Why are the 1700+ trannies pilots not recalling their status reps?

[Fubijaakr]

Why are the 1700+ trannies pilots not recalling their status reps?

Because the MEC did EXACTLY the right thing for their pilot group. Duh.

The SWA pilots will learn what arbitration is all about, and that scares them. Lawyers will do the talking, and arbitrators will decide the future. Who's got the popcorn? One thing is likely, the bottom 650 won't only be Airtran pilots.

You got that right. No more staple job. And guess what? The pay raise red herring will get about as much traction as a greased up pig on a slip'n'slide.

This SLI will be embarrassingly easy for the arbitrator.

but in the end it is mr kelly who will make the final decision. does he have the current swa pilots backs? even the arby's don't know that.

Hey, got caps? "mr kelly" isn't even going to have any input. This arbitration is between two parties: SWAPA and ALPA. SWA gets the list and has to implement it. So, SWA f/o threats on anonymous webboards are just so much hooey.

And you know stop attaching vulgarity to the AAI vote. Watch your mouth and stop the properganda non sense. This deal sucked and everyone knows it in the industry.

EVERYONE in the industry knows it. SWA pilots are the laughing stock of the layover hotel bars as they sit in the corner and pontificate on how a DoH, ratio or relative seniority SLI would be UNFAIR to poor new hire SWA third world jet gear jerkers.

After all, everyone KNOWS you had to be a NASA astronaut with six moon landings and a self-paid 737 type rating to get the SWA interview.

 

[puddlejumper101]

Buying Jetblue will sink you guys. They have a lot of debt.

After our merger announcment the USA Today came out with that front page article saying this was the last good merger in the industry. And explained the financials of other possible mergers. That may have changed since last September, but I have not heard otherwise.

I never said SWA was going after JetBlue, but there are rumors someone will. AA already depends on them heavily. Point is, Jetblue might get gobbled up, and I don't think it will be SWA. That still leaves SWA as the only low-cost that has any power. Allegiant, Spirit, Virgin America are not in the position to cause SWA grief yet.

 

[JT12345]

And then he STILL got DCA slots and more LGA slots. When we pull the trigger on jetBlue the plan will be complete.

Gup

Puddle,

All my posts aren't about you man.

 

[Lonestar]

He is not going to screw over 1700 of his employees (yes we are SWA employees)

:laugh:
That's F'n hillarious! My copy of the SWAPA CBA says that "All flying for Southwest Airlines shall be performed by pilots on the Southwest Airlines Master Pilot Seniority List..." My name is on that list...is yours? NOPE! :crying:

YOU are an employee of Airtran Holdings, which is owned by Texas Sub, LLC...which is owned by Southwest Airlines. That is a LONG way from being a "SWA employee."
:laugh:

 

[madjack]

Well the whole industry has changed since you were hired a SWA. Your expectations were gonna change anyway even without this merger. This merger is a clear sign of that. SWA can not compete with us so they bought us. What happens when the next Airtran comes along, and the next one, and the next one.

What has changed is M/B and AGM post 2008 has given a sense of entitlement to pilots at the weaker, lower paying, less desirable airlines to seek gains at the expense of the pilots at the acquiring, stronger, higher paying airline...

 

[becket]

FWIW, the latest from SWA is that Gary really is extremely pissed off over this. Not sure if that means he is going to his room to smoke and color or if he is really to go deal some 717's, but a guy I know at the GO says he has never seen him this PO'ed before.

"Gary" can STFU. This wouldn't have happened if it was a remotely fair deal.

Airtran guys should take it up the A$$ to keep "Gary" happy? Screw him.

 

[Taco Rocket]

If GK and the BOD are so good why couldn't they put HP or HP/US out of business? Please no east/west BS -- I observed that eliminating US appeared to be in SWA's business plan in the mid 2000's, and that didn't happen. This too is the company with the most overlap with WN and thus would be a logical candidate for a "stroke of genious."

