United Airlines and Continental Airlines Jumpseat Priority Agreement

[ATRCA]

Believe me, we are NOT begging, pleading, praying for a merger with CAL. We ARE begging, pleading, praying for new management. You guys have been a preferential airline for what, the last eight years out of how many years of existence? Don't beat your chest too hard. Things change real quick in this industry.

I hope you're right. I hope you guys get fantastic new management that turns the company around and decides it want's to remain a stand alone company and prosper. Nothing would make us happier. Honestly, at this point I hope UAL does a 180 and decides CAL is too risky to partner with.

Absent a BK filing, I fail to see why anyone in this industry would want a merger knowing full well they typically end poorly.

As for chest pumping, like I said, having the best of the worst is far from awe inspiring. I have no confidence in CAL mgt, ZERO! I have even less confidence in CAL/UAL merged debt and aircraft/flying overlap. A company with 25B in debt it cannot service isn't my idea of a turnaround plan.

 

[St. Nic]

All of this jumpseat debate sure is interesting. UAL is peering down the abyss and United pilots think this "little financial problem" is just a simple matter of changing management. Here's a news flash- UAL is in serious, serious trouble. But keep debating all you want about the merits of Skywest jumpseaters.

 

[rjacobs]

Also the CO pilots are flying UA code share flights which means they are generating revenue for us and we are generating revenue for them. As a result if I am to choose who I would prefer to give a jumpseat ride to I will choose the CO pilot over the RJ pilot everytime.

We(XJT) fly all our revenue(currently) for CAL(and by code-share UAL) so in a round about way we are doing the same as that CAL pilot. So with that said, would you still prefer to give a CAL guy a ride over an XJT guy or would we both be about the same priority in your mind?

 

[ATRCA]

This is completely incorrect. I fly for UAL and am now flying CO code share flights constantly and that will only grow. Also the CO pilots are flying UA code share flights which means they are generating revenue for us and we are generating revenue for them. As a result if I am to choose who I would prefer to give a jumpseat ride to I will choose the CO pilot over the RJ pilot everytime.

If I give a skywest guy a ride, which I do all the time, chances are that pilot is flying for DL that day. So I have absolutley no heart burn with this at all

Also I commute from an airport mostly served by United contracters. (RJ"S) If the pilots start some action, I really don't give a hoot, I'll still be happy to give the CO pilot priority.

I just don't see it this way at all. You and I work for companies that would prosper extremely if the other were to fail tonight and not exist tomorrow. The fact that our companies have entered into an extremely large alliance that includes many different carriers does not change the economic facts of their existence. CAL and UAL do share interests. They compete. CAL and XJT do not compete. XJT exist solely to transport CAL pax. UAL does not. XJT pilots have for decades enjoyed pass travel bennies and JS priorities that reflect their contribution to the CAL system.

When CAL was part of SkyTeam, no SkyTeam partner carrier pilots received preferential JS rights above those of our regional feeders nor did we have priority on other carriers. That's fair and it reflects the nature of the relationship.

Like I've said previously, I hope that UAL and CAL remain viable stand alone airlines. Alliances aside, the pilots that fly CAL pax under the CAL brand (XJT predominantly) have for decades been given a single perk (and many not so) in recognition of what they contribute to the brand and that should not be taken from them and arbitrarily assigned to pilots from a competitor airline. This has little to do with UAL. Had the same thing taken place during our years in SkyTeam (ie DAL) I would feel exactly the same.

 

[eaglesview]

I will follow the protocol set and happily give the main line guy/gal priority.

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Continental scabs have union cards. ALPA in an effort to increase revenue turned a blind eye to any past line crossers and Knighted them "beneficial' to the cause....

Not true......

By law ALPA has to take all members in good standing when ALPA took over from the in house union.....


The problem is the in house union. Why did they allow the scabs to be members in good standing?

 

[eaglesview]

I just don't see it this way at all. You and I work for companies that would prosper extremely if the other were to fail tonight and not exist tomorrow. The fact that our companies have entered into an extremely large alliance that includes many different carriers does not change the economic facts of their existence. CAL and UAL do share interests. They compete. CAL and XJT do not compete. XJT exist solely to transport CAL pax. UAL does not. XJT pilots have for decades enjoyed pass travel bennies and JS priorities that reflect their contribution to the CAL system.

That is simply no longer true. Look at the departure board next time and you will see you are also transporting UA pax. The times they are a changing.

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

I don't care if the two management teams are in a full sprint toward a merger. UAL and it's crews are not part of CAL in any meaningful way. UAL is no different or better than AA, SWA, or any other CAL competitor. Giving their pilots special access is not only unjustified but it should not have been done without due process to our pilot group.

I understand that you guys are begging, pleading, praying for a merger, (bailout, gift, miracle) but until that happens UAL and CAL are nothing more than competitor airlines that should be hoping for the other to fail. That's the way business unfortunately works in this country. Every day, Tilton should wake up and try to figure out how he can put CAL out of business. Every day he should be trying to figure out how to grow the UAL brand but he's not doing that, has never done that and is instead looking to enrich himself and then pull the pin. I would be frustrated too if I were in your shoes. Our mgt is almost as bad. They're complete losers too but the best of the worst is all we've got.

Take a quick look around. How many successful mergers have you witnessed? None is the answer. How desperate must one be to be hoping for something that has a proven track record of failure? You know a merger will be a disaster, you know it will lead to MASSIVE downsizing and prolonged financial losses yet you yearn for it anyway. That's unfortunate.

Until it happens, CAL feeder airlines should have JS priority over competitors, that's industry standard and the way it already works at UAL. Why are you entitled to a special deal? You aren't.

You are comletely missing the impact and significane of Alliances, especially in the future..... which.... is.... where we are all going...

 

[ATRCA]

Not true......

By law ALPA has to take all members in good standing when ALPA took over from the in house union.....


The problem is the in house union. Why did they allow the scabs to be members in good standing?

First, ALPA did turn a blind eye. That's not really debatable. ALPA knew that a membership drive at CAL would end up allowing scabs back in. At the time I remember hearing "the road to Dallas is through Houston." I think some thought ALPA needed CAL and a few others to woo AA.

As for the in-house, the IACP. Some fairly prominent scabs founded the IACP. It would have been hard to exclude your founders.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Association_of_Continental_Pilots

Cross check the names with the list..........

You can thank the pilots of XJT (at the time wholly owned CeEx) for pushing ALPA on to the property at CAL. Shortly thereafter the CAL MEC thanked the Express pilots by removing them from the MEC against their will.

 

[Cobraair75drvr]

I don't see the problem. This is the way it always should have been. For that matter all major pilots should be the same priority with a first come first serve and then affiliated regionals then non. Why is this even an issue? Do the major league ball players have more in common with other majors or the farm league players within their system? I would guess other majors, their peers. Same here. Somehow we let the farm leaguers think they deserve a seat at the table. Back to the kiddie table.