blueridge71
Outlasted two companies
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2003
- Posts
- 2,261
With the news of Express Jet's loss of flying and probable furloughs this, the regional airline industry continued its downward spiral.
Employees at several different companies have tried to stop the race to the bottom unsuccessfully. Comair struck to get a new and better contract. Mesaba almost struck. Express Jet endured long hard negotiations. ACA resisted UAL/Bain's calls for huge concessions. All of those companies are now in decline or bankrupt.
What can be done? Every time a pilot group says "enough!," another company and another pilot group cuts them off at the knees.
I can see only two steps that will stop the decline. If you can see another way, I'd be glad to hear it.
First, all regional pilots need to be on a single national seniority list. If we can retain seniority after furlough the companies will not be able to restart us on a year 1 "food stamp" pay scale and therefore, labor will not be as cheap when they furlough and rehire experienced pilots.
By making the list for regional pilots only, we should sidestep a lot of opposition from major pilots who don't want to step back to a regional if they are furloughed.
If a regional pilot were furloughed, the system would work like a skilled trades union in many areas. Furloughed pilots would go in line based on furlough date for the first regional job that came open. If they didn't want that job (for instance, if it wasn't commutable), then they could defer to the next person in line. Once hired they would retain their original hire date for pay, but would get a new one for bidding.
Second, we need to set a minimum union wage across the board for regional pilots. The wage could be based on a aircraft type, but must contain a hard minimum that would enable pilots and their families to survive. I recommend $30,000 or $30 per hour as a starting wage.
These changes could be negotiated, along with minimum quality of life standards, as every ALPA regional contract comes up for renewal. If the airlines pay the same, then they can't come to labor looking to cut costs so that we can cut the throat of our union brothers.
Guys and gals, the good regional jobs are disappearing quickly. My company, ASA, is about to take a strike ballot. I'm sure that we'll get a new contract, but what will protect us after that?
The company is already saying that we are in a "cost box" where we have to be among the cheapest DCI carriers to maintain our contract. Our competition will be Mesa, Chataco, and Comair after court imposed or negotiated pay cuts. Customer service and performance mean nothing! Low price is everything! Welcome to the Wal-Mart of the Skies (apologies to Wal-Mart)!
If we continue to do business as usual, we'll all be working for $10,000 per year like the new Mesaba FOs. Qualified pilots are already getting hard to find, hence ASA's new 600/100 requirements. Now is the time to take a stand and make some changes. Let's make our union earn that 1.9%.
If anyone has a better idea, I'd love to hear it. Something has to be done or the jobs here will be more stable than a regional airline pilot position.
http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/sofia.asp
Employees at several different companies have tried to stop the race to the bottom unsuccessfully. Comair struck to get a new and better contract. Mesaba almost struck. Express Jet endured long hard negotiations. ACA resisted UAL/Bain's calls for huge concessions. All of those companies are now in decline or bankrupt.
What can be done? Every time a pilot group says "enough!," another company and another pilot group cuts them off at the knees.
I can see only two steps that will stop the decline. If you can see another way, I'd be glad to hear it.
First, all regional pilots need to be on a single national seniority list. If we can retain seniority after furlough the companies will not be able to restart us on a year 1 "food stamp" pay scale and therefore, labor will not be as cheap when they furlough and rehire experienced pilots.
By making the list for regional pilots only, we should sidestep a lot of opposition from major pilots who don't want to step back to a regional if they are furloughed.
If a regional pilot were furloughed, the system would work like a skilled trades union in many areas. Furloughed pilots would go in line based on furlough date for the first regional job that came open. If they didn't want that job (for instance, if it wasn't commutable), then they could defer to the next person in line. Once hired they would retain their original hire date for pay, but would get a new one for bidding.
Second, we need to set a minimum union wage across the board for regional pilots. The wage could be based on a aircraft type, but must contain a hard minimum that would enable pilots and their families to survive. I recommend $30,000 or $30 per hour as a starting wage.
These changes could be negotiated, along with minimum quality of life standards, as every ALPA regional contract comes up for renewal. If the airlines pay the same, then they can't come to labor looking to cut costs so that we can cut the throat of our union brothers.
Guys and gals, the good regional jobs are disappearing quickly. My company, ASA, is about to take a strike ballot. I'm sure that we'll get a new contract, but what will protect us after that?
The company is already saying that we are in a "cost box" where we have to be among the cheapest DCI carriers to maintain our contract. Our competition will be Mesa, Chataco, and Comair after court imposed or negotiated pay cuts. Customer service and performance mean nothing! Low price is everything! Welcome to the Wal-Mart of the Skies (apologies to Wal-Mart)!
If we continue to do business as usual, we'll all be working for $10,000 per year like the new Mesaba FOs. Qualified pilots are already getting hard to find, hence ASA's new 600/100 requirements. Now is the time to take a stand and make some changes. Let's make our union earn that 1.9%.
If anyone has a better idea, I'd love to hear it. Something has to be done or the jobs here will be more stable than a regional airline pilot position.
http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/sofia.asp
