus, rates higer than everyone but Horizon and ComAir. 100% line guarentee provided 98.5 completion factor, 75% deadhead pay, PerDiem 1.45

9 month max until PBS system
Defined rules for displacment and Reserve"

Sounds good to me and we'll have to wait to see the rest in a few hours if you have nothing better to do on a Friday night like myself.

Hmm...you're bragging about being in 3rd place?

$1.45 per diem? Do you eat less than an AA or UAL crew? They are on the low end now at $1.75ish. Comair is at $1.65 this year and it increases next year to $1.70 or $1.75.

75% deadhead? So when travelling on company business you shouldn't be paid your book rate? C'mon. 100% deadhead, whether it is air or ground. Had that at COEX for years.

4% signing bonus? What about retroactive pay back to the amendable date? Or are you guys going to enjoy the fact that the company earned interest off of your hard earned dollars this past year or 2.

100% line guarantee IF you there is a 98.5% completion factor? Why should the company NOT pay you what you were awarded simply because of ATC/MX cancellations, etc. Had that at COEX (within 2.5 hours of line guarantee for transition adjustments) for years. Gee, cancel a flight.....sit in the crew room for 5 hours...and NOT be paid for it.

The 4 year deal and the Scope (binding the holding company) are the only high points in my mind...and not going backwards at least. Frankly.....I think this TA is hardly earth shattering but I will wait to see the details. It seems to be **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** close to current industry average. $25,000 per year for an FO is abysmal. Even first year. Banking on upgrading in 2 years is not the right way to approach this...ask the 6th year FO's at COEX right now. A liveable wage for an FO (with a family) is critical. Heck, even $65/hour is a joke for a Captain on a $20mm airplane.

Those of you guys who are "hooray'ing" the IBT and poo poo'ing ALPA lack the insight to realize that the individual people who negotiate are what is important and not the national union itself. Sure, ALPA has a nice toolbox...the people who insult ALPA also don't realize how ALPA works. If you have gripes with ALPA, complain to your MEC. From what I can tell, ALPA is giving my airline 110% support. Heck, the Director of Representation for ALPA is my "regional" airline's lawyer. How is that for support?

GJ

PS - I will wait for the details too and none of this is to take away from the hard work of your EC and NC.

PPS - I wouldn't brag about PBS either. It is nice...but not going to earn you any extra money...rather - it saves the company money.

 

[embraerdriver]

what place are you in jerkoff?

 

[GFunk20]

George Jetson - This isn't CoEX.

The EC worked their tails off trying to get this completed for us. I knew it was just a matter of time until someone came on here and bashed the TA. Im sure when we see the details it will look just fine.

This is an opportunity for CHQ to stop this BS of going nowhere and start GROWING again like we used to. From March-May we hired/trained the most pilots in our history. I want to see those days back.

 

[George Jetson]

George Jetson - This isn't CoEX.

The EC worked their tails off trying to get this completed for us. I knew it was just a matter of time until someone came on here and bashed the TA. Im sure when we see the details it will look just fine.

This is an opportunity for CHQ to stop this BS of going nowhere and start GROWING again like we used to. From March-May we hired/trained the most pilots in our history. I want to see those days back.

No personal attacks were made EmbraerDriver.... so no reason to call me a "jerkoff." What place are we in? Middle of the road...until we sign our TA. I can guarantee that.

You want to grow at the expense of attaining a contract befitting of the type of flying (mainline type flying) that your company has grown to become. Interesting rationalization.

Furthermore, you'll note that I did say that my comments do NOT take away from the hard work and dedication of the people who did the work on this process for you.

GJ

 

[ERJpusher]

Jetson,

I'm so glad Coex has "had this stuff for years." Good for you.

The goal of our TA is to give the pilot group with something better than we had, plus continue to be marketable for new business. We do not intend to price ourselves out of the market.

2006 and the end of your contract with Continental is not too far away. Before long, someone may be saying, "we've had Coex's former business for years..."

 

[gflyer]

pink floyd

The Pink Floyd song was "The Fletcher Memorial"

 

[embraerdriver]

JERKOFF- you should just keep your mouth shut. Nobody needs your negative BS!
And by the way this IS a personal attack-JERKOFF!!

 

[George Jetson]

I've said my peace. I'll bow out now. Good luck.

GJ

 

[liljetdriver]

Hey George, pi$$ off!

