Truth About Colgan

[suupah]

OK i just got and read the letter. Mike said that we haven't recieved a pay cut since september 11th while many other carriers have. I beg to differ. Without COLA's we have been taking a pay cut every year! Even with the longevity increases which do not keep up with inflation.

There were some things that were very good in that letter. Too bad they were only implemented when there was a union threat. Those problems have been there for many years and were never addressed.

 

[BirdCatcher]

I have visited personally with many of our Pilots one –on-one, by phone, and also communicated with some of you by email. I would like to go over several of the questions I have been asked as well as concerns that have been brought up to me during these discussions about what is happening today and how things may change if the Union is voted in. ​

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Crew Pay [/FONT]​

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Current Scenario [/FONT]​

Our Company is following today a policy we have had in place for many years. This policy has been to review annually the Regional Airline pay scales for those airlines that operate turbo prop aircraft with similar number of seats in the continental US. Many of these airlines are our competitors today. We then look at the overall average of the pay scales to come up with what our current rates should be in order to be fair with our crew members and at the same time stay competitive. In our history, we have never lowered our pay scale, even when others may have done so after September 11

th.

In addition to our current annual review, our parent company, Pinnacle Airlines Corp., has indicated they would like us to evaluate a profit sharing plan in the future, which will be based on the Company’s overall operating performance. This plan would apply to all work groups. While we can not make any promises about implementing such a plan, we can advise you that it is being considered on a company wide basis.

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1.) As suupah pointed out, while other airlines get COLA increases to their scale, we don't. They may review the payscale every year, but in 5 years, only 1 change I can think of and that was not across the board.​

2.) Even AFTER Mesaba's concessions, they still have a better payscale and benefits then we do.​

3.) Why is profitsharing just being considered now, dangeling that carrot in front of us huh?​

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Potential Changes under a Union[/FONT]
[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]A number of you have been told by ALPA supporters that you will get higher wages and other improvements if you vote for ALPA. That is not necessarily the case. The Company is only under an obligation to bargain in good faith with ALPA if it wins the election. This means you might get more than what you presently have the same as what you presently have, or less than what you presently have. ALPA can not guarantee you any improvements. Historically, initial contracts with ALPA have taken as much as two years to finalize. ​

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Yes, they must bargain in good faith, but Mike if you feel that we couldn't get more then what we have, why do you care if we become a union? All these memos all the sudden, but ALPA can't do anything for us? This isn't making sense, your fighting something you say can't do anything to begin with. Think about this fello Colgan Pilots.​

Oh and if all they are obligated to do is bargain in good faith that seems to imply they don't use good faith in their decissions currently​

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]By saying they have[/FONT]​

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Crew Bases [/FONT]​

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Current Scenario [/FONT]​

As you know, unlike most regional airlines, we have historically had two types of bases. We have smaller bases in many cities where crew members start and finish their day at their home base. We also have, in Houston, a major base where a large percentage of crew members commute. We do expect the same scenario for Newark and the Q400. This has worked well in accommodating a crew members’ quality of life, as well as being cost effective for the Company. The crew member has had the choice to work out of a smaller base or work in a larger base where they would commute. Additionally, we have taken into consideration the
requests of crew members when opening new bases, such as La Guardia. The Company has no plans to change our overall base policy, which are driven by operational needs and crew member requests. ​

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Potential Changes under a Union [/FONT]​

We can not say whether our current base policies will remain in effect. ​

Absolute BS, the union does not run the company, that is a company decision made by management. From what I hear they plan on getting rid of outstation basing, now they'll just blame it on ALPA. ALPA would make sure if a base closed, crewmembers were actually notified (There's a concept!)​

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[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Crew Scheduling [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Current Scenario [/FONT]​

