USAPA & USA Today Ad

[vetrider]

USAPA doesn't want "their" (east) pilots intimidated in the sim.

When the entire training department becomes staffed by east people and they decide to be "good union" members by busting west pilots, will we hear the same outcry? It's only a matter of time.

Don't bother with the "professionalism" argument. Nobody buys it from the east anymore.

One of the east checkairmen already signed a complaint for use in the bull******************** lawsuit.

 

[Turtle21]

I hope these 8 people out of the 5,000 pilot population learn something about being a professional aviator. These 8 are anything but.

D

I think I'll reserve judgement until someone presents a plausible argument that includes facts substantiated by a credible source. Internet speculations and company innuendo don't meet that standard.

Frankly it seems to me that if the company had data to nail 8 pilots they would have done it already. It isn't plausible that the company is willing to endure the embarrassment in order to be gracious to the 8 pilots who are supposedly guilty.

To argue that the company accepts this embarrassment rather than exonerate themselves by proving the pilots guilty of carrying too much fuel requires a presumption that the company is magnanimous. Yet I am supposed to believe that this same "magnanimous company" isn't magnanimous enough to allow them to carry 15 minutes of extra fuel for contingencies?

 

[eaglesview]

I can't believe the amount of people here that think USAir Management is all of a sudden without sin. Give me a break. USAPA is the new union in town so the company is testing the waters. The union had to respond. Do you think out of 5000 pilots (2100) captains only 8 are adding fuel. Let's try to keep it realistic.

 

[imisscorplife]

how do you guys tell each other apart? The east should weare blue on their lanyard and the west can wear red. Let the gang wars begin!

 

[TWA Dude]

how do you guys tell each other apart? The east should weare blue on their lanyard and the west can wear red. Let the gang wars begin!

The Westies are wearing a red lanyard that reads: AWA Pilots Integrity Matters. Most of us also have a badge-backer that reads: Cactus. Believe me, we have no desire to be mistaken for Easties.

 

[rajflyboy]

I surely do not have a horse in this race, but I gotta ask. What is the real reason for the added fuel? It sure is not safety. If 7-10 minutes makes the difference, ya'll should have turned around hours ago and returned from whence you came. Sounds like a bunch of spin here to me...and wasted money.

Chicago Midway..... Burbank..... Ring Any Bells about Safety?

 

[ironspud]

Real Men of Genius - From Plane Buzz

USAPA: Real Men of Genius


Okay, so how many of you saw that ad in yesterday's USAToday that was placed by the union leadership of USAPA? You know, the union that represents the US Airways East pilots at US Airways?
I say that because I have yet to talk to an America West pilot who has paid USAPA dues. While USAPA claims to have 5800 members, I think the number is probably closer to 3000 or less.
Yes, USAPA. The same union that was voted in, after the US Airways East pilots refused to go along with an ALPA arbitrator's award decision in the union seniority process to unite the two separate (at the time) ALPA memberships.
Yesterday, the brain trust of this organization, and I use that term loosely, decided to run a full page ad in USAToday, accusing management at US Airways of "pressuring pilots to reduce fuel levels for your flight in order to save money."
The ad then continued,

"We ask that you remember this: although we consider US Airways to have embarked on a program of intimidation to pressure your Captain to reduce fuel loads, US Airways Captains are committed to maintaining their right to exercise their "Captain's Authority," granted by the Federal Aviation Administration, to ensure a fuel load that will safely fly you to your destination with all the reserves necessary to handle any contingencies related to the flight."​

Uh-huh.
Those of us who know and work in this industry know what this is. It's a very sad attempt by grown men who should have better things to do with their time to get media attention by crying "Safety, Safety."
Thankfully, no major media outlets paid much attention to the effort -- because, frankly, they also knew it was a bunch of crap.
However -- then there is Larry King. And CNN.

Last night, US Airways' CEO Doug Parker and ATA President Jim May were scheduled to be on King's show to discuss the issue of rising fuel costs, the industry's cost problems, whatever.
But what the show turned into was a discussion of how unsafe US Airways was -- because of this "problem." Not only that, but Parker, because of commitments in Washington, was unable to be on the show. The show's producers apparently thought it was okay to bash the supposed "unsafe" practices of the airline without having the courtesy of having a representative of the airline on the show at all.
As one reader noted in a letter he sent to CNN today,

Yesterday I tuned into your show with the hopes of seeing the CEO of US Airways speak to the crushing negative effects the run up of oil is having on the airlines, the economy, and my career. What I saw was something all together different.

Instead of the scheduled speakers I witnessed a disjointed, subjective, discussion over a “news” story that was generated by an ad placed by the leaders of the new rookie union at US AIRWAYS (USAPA). This ad was nothing more than an ill guided attempt by the fledgling union’s leaders to flex their muscle during contract negotiations.

The core issue here is not about how much fuel a pilot can carry, safety or “Captains Authority” but rather a dispute between the company and a segment of the pilots this new Union represents. (It should be noted that not one of the 1800 former ALPA represented pilots of America West have elected to join this new union.)

As a Captain for America West and post merge the New US Airways, I have never had the company question the amount of extra fuel I choose to carry on any flight segment. Many of those segments routinely carry me and my passengers over the longest over water route in the world and as such I am very cognizant of the need for adequate fuel reserves for any contingency.

I was appalled by this new "Union's” attempt to bring safety into question when it is clear, based on the data collected, that this was a deliberate attempt by the pilots in question to carry and burn more fuel in an effort to influence the company to acquiesce to their contractual wishes.

As a one time Executive Vice President of The Air Line Pilots Association I have seen and participated in my fair share of labor disputes but I have never witnessed nor would I condone using a bogus “safety” issue to apply leverage to a company."​

As I said in a recent issue of PlaneBusiness Banter -- as we see a number of airlines link-up, or merge, and as it becomes more and more clear that the union problems involving the pilots at US Airways apparently had a major chilling effect on the airline's potential merger with United Airlines -- these guys at USAPA are only going to have themselves to blame if the airline finds itself without a dance partner going forward.
But this latest stunt, I have to say, takes the prize.
The boys at USAPA are real men of genius.
As a result, they are more than deserving of a PlaneBuzz Buzz Bomb Award.

 

[imacdog]

Chicago Midway..... Burbank..... Ring Any Bells about Safety?

What did those have anything to do with extra fuel?

 

[Turtle21]

What is the real reason for the added fuel?

That might sound like an interesting question.. and there is a place and time for that question.

But the real question is (since the company has already forced unscheduled simulator training on pilots): "What is the reason for sending a pilot to a simulator for fuel planning?"

Remedial or targeted supplemental simulator training is based on the premise that the Captain's performance is substandard. That is a serious accusation and the Captain deserves a fair shake. Before he gets punitive extra training the company needs to demonstrate what he did wrong, what rules or procedures he violated. They haven't done that and frankly they should have if they could, rather than suffer the embarrassment.

Frankly it just looks like the company pushing the limits on how far it can go.

 

[PHXFLYR]

The Westies are wearing a red lanyard that reads: AWA Pilots Integrity Matters. Most of us also have a badge-backer that reads: Cactus. Believe me, we have no desire to be mistaken for Easties.

Can I get an "amen" from the congregation ???

Phxflyr