Who has left ASA for SkyWest?

[John Pennekamp]

I figured I was going to get flamed eventually for what I said, so I removed it, but I will respond to your comments.

Too late. Be a man and stand behind your statements.

I can't speak for what some ill-bred moron allegedly spouts off inappropriately (hey, that applies to this board sometimes, too!), but I agree that it's wrong for any of our pilots to rejoice in your or any other airline's situation... I'd be surprised if this is even happening or happening on more than an isolated basis. But regardless, it's wrong.

My, my you really are an eliteist. "Ill-bred"?

I have news. Many of your pilots are rejoicing in our situation. And yes, it IS wrong.

That being said, I don't agree with your allegation that we are being used to break your pilot group. Your contract dispute started way before SkyWest acquired you. Your profitability comes from the contract negotiated with Delta, not from how well your airline is run or is performing, just like ours does. You have a single mainline codeshare, we spread our risk out by having two... and neither of them are exactly raking in the dough. Therefore, there is always a certain amount of risk involved in asking for a raise.

You are being used to break us. Not a negotiating session has gone by when our negotiatiors haven't been reminded of how we stack up to you.

Our problems did begin before Skywest Inc. (not Skywest Airline, BTW) bought us. And even then Delta was cramming it down our throats how much less you and the other DCIs (except Comair) made compared to us, with your one rate.

You are right that our profits come from the agreement, and not performance. ASA's performance is in last place in every category except profits! The point is that it doesn't matter where the profits come from, the workers provide those profits and deserve a fair share. The union aims to ensure that happens. Who's fighting for you SAPA? The ones paid by management?

JA has always told our company that our success is based upon the goodwill of our mainline partners and what we can provide them.

Here we go, the "Jerry loves us and always tells us the truth" argument. Look around the industry and tell me that's true.

Why your company doesn't give you a raise? Since I only get to see snippets of what's going on over there amid all the sniping, I can't tell what the company's real stance is and where your union stands. As far as I can tell, the biggest issue seems to be how big a raise you get, if I'm wrong, you guys need to do some damage control, because you aren't being perceived well from the outside. Maybe that doesn't matter to you, but if you're asking us to "help you out" and vote in a union, it sure does matter to us. And btw, United constantly shifts our flying back and forth with Mesa. As far as I know, we're not getting into a playground dispute with them over "our" flying.

Why? BECAUSE PEOPLE LIKE YOU DOING OUR JOB FOR LESS MONEY (70 SEATER) GIVE THEM NO INCENTIVE TO PAY US MORE! Duh!

Aren't percieved well? Oooh another ASA slam. Keep' em coming! You know, we're really worried what the skywest nazis think about us.

We did not and will not ask for your help, because you will backstab us as soon as you finish. Vote no. You only screw yourselves. But be aware, ALPA's merger policy and the RLA make it pretty certain that we will get DOH when Jerry finally merges us. You do know our average -50 captain has 8 years of seniority, right?

If you have no union, you'll get steamrolled. Especially since the ASA pilots have a perception that you're a bunch of elitest jerks. Keep it up.

 

[Willy21]

I am not asking you to do anything. I am just pointing out the fact that ASA mgmt has not even put your work rules and payrates on the table. Why do you think that is? Maybe so they can turn around and come after the SkyWest pilots. Maybe, maybe not. You guys have a good thing going right now, but if history holds true the top dog is always the next to get shot down.

As for the newhires, yes it does happen. This past week I was at FSI in SLC, for recurrent with the great Tomct, and there were some comments made. I have also sat on your jumpseat to DFW, thanks for the ride, and one of your f/o's told me how great it was going to be to fly in the Caribbean this winter. He also stated he didn't care how he got his upgrade as long as he got it.

You guys can do what you want vote ALPA in or not I don't care. I just hope you do something for yourself instead of being at the mercy of the might Jerry. Given the chance he will let his henchman Ron take you to school.

 

[scarlet]

ALPA NATIONAL will spend alot of money if ALPA fails at skywest, and they take our airplanes and our flights, that will generate a SCAB list. So for career move for the skywest pilots might just be the left seat at SKywest,,,and thats all folks !!!!

 

[Spicepilots]

You guys are right, I'm sorry. The thing is, I started out being sympathetic to your cause. I guess a year of being called a scab and a bottom feeder and god knows what else will eventually turn you. I may be an elitist jerk, but I've never told any of the ASA pilots I've run into that I look forward to flying their planes or their routes. Like I said, I can't speak for them. And John, you take everything too personally. Ill-bred moron referred mostly to said SkyWest pilots, not to you specifically or to ASA pilots in general. Look, I've been screwed by scheduling, I don't actually believe everything managment says... but at the end of the day, I understand economics, and in todays day and age, if a company doesn't want to give, a compromise is a hard thing to force, much less getting awarded your full desires. It sucks to be you guys, yeah, maybe our turn might be next, who knows. But I'm tired of watching the same five guys address the situation at our company with absolute certainty. Hence my rant about the union drive over here. I'll own it, and I'll own every conversation I've had with the guys who leave ALPA materials in the cockpit. I just removed it because I thought better of provolking the firestorm, and as usual, we've hijacked some poor guy's thread and turned it into SkyWest vs. ASA.

 

[amcnd]

SkyWest has hired allot of TSA/MESABA pilots lately that are not to happy with ALPA. I think the next vote if there is one would be low 20-25% "just my guess".

 

[USCtrojan]

Jerry is waiting for the Union Drive to come to fruition. Right before it happens count on Jerry A. to offer a 70/90 rate commensurate with ASA's. They will get a "talked" about raise. Like Zoltar. What happens then is anyones guess.

Trojan

 

[Spicepilots]

ALPA NATIONAL will spend alot of money if ALPA fails at skywest, and they take our airplanes and our flights, that will generate a SCAB list. So for career move for the skywest pilots might just be the left seat at SKywest,,,and thats all folks !!!!

sigh... If this were true, wouldn't ALPA national have taken care of Freedom and Go-Jets?

 

[bender]

To answer the title, there were 3 ASA/Comair pilots at my interview and 2 more ASA guys the day before.

 

[scott hall]

I got my app in. No phone call yet.

 

[John Pennekamp]

ALPA NATIONAL will spend alot of money if ALPA fails at skywest, and they take our airplanes and our flights, that will generate a SCAB list. So for career move for the skywest pilots might just be the left seat at SKywest,,,and thats all folks !!!!

And you're as bad as them. Quit dropping the "s-bomb" until you understand what it means, junior.

The only way the Skywest pilots would be scabs is if we struck, and they flew our routes or airplanes that existed at the time of the strike.