If this TA passes it will be the first ratified since jets were on property. You may poo-poo the improvements but they are just that - IMPROVEMENTS. If anyone was expecting us to better Comair post 9-11 they were naive at best. We were up against a parent company with deep pockets who wanted to expand with a brand new senority list and a concessionary contract.

Considering what many other MECs are conceeding these days, at first glance these improvements are very good. I'm a little miffed at 75% DH pay but it is better than 50%. 100% CX pay (tied to completion factor) is better than 0%, and incentive to help the company can't hurt the pilot group once the bitter negotiations are behind us.

I have not yet seen the TA so who knows what the scheduling section looks like, but this is where I believe we were most lacking. However it does say provisions include (trip trade, trip drop, open time procedures and definitive reserve language). Hopefully reserves will again have a life.

Provisions we retained are days off (11R, 12LH), block or better pay, no junior manning.

Yes, considering the size of our pilot group and since we have had jets about 4 years, third place compensation is ok with me. Would I have liked to be the top of the heap, of course. Co-Ex won't be the sole provider of jet feed for Continental forever. Or if you are, what will you have to trade for that privledge? Most likely it will be the same give and take our EC went through to keep all Republic Holdings flying in house on the CHQ pilots master senority list.

But then again I talk to you guys in the vans and most of your 500 hour F/Os claim you will all see 6 figures with your new contract. Guess what, with the size of your senority list you stand a much better chance to better Comair than we did. Talk to me when the ink is dry on your new TA and we'll see who is having the foot sandwich for lunch.

 

[kepjet]

Mr. Jetson,

YOU SUCK!

I've seen your agreement at COEX. "I haven't seen people get their butts kicked that much since someone put a bannana in my pants and let a monkey loose in the room." -Cousin Eddie

As for the pay protection and completion factor, we are already used to doing this figure almost every month so it won't matter. Maybe if your completion factor was higher, you wouldn't try to degrade others. Also, let me know how 2nd and 3rd year FO reserve is in CLE. I know because I have friends there. Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining.


To all the others,

Don't listen to an armchair quarterback who has nothing better to do than piss on a great day! This sounds like the race to the bottom is coming to an end. Thanks to our EC for all of their hard work. Were we going to get everything we wanted? NO. We earned an agreement which will improve our working conditions and also allow our company to grow. Even at Comair, they didn't get EVERYTHING they wanted. This is a good start though.

 

[StarChecker]

thank christ...

DITTO....I hope recalling all furloughs is among the first orders of business. Nice work to our EC. It feels good being part of the first pilot group to stop taking it up the arse.

 

[100LL... Again!]

Jetson sounds like flamebait to me.

The bigger question is if you are in third place, where were you? If you made it up to third from, say, tenth, then darn good job. To third from second - well...

Nice to see someone holding the line. Jetson needs to chill out a little.

 

[KY_Pilot]

JERKOFF- you should just keep your mouth shut. Nobody needs your negative BS!
And by the way this IS a personal attack-JERKOFF!!

This from a "professional" pilot? I sincerely hope the general public never visits this site. How embarrassing.

And before you flame me, explain to me how management is to view the pilot group with this immature and childish name calling? It's no wonder the pilot group gets no respect.



<shaking head in disgust>

 

[Strikefinder]

I agree that the name calling is inappropriate. The critques of the contract are legitimate, and I expected them, and we all need to hear them. This is the time, now, for discussion about the contract, even with outside parties, because we need to make a decision that all of us can live with for several years.

We will all need to see the contract in its final form before we can make a lot of assessments about its content. However, while criticizing it, it is important to consider our contract both against our competitors as well as against our current work rules.

It is true that there are competitors of ours which retain better clauses in some of these areas than our new TA (apparently) does. The 75% deadhead pay is one such rule. Many of you get 100%, but according to my data, Mesa, Eagle, and PSA, as well as our old contract, paid 50%. We retain no Junior Manning (a very important point to me, at the very least), which many carriers have (CoEx, too, I think?). The 98.5% completion factor thing, again, isn't perfect, but it is a significant improvement over the 0% cx and mx pay that we've earned in the past, and according to our EC, we would have seen this in effect 75% of the past year. Per diem rates are not ComAir's, but they lead Air Whikey's, CoEx, Piedmont, Mesa, Allegheny, PSA, ties Eagle, and is within a nickel of ASA and ACA. I understand quite clearly that United does better on per diem than we do, but I don't personally believe that we can reasonably compare ourselves to United in this instance when our peers uniformly accept this as well.

