Uncle Jerry's Visit to The ASA Crew Rm

[crjskipper]

lolikola - way to go, that will show jerry. as far as i am concerned i want to spend as little time at the airport as possible. had an fo tell me a few weeks ago i was crazy for helping the fa's cross belts to get out faster. i figure every minute extra i spend at work is one less than i spend home.

 

[JoeMerchant]

Which really ought to tell the Skywest pilots that JA has no intention of renegotiating their 70/90 payrates for some time. How's that 18 month agreement working out for you? Oh yeah, your w2's are bigger, so you don't care that you are being screwed by management.

How are you "being screwed" by management if your W2s are bigger than any other ALPA represented regional? Are the pilots who are leaving Mesaba, ASA, and CMR for Skywest, going so that "management can screw them"?

The fact of the matter is, we as pilots, and as a union, have failed miserably in holding up pay at this level. We are still fighting this battle as though de-regulation and fee-for-departure portfolios never happened. The rules have changed, and so must our strategy.

 

[Crizz]

How are you "being screwed" by management if your W2s are bigger than any other ALPA represented regional? Are the pilots who are leaving Mesaba, ASA, and CMR for Skywest, going so that "management can screw them"?

The fact of the matter is, we as pilots, and as a union, have failed miserably in holding up pay at this level. We are still fighting this battle as though de-regulation and fee-for-departure portfolios never happened. The rules have changed, and so must our strategy.

Spot on. Good post Joe.

 

[ReportCanoa]

Lets do it for free!!

 

[ohplease!]

With ASA raising our insurance premiums - I'm going to get my money out of this company somehow. Don't taxi over 15 knots per the POH. Can't tell how fast you're going on the ground? Better safe than sorry - slow down during taxi and comply with the POH. Slow down for turbulence - .75 or 280 - it's in the POH for a reason. Slow down in the pattern - POH says 180 kts. Transfer of controls from the F/O to the Cpt on the roll-out could be a dangerous moment - wait till your safe and slow prior to transferring controls. If it inconveniences the next guy on final and makes him go-around - too bad - gotta be safe. If the rampers aren't ready to marshall you in - don't call ramp tower - the rampers can see you and the ramp tower can see you - don't congest the frequency with unnecessary calls - just sit there and let the system (not) work. Don't go to the gate to get the release. I used to go up there to look for jumpseaters in case our gate agents ignored them because it's an inconvenience for the agents. I just won't take the release anymore.

Fly the contract. Fly the POH.

you should have been doing that stuff all along. Its not there for you to obey if you want to "screw" ASA. Its there to help you keep your license. As far as "incomveniencing" the next guy on final, you're just being childish and "screwing" the guy you're supposed to be standing beside and whos supposed to be standing beside you.

 

[Lolikoka]

Comments

crjskipper - I'm not trying to "show" Jerry - I'm trying to take out every dime I can from this company before it folds. Jerry does not care about me or my family, and I don't care about his company. I will treat the passengers well and do my job as it is outlined in the contract and the POH, and I will try to make as much money as I can every month.

Joe - you are right that we as a national union have failed to hold up wages in our end of the industry. But - the regional airline model is premised on exploitation of its employees, and the airlines apparently have no plans to do anything else except exploit their employees for as long as possible. I don't see any individual pilot group in the regional end of this industry being able to stop that - collective action across companies appears to be the only chance and it's illegal. I just don't know that pattern bargaining will work in this end of the industry before I retire in 18 years. How would you try to uphold wages? A $2/hour raise in only $150 to 160 dollars a month - that's chump change to the amount of money our company pi$$es away every month, whether it's ASA money or Delta money.

The rising health care costs just sent me over the edge. Unless their abilty to screw us is capped by new language in our contract, the company can nulify any pay raise we get and turn our annual longevity raise into a loss of relative pay if they want, simply by changing our health care premiums. I know health care costs are rising - there is a profit-making company called United HealthCare in the middle, and there are profit-making insurance companies raising doctors' premiums on the other end. This industry is going to turn me into a communist!

Loyalty is a two-way street; if the company management only cares about the absentee landlords in Utah, then I certainly don't care about the company.

 

[JoeMerchant]

Lets do it for free!!

