Something.
When Jerry Atkin visited our crew lounge, the pilots in attendance showed their asses.
When Jerry Atkin tried to have a frank business discussion with the MEC chairman and vice chairman, he was greeted with chest thumping rhetoric. He stated that he would gladly make a business decision to shut down ASA if our costs rose above Skywest. The union told him that was his perogative, but they wouldn't flinch.
The pilots continue to support an MEC whose verson of reality is about as likely to happen as G.W. Bush getting a doctoral degree. And the pilots continue to thump their chests and scream about how they'll "burn it down" if they don't get their way. Some of us have looked around at what's happening here in the last few months and and smartened up. But it's too little too late.
Jerry has decided that ASA is not worth saving due to the angry pilots and the overly militent union. Add to that our rising costs in the new contract, and that's the death gasp for ASA.
This hot off the presses from a "fly on the wall" in the Skywest GO:
They are doing their best to drag out the contract, by using all of their contacts in Washington, because ASA is going to be eliminated at the end of the summer when the schedules normally pull down. They want to make sure we don't get any scope that will make things difficult. By then Delta will have ramped up enough of the other DCIs to cover most of our flying, especially by using -900s and E170s on formerly -200 routes. Our assets will be transfered to Skywest and remaining ASA employees (pilots and flight attendants), will be given the opportunity to interview and transition to Skywest ahead of time, exactly as the rampers did to Delta (without seniority, and 1/2 longevity).
Look for the announcement to come out soon, within the next month or two.
Wow. You know, I used to more or less see eye to eye with you, but your recent 180 has grown most tiresome. I am far from the most militant union guy on property, and I have never been a "burn it down" person, but I can't even begin to align myself to your newfound point of view.
If we are, in fact, doomed as you say, then our negotiations are meaningless. If we cave on everything and work for less than SKW, we still lose. According to you, an evil alliance of the Republicans, the LDS, the ghost of Joseph Smith, Moroni, the NMB, and quite possibly Kim Jong Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have conspired to seal the fate of ASA.
If, in fact, we are done for, then why the rhetoric? Game over, remember? After all, nothing we do at this point will save us. You're wasting your time by closing the proverbial barn door behind the horse.
Or....
We can consider the fact that Jerry is and always has been a very good businessman. He's in the business to making money for his shareholders. By your recent comments, you obviously have no idea what the negotiating committee has been asking for as of late. Aircraft transfers, as previously demonstrated, cost about 100k a piece. Nothing the negotiating committee is asking for.... really asking for... costs anywhere near that amount.
Atkin and company are not going to squander shareholders' dollars in a money-losing attempt to break a union. There will be no aircraft transfer, as the last transfer was not received by the people who ultimately control the purse strings.
You are content to portray yourself as a wise oldtimer who has seen it all and can no longer find the heart to support the MEC and the negotiating committee because you feel they don't have the best interests of the pilot group at heart. In reality you are a weak man who was more than willing to support one position for four plus years and then change directions overnight. You lack conviction, and you are not confident enough to support the beliefs you have long held in the face of a little adversity.
You, sir, are not a voice of reason. You are nothing more than a coward.