I have had many concerns communicated to me about crew scheduling. It is important to remember that in the last six months, 20% of our Pilot workforce has left to pursue other opportunities, many on very short notice. Other Regionals had the same problem with high turnover during this period. This puts our crew scheduling department in a difficult situation in trying to accommodate our flight schedules. However, this is not an excuse for crew schedulers to be inconsiderate or short with our crew members. I have personally met with all the crew schedulers and conveyed to them the importance of treating our crew members in the same manner they would expect to be treated as a member of our Colgan Air family. I have also asked them to go to our hubs and visit our training classes in the hopes that they can meet many of you personally so that you each know who you are talking to when you call in.
Some of you may believe that if you make a request of crew scheduling it will automatically be denied. Although we have been under staffed for the last several months due to the record levels of attrition, we are still committed to try and meet your needs and each request is considered. We also recognize that many of you have come to our assistance to cover our flights as we have requested of you. Your assistance has not gone unnoticed and is very much appreciated.
The Company has also taken major steps to recruit additional crew members in order to alleviate the pressure in crew scheduling. We have hired extra recruiters and we have also involved numerous Pilots in helping in the interview process. We believe we will be back to full staffing levels by the middle of August. Additionally, we have added a third person per shift for crew scheduling to be able to provide faster service to the crew members.
We have contracted with one vendor who will oversee all hotel and ground transportation reservations beginning August 1. This will improve the speed and consistency for booking hotels as well as ensure the direct billing and ground transportation is in place.
We continue to build communications infrastructure allowing to access to Crew Web at many stations and from your home computers. Additionally a new website will be introduced within the next two weeks for crew member use. ​

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Potential Changes under a Union [/FONT]​

Nothing will change in our efforts to have our crew scheduling department treat our crew members as family. However, under a union contract, crew scheduling will be required to follow the rules of the contract and will not have the flexibility to meet special requests [/FONT]​

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as we have done in the past.​

BS, CS at other airlines do favors all the time though the pilot group is union. Contract sets the minimum standards, I have a buddy at CHQ that gets stuff changed all the time (union shop). ​

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[BirdCatcher]

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Code Share Partners [/FONT]​

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Current Scenario [/FONT]

We currently have an excellent relationship with all three of our code share partners, US Airways, Continental and United. Our Company has been the turbo-prop go-to guy for each of our code share partners.
When they need it done in a timely manner, we win. You can see this in the amount of growth we have experienced since 9/11 . ​

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Potential Changes under a Union [/FONT]​

I do not believe unionizing will affect our current operation in regards to our relationship with our code share partners. However, in the past, we have been able to come to agreement with our code share partners, especially when they required immediate implementation. We put the Continental’s Houston operation and United’s Dulles operation together and implemented them in less than 60 days. Our management came to agreement with our partners, and our outstanding employees implemented the plan. In the future, the implementation of any new growth opportunities may require negotiations with ALPA which could limit our ability to respond promptly. Pinnacle just lost 17 airplanes because it was unable to conclude a pilot contact with ALPA before the deadline set by Northwest.
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[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]

Hmmmmm wasn't XJet able to work out rules with their union just DAYS after being told they would fly for JetBlue? Sounds like everything worked out fine there, oh and management isn't partially responsible for the 17 airplanes that were lost by Pinnacle?[/FONT]​

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It's all the pilots fault, your reading this guys? ​

O[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]pen Lines of Communication [/FONT]​

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Current Scenario [/FONT]​

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Some of you have communicated to me that you would like to see an open line to our Chief Pilots office and to other management within the Company. Currently, our Chief Pilot, Tom Brink, holds a weekly conference call on which any pilot can attend and receive updates on the Company’s operation and, at the same time, express any concerns or raise questions. You are also able to contact Tom Brink at any time. I know he is glad to hear from each of you.
In each of my communications, with all employee groups, I stress that you are welcome to contact me directly, as well as any other member of management. Many of you do call or email me directly and I always try to respond in a timely manner and help with your concerns or just answer a question you may have. I also appreciate those of you who communicate your ideas on things such as cost controls and customer service improvements.
One example of this, one of our pilots called me on a Saturday and said he needed to meet me personally as soon as possible. I made arrangements to meet him at Dulles on Sunday morning at a nearby restaurant and I listened to his issue, which happened to be of a personal nature, and I assisted in helping him resolve it.
I would hope, whether in my office or throughout the system, all employees would feel they could approach any member of management to discuss any and all concerns. ​

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Potential Changes under a Union [/FONT]​

My fear is that we will lose the opportunity to discuss many of your concerns openly without involving a third party. ​

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Additional Benefits [/FONT]​

There are many things we would also like to see in the future, but in order to increase benefits, there must be increased profits, as we must ensure it is financially feasible. It has been a long time since we have had two good back to back years. This is a very challenging industry, and each of us must to our part to ensure the Company has continuous profitability. Our management team must make the right decisions in planning our Company’s future. All of us must help control costs and most importantly we all have a responsibility to live up to our customers’ expectations in regards to safety and reliability.
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If we have such good communication, why are employees not notified of base closing? Why have numerous emails and phone calls from crewmembers been left with no response? Again, these are actual examples that never have been addressed​

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[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Job Protection [/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]​