2nd year pay is up, percentage wise, 22.2%. The pay rates are up considerably, and we have made agreements on wages for larger aircraft which substantially beat the rest of the industry. If we do indeed, as rumored, acquire 70 seat aircraft, we will be in better shape than, say, SkyWest who has accepted a pay freeze on aircraft of this size for the near future. The gap in our pay rates for the smaller aircraft has closed somewhat. We have, apparently, a stock purchase program, improved 401k contributions, Optical Coverage, and improved the language that defines how bases can be opened or closed. In fact, one of the principal things that our EC was working toward was an overall improvement in the wording of the contract, so that there would be less "wiggle room" for the company to take advantage of. They seem confident they have achieved this throughout the training, compensation, displacement, and all other parts of the contract. We've also acquired a commuter clause.

Of course, one of the biggies was to shut down, or at least neuter, the startup and operation of everybody's favorite new alter-ego carrier, Republic, and keep the growth at CHQ. We have achieved this with a "one list" clause in our TA, which would keep all RAH flying at Chautauqua (note that Shuttle America is held by Wexford directly, and not by RAH, so this does not directly affect their flying. Like most of us here at CHQ, we hope nothing but the best for our friends at SA and thank all of them for their support). The fact that we did it with a progressive agreement is a testament to the dedication of our EC and our pilot group's unity as a whole.

That said, even on the surface, it is not going to be a perfect agreement. We all will weigh, over the next week or two, whether we believe that this contract addresses all of our concerns that were brought up by the failure of the last TA, and I, like most of our pilot group, support the outcome either way. If, as a whole, it is determined that the contract does not meet our expectations, no matter my feelings about it I will walk the picket line, if it comes to it, until the last day. However, I think many of us are optimistic that we have made generous strides and that we might be able to finally move forward from the bitterness of the negotiation process.

My mention of other carriers' work rules is not meant as a flame or a criticism of those carriers, their pilots, or their ECs. Please don't misinterpret me. I want to frame to conditions of our TA in the proper context, and more than anything I wanted to point out that comparing any of the regional airlines' contracts to United's will make them pale in comparison. Furthermore, my statements are only based on the information available to me, so if it is inaccurate, I hope that you will [politely] correct me so that we may all have the most useful information to deliberate on our decision. We need to get every viewpoint in the open about this agreement before agreeing to it or denying it, so let's all be civil, even when it's tempting not to be, when someone disagrees with us. (Well, it was worth a shot... )

 

[buzzer]

Jetson may have offended some...but why? There were a couple of personal things in there that one could complain about, but I think it's important that we ALL look at the meat of what he is saying. Look at the time we put into this career and what we get for it. It smacks me in the face when I see some of the stuff thats in our contracts. As a group we don't stand up for ourselves very well. I'm happy for those at CHQ as it looks to be a breath of fresh air for you (please do check the details of the ta though), but as a group, we have allowed ourselves to be used hard. It also amazes me how we joust each other. My dream is that some day we will all stand up together. I think Jetson would be good as a member of a negotiating team.
Those high paying, easy working positions that most of us thought we would have someday are becoming exceedingly rare and most will never see. We need to build this profession up. Ok, I'll step down now.

 

[Cracker]

I agree with all of the positive sentiments above. It's easy to criticize from afar...hell, we all do it from time to time. We won't know the details until we read the TA, but as of right now, it sounds like a big improvement on what we had.

Also, when it comes to retro pay. If we would have ben able to sign within a year of the last agreement, retro pay would have been feesible. But retro pay for the past 2+ years for roughly 500 pilots (at the time) would have buried us. Just do the math. The company got us by the gonads on that one. Retro was a losing battle.

There's probably a good reason that the EC didn't get 100% deadhead, or 100% line garauntee or any of the other complaints. I would like to think that they didn't "settled" on any section of the TA just to move on. There's a good reason for the results. We have to look at the improvement of the TA as a whole not rip it because it isn't exactly like another companies. Sure, I would love to make as much as Comair but our pockets aren't as deep and we realize that.

 

[FmrFreightDog]

Hey CHQ... Congrats!!! From the very little bit I've interacted with you guys out at DFW, you seem like a very fine bunch. I hope your TA is as good as it seems to be, and I'm sure you're EC did all they could. You guys deserve it!!