Nobody is, nor is anybody advocating, "doing it for free". In fact, under our current 8 year old contract, I am in the top 10% of W2 earners in this country. That is far from free.

That being said, there is pressure on pay due to competition caused by de-regulation and fee for departure portfolio bidding wars. However it is ALPA carriers that have put more pressure on those rates than non-union Skywest.

 

[ReportCanoa]

Nobody is, nor is anybody advocating, "doing it for free". In fact, under our current 8 year old contract, I am in the top 10% of W2 earners in this country. That is far from free.

The longer we go without a new contract, the more that percentage slips. What ASA is offering is simply not enough for what we endure on a weekly basis. We are the ONLY thing keeping this operation moving, legal and safe. I will get paid, and if it means the company fails and SKyWest tears it down, then fine. I'm prepared- and frankly ready- to leave.

 

[HelloNewman]

He said you guy's picketing SGU was hilarious. Everybody got a good laugh.

I think some thanks are in order for ALPA. They actually gave the media down there something to do that day. I'm sure they all laughed their butts off as soon as ASA left. It's not all bad though, at least they got their day in the sun and a small moral victory. That is the unfortunate thing now a days, ALPA is limited to only being able to give moral victories and nothing much else. Maybe someday things will change but not in our lifetime. Oh I'm sure everyone still remembers the picketing. For most people it was probably like going to a carnival watching the clowns do their thing.

 

[JoeMerchant]

The longer we go without a new contract, the more that percentage slips. What ASA is offering is simply not enough for what we endure on a weekly basis. We are the ONLY thing keeping this operation moving, legal and safe. I will get paid, and if it means the company fails and SKyWest tears it down, then fine. I'm prepared- and frankly ready- to leave.

Your correct that the longer we go, the more that percentage slips. However my pay would go up with the last offer from management - it wouldn't go down. There is more wiggle room to improve that offer even more, but it involves BOTH sides making some real moves. The longer we hold out for a 28% increase in payroll costs, the longer we all will go without a payraise.

 

[crjskipper]

canoa - that pic looks like lane daily - we are not the only ones keeping it running. we were painfully understaffed this summer - but the guy who ran the ramp is gone and has been replaced by someone who I have met and respect. there are a lot of good people on the ramp who busted their butts to keep it running at all this summer, good people. we have top notch maintenance also. i also met andy gees (sp) the new guy helping run the people at the airport - he is cleaning house where it needs to be done and seems to have been given orders to do so hastily.

there were many times this summer when working for asa was a great embarrassment - more so than in the past. but it has gotten better and hopefully will continue to. do i wish we had a new contract - of course, slowing the operation down only screws our pax more and the other employees who are trying - making much less than me.

 

[ReportCanoa]

My question is how many new managers, new procedures, new incentives have come along and failed in the last decade. The only solid, reliable asset this company has is the pilot group. Forget the altruistic notions of saving other employees. There are some fine people here, but they are the exeption, and I cannot be held responsible for every catering, cleaning or gate agent job. I get people from A to B within the context of the law and company procedure. And that's more than enough to fret over.

I'm out of options. Not that it really matters to you anyhow.

 

[flylowman]

canoa - that pic looks like lane daily -


Watch it. It might look like you. What is your problem? I think it looks like your wife. I heard she was a beast. I guess she is, so you have to make fun of another pilot on a public board. How about leaving personal names out.

 

[Andy Neill]

I do! We (myself and my 8 wives) were watching WSLC-TV when the news came on...we burst out laughing.

You mean you were LISTENING to WSLC country radio out of Roanoake, VA?

 

[atlcrjdriver]

The only solid, reliable asset this company has is the pilot group.

A bit arrogant don't you think. W/o all those other little people none of the a/c we have left would ever leave the ground, late or on-time. Is the ATL operation perfect, no and far from it. Has there been improvements made in the last several months, yes. As the staffing levels come up and eq reliablity come up the operation will continue to improve.

As for the CNC, they must adjust the negotiating strategy to that of our new owners. The quicker they realize that we are not negotiating w/ DL the better off we will be. ALPA has spent allot of tx in SLC for the union drive but have they talked w/ SAPA on negotiating tactics and strategy or simply tell the pilot group to sign here?