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]I understand some of you are concerned about job protection. I just don’t get it. For years, we have been one of the fastest growing turbo prop airlines in the country. We are looking to hire and retain quality pilots. For those of you who are out there every day following company policies and procedures and keep our crew members and customers safe, you have nothing to worry about.[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]​

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[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]What about the times we've been asked to do things such as fly past duty limits, are you gonna to protect us from yourselves? Bueller? [/FONT]​

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[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]The only time a crew member has been furloughed at Colgan Air was after 9/11 and we were fortunately able to recall them within 30 days. No crew member has ever been asked to take a pay cut. Many of your regional and major airline colleagues, some of which are with ALPA carriers, have had to endure furloughs, pay cuts and other concessions in recent years. [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]​

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Your Future [/FONT]​

I have been told that some of our pilots have been advised that if they did not sign a card to support ALPA it could affect their future employment opportunities. Such threats are unlawful. ALPA has repeatedly denied that any such black list exists. ALPA does not control hiring decisions at ALPA carriers.
Keep in mind, this year over 60 crew members have left Colgan Air to pursue other opportunities, many of whom have gone on to unionized carriers. And now, many of the most successful airlines, such as Southwest, American, AirTran and UPS, are not ALPA carriers. Do not let anyone intimidate you. You have the right to vote for or against the union. I hope you will get all the facts you can and make your decision based on good solid reasons and not peer pressure or fear. ​

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[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Why have so many pilots left Mike? Did you mention many of that 60, the majority have been FO's leaving to other UNIONIZED regionals? Why would they do that? Hmmmmm oh and Southwest, AirTran, and UPS are UNION. If we were trying to join AirTran's union, they would be anti-memos about them too. [/FONT]​

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[Prop2Jet]

here is an idea to get good back to back years Colgan..... STOP buying 55K dollar trucks and patting yourselves on the back like a bunch of inside trading fools. YOU made this mess and I smile to know that we will resolve the issues you created by voting for ALPA.

 

[Prop2Jet]

How is that for open communication?

 

[p3pilot71]

"Some of you have communicated to me that you would like to see an open line to our Chief Pilots office and to other management within the Company. Currently, our Chief Pilot, Tom Brink, holds a weekly conference call on which any pilot can attend and receive updates on the Company’s operation and, at the same time, express any concerns or raise questions."

How many of us aren't able to call in for the conference calls due to our schedules? I rarely get a chance to listen in. Wouldn't it be nice if the call minutes were posted on the company web site? Oh wait, they are. Oh wait, they haven't been updated since June 7th. Nice! I sure hope I didn't miss anything important.

And speaking of bad communication, what the heck is up with crewtrac lately. Is it just me or does it only work half the time. The guy running that website is grossly overpaid.

 

[70-SS]

actually, you are the moron who's getting poor financial advice...obviously, a company match would be beneficial, BUT you should be taking advantage of the 401 for the tax advantages if nothing else..

The Roth has tax advantages too


irs.gov

 

[70-SS]

Av8:

No sir you are mistaken. Why would you want to pay tax on your capital gains instead of up front? With a Roth IRA you do not pay capital gains tax. Why would you invest in a 401K without a match and a limited set of mutual funds is this smart? NO. When you move from one company to another, are you going to take your 401K with you? Yes, but then you again are limited on the type of options offered to you by your new company. On average experts say that if you fully fund a 401K and fully fund a Roth IRA you will net, over a 20 year investment span, 1 million dollars in capital gains TAX FREE... SO WHO IS THE MORON NOW YOU BYOTCH.

o by the way I believe you can deduct your Roth IRA contributions too from your tax statement.

What he said.

I've should've read further.

 

[70-SS]

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]If we were trying to join AirTran's union, they would be anti-memos about them too. [/FONT]

You hit it on the head!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Fred Rogers]

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]oh and management isn't partially responsible for the 17 airplanes that were lost by Pinnacle?[/FONT]​

Partially? How about TOTALLY!!

Those 17 airplanes were a calculated loss.

Explain to me how it is the Pilot's fault when management doesn't show up to negotiations, thereby delaying them over an extended period of time. The delays to the contract are MANAGEMENT'S FAULT!

I'm sure they were delaying the negotiations until they could start whipsawing the Colgan guys. Seems a few of those Colgan guys threw a wrench into their little plan...
:beer: Cheers fellas!!!!!

Let's get this party started, so they will see that we are SERIOUS about having a collective voice!

LET'S MAKE IT BETTER
www.alpa.org/colgan
VOTE YES 7/31 - 8/21