UAL ALPA "Apology"

[PBRstreetgang]

The only thing it advertises is that there are union difficulties at UA and if I am taking my family to Florida maybe I should book elsewhere. While it may be good for union moral I don't think it creates any long term benefits for UA or its employees.

Drive and see America, no $hit! If you think what UAL execs have done to the employees is allright, buy that ticket, if not drive!
PBR
P.S. If its not UAL it will be DAL, AA, or any other number of alphabet combos.

 

[GravityHater]

The full text:

An Apology
The professional pilots of United Airlines would like to apologize to the traveling
public for United Airlines’ def iciencies during this Holiday Season.
The pilots of United Airlines sympathize with our travelers’ plights earlier this week.
Many of our pilots did not make it home to share the holidays with their loved ones
either. United may blame this week’s flight cancellations on poor weather in the
Midwest, but, as most of our competitors demonstrated, the real culprit was United’s
lack of manpower – attempting to fly more with fewer employees – all at your
expense. United has been an all-weather airline for more than 80 years. We
pioneered many of the safety innovations such as onboard weather radar, anti-skid
brakes, better weather forecasting and improved navigation instruments that allow
operation in inclement weather all over the world. Until recently, we have been able
to eff iciently handle weather events in the Midwest and throughout the world without
major disruptions.
Over the last few years, however, United has had to endure a management team that is
bent on personal prof it over customer service. They have pared employee staff ing to
the bare minimum, making them unable to respond to even well-anticipated weather
events. Many of our pilots work to the FAA maximum limits every month, all year
long. We have repeatedly warned United’s management that they do not have the
crew resources to staff our airline adequately and have repeatedly asked them to
discuss these shortcomings. So far they have declined to do so. Instead, they diverted
$750 million of cash payouts so that they may receive personal stock dividends of
$2,196,165. The top f ive United off icers received a combined salary between
$65,983,879 and $100,850,809 in 2006. We believe your holiday travel experiences
would have been much better this week if they had used that money on the airline
instead of on themselves.
United Airlines is our livelihood and our source of pride. We are here for the duration
and we are here for you. We are disappointed in the way you, our valued customers,
were treated by United’s management. You deserve better from a world-class airline.
Signed,
The Pilots of United Airlines
United Chapter, Air Line Pilots Association
9550 W. Higgins Road, Suite 1000
Rosemont, Illinois 60018
847-292-1700
ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT

 

[pipe]

TILTON'S RESPONSE:

So what. I don't really give a sh!t.

That's all for now.

Glenn

 

[Sonny Crockett]

We have a new MEC Chairman now.


You will start to see some REAL Union leadership, not just lip service.

 

[Jonny Sacko]

Man, I hope you're right. It's hard to find lately.

 

[John Pennekamp]

We have a new MEC Chairman now.


You will start to see some REAL Union leadership, not just lip service.

Care to elaborate? I've never heard major complaints about Mark's leadership.

 

[Hvy]

Care to elaborate? I've never heard major complaints about Mark's leadership.

Mark's Leadership? What leadership? Are you serious?

 

[Morning Wood]

No. That trend began in 1979, but I am certain we'll see an uptick very soon.

PIPE

Airlines with the exception of TWA were making record profits in the mid to late 90's. Every major was hiring in droves. Simply look at a UA or DL seniority list and see how many pilots were hired between 1997 and 2000.

The "trend" you refer to has been cycling off and on further back than 1979. I have friends that were hired at TWA in 1968 and were furloughed 3 times. Some sat sideways for 15 years before even thinking about being able to upgrade to F/O. Back then, there was no such thing as Southwest, JetBlue, or regionals to apply to. But then again, majors today aren't hiring pilots with 250 hours and a commercial ticket.

 

[pipe]

Airlines with the exception of TWA were making record profits in the mid to late 90's. Every major was hiring in droves. Simply look at a UA or DL seniority list and see how many pilots were hired between 1997 and 2000.

The "trend" you refer to has been cycling off and on further back than 1979. I have friends that were hired at TWA in 1968 and were furloughed 3 times. Some sat sideways for 15 years before even thinking about being able to upgrade to F/O. Back then, there was no such thing as Southwest, JetBlue, or regionals to apply to. But then again, majors today aren't hiring pilots with 250 hours and a commercial ticket.

UA contract 2000 and DAL's UA+1 were nothing compared to deregulation salaries for the same positions when adjusted for inflation.

PIPE

 

[stlflyguy]

....or rather...

TILTON'S RESPONSE:

So what. I don't really give a sh!t.

That's all for now.

Glenn

I like it but not wordy enough....

"What we're seeing is a disaggregation between long-held industry norms in staffing and the actual triangulation of the demand for flying, supply of personnel, and atmospheric phenomena that would manifest itself in the running of an operation such as ours. I suggest there's a dichotomy between what the pilot's union has been promoting and the actual atmospheric phenomena that has followed every United Airlines aircraft throughout the Midwest."