One thing you guys will figure out, if you have not done so already, is GK and his BOD are extremely good at what they do. This Airtran deal from his desk was a stroke of genious. Yes he took out his closest competitor, he also eliminated a low cost carrier. The only one left that has any size is Jetblue, and there are rumors with them too. Could be a scenario where SWA is the only low cost standing. ATL is a market where you can't go in with 6 flights a day and compete. Jetblue tried that and got kicked out of ATL so fast they forgot they were even there. ATL is not DEN where you have two weak carriers (UAL, F9) to compete against. In ATL, DAL was not going (they still won't) to just let SWA come in and make it a DEN. Pretty much SWA knew that in ATL, we either buy airtran or stay out. DAL has too much power in ATL otherwise.

Many people bring up what happened with Frontier, but that was different. GK, and the BOD once again showed their intelligence. This was never about the pilots. In that case you have a bankrupt airline going into a bidding process, and there is only one bidder in Republic. GK knew if he threw his name in the hat for the bid, he could drive up the price of Frontier (wich he did), look at their financials, and then pull out at the last minute making sure Republic paid way more than what F9 was worth. Also, Republic had already invested money into F9 so he knew that they were not going to walk away without an airline. He just made sure they overpaid.

He also managed to get CAL to just hand them slots to EWR, how you ask? By being a PEST to DAL/USAirways, blocking every attempt at their slot swap. He drove DAL nuts to the point that when CAL/UAL merged, CAL figured it was just easier to hand SWA slots than deal with them later since they were going to have to give up slots in their merger anyways. Don't underestimate this guy, and I know you personally have not but ALPA I think has. They have pissed him off more than this one time. Nothing personal but this might not be SWAPA vs ALPA, this might be more of SWA (GK) vs. ALPA.

 

[CaptWidgeon]

And you know stop attaching vulgarity to the AAI vote. Watch your mouth and stop the properganda non sense. This deal sucked and everyone knows it in the industry.

gary,

alpa has decided that after your personal offer to our pilot group we feel we deserve more. thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet with us personally, however, we want more.

sincerely,
alpa

better?
alpa prob refers to him as gary. he ain't our friend, he's our boss. swa is the luv airline, but man there's also prison love. oh it's still love, just depends on whether you're pitchin' or catchin' if ya' enjoy it.

 

[Empennage]

And you know stop attaching vulgarity to the AAI vote. Watch your mouth and stop the properganda non sense. This deal sucked and everyone knows it in the industry.

JT, please climb off your soap box and high horse.

The ALPA Airtran MEC pulled a bait and switch to its pilots. The 1700 of your guys should have had the opportunity to vote for their future. So you, who has spent countless hours and effort each day exercising your freedom of speech and ensuring every pilot on here knew your opinion, would have had your vote. Yes it would have been a no and bravo.

The MEC had a duty to fairly represent its pilots. The MEC should have chosen to educate its pilot group on the benefits and risks involved with either voting yes or voting no. Have you not heard that voting is power? Do you not know what many groups of people in this country have done to earn the right to simply vote? Fundamentally speaking, the MEC took away every single right of every single Airtran pilot. That is hard to dismiss or ignore. If this thing goes very bad, you will have several thousand Airtran pilots asking what, why and how. It is foolish and naive to think that the no vote was a good, solid and respectable decision.

Lastly, lets try to be honest. The average seniority loss for airtran pilots was LESS THAN 30% from relative. My gain was paltry and not realized for over a decade. So please spare us from dramatic posts. The deal in many ways leveled and equalized as fair and equitable overall.

Like I told you last night this now is what it is. I have accepted the vote. While I believe your MEC completely failed and sold out its pilot group, it is out of my hands and it is out of your hands. I would not, as an elected representative, taken that decision out of the hands of my pilots. It was much too critical.

It is time to move on and walk away from flight info for a bit. Please, take a break.

 

[ArmadilloJackal]

Buying Jetblue will sink you guys. They have a lot of debt.

After our merger announcment the USA Today came out with that front page article saying this was the last good merger in the industry. And explained the financials of other possible mergers. That may have changed since last September, but I have not heard otherwise.

That used to be true. They've been steadily paying down debt with free cash and increasing liquidity to about 1.2B. While that's good for financial stability, it also makes them a little prettier at the prom, unfortunately.