I believe this to be a bit more Tilton-esque....

stlflyguy

 

[waveflyer]

Airlines with the exception of TWA were making record profits in the mid to late 90's. Every major was hiring in droves. Simply look at a UA or DL seniority list and see how many pilots were hired between 1997 and 2000.

The "trend" you refer to has been cycling off and on further back than 1979. I have friends that were hired at TWA in 1968 and were furloughed 3 times. Some sat sideways for 15 years before even thinking about being able to upgrade to F/O. Back then, there was no such thing as Southwest, JetBlue, or regionals to apply to. But then again, majors today aren't hiring pilots with 250 hours and a commercial ticket.

Pipe already said it- a delta 747 captain in the early 70's made $105/hour- google an inflation adjustor and let me know what that equates to. Your point is taken- it's cyclical- more like spiraling down- the ups don't equal the downs

BTW-You talk like having regionals to apply to is a good thing? Why are majors not hiring guys w/ lower time?- b/c there is a market of RJ guys that damn near forces young pilots to work for those sh**ty companies and fly those planes at 1/3 wages to get competitive for a major. And young guys careers get split up for a short term advantage to old guys that ended up blowing up in their face.... IE: you relaxed your scope, marginalized the entire skill set- MGMT: "see a 23 yo can and will do this and be safe- your experience doesn't matter" Meanwhile the only reason most of those 20something pilots fly for those companies is b/c they have to in order to get on w/ a major- and the more you release your scope- the longer they will have to do it to be competitive- and now you can't fly your international plane for much more than a good real estate agent makes.

THE POINT:
Pattern bargaining does not work since deregulation. Either become a guild/PAC and let us all individually work out our own contracts- or get working on a national list. I'll say it til i'm blue in the face-- what we are seeing will not stop- until we get our seniority system fixed. It kills our leverage.

 

[jke406]

Wha...???? Is this the same ALPA that is constantly criticized on these boards on an hourly basis????

What about recalling John Prater??? Or "Taking it back"?

Apparently you will not stop posting irrelevant blabber until all pilots, their spouses, kids, and dogs are volunteering 40 hours a week (each) at ALPA. Unreal.

These posters are acknowledging a great move by the United MEC. Nothing more, nothing less. So if you want to recruit this agressively, I believe Mitt Romney could use another volunteer for his cause.

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

THE POINT:
Pattern bargaining does not work since deregulation.

Sure it has.... it just worked opposite... management pattern bargained us right down to our current status...

Either become a guild/PAC and let us all individually work out our own contracts

What does this mean? How would we individually work on our contracts...and how does that differ from now?

- or get working on a national list. I'll say it til i'm blue in the face-- what we are seeing will not stop- until we get our seniority system fixed. It kills our leverage.

The downs are more frequent than the ups. Something that no one seems to consider when dumping 1K's into a professional pilot education.

However, a National List has proven to be..unworkable. Please provide a explanation of how a National List would work. I am all for a workable solution.

National Lists are a great idea during the down times... but no one seems to talk about them during the growth phases when everyone is getting a piece of the pie...

One way to make a national List work is a fund subsidy. So, a pilot loses his B737 CA job making 100/hr. He goes to work for another carrier flying whatever as an FO making 25/hr. The subsidy fund would make up the other 75/hr or a percentage of it...

The big question is... who is going to pay for a National Sen. list. Management certianly isn't going to pay the difference. And if they did, how are we going to get them to agree to it...

Apparently you will not stop posting irrelevant blabber until all pilots, their spouses, kids, and dogs are volunteering 40 hours a week (each) at ALPA. Unreal.

How about 5 hours. 60,000 pilots giving 5 hours a week to improve the profession. That is 300,000 work hours... or the equivilent of 7500 people doing a 40 hour work week.

Imagine how the profession could improve if we had 7500 more people working to make the profession better.

And that is the trick... it is not supposed to be a few doing all the work, but All doing some of the work.

 

[Morning Wood]

Pipe already said it- a delta 747 captain in the early 70's made $105/hour- google an inflation adjustor and let me know what that equates to. Your point is taken- it's cyclical- more like spiraling down- the ups don't equal the downs

That is exactly my point. It has always been cyclical and the downturn we currently see has no end in sight frankly. During the “good old days” when Delta 747 captains made $105/hour, we didn’t’ see the number of bankruptcies, pensions being lost, or rent-a-CEO’s. You certainly would not have seen pilots taking out adds in a newspaper calling out Jack Frye, CR Smith, or CE Woolman.

BTW-You talk like having regionals to apply to is a good thing?

I might be assuming incorrectly here, but I don’t see any military hardware on your profile. How did you build your time to move on to an Airbus?

 

[ironspud]

That is exactly my point. It has always been cyclical and the downturn we currently see has no end in sight frankly. During the “good old days” when Delta 747 captains made $105/hour, we didn’t’ see the number of bankruptcies, pensions being lost, or rent-a-CEO’s. You certainly would not have seen pilots taking out adds in a newspaper calling out Jack Frye, CR Smith, or CE Woolman.

quote]

Delta had 747's in the good old days?