You stay classy Linden Hillman

[Lear70]

I do not think I need to post his name and you do not need to ask. Everybody knows.

Just wanted to make sure you weren't referring to me... I wouldn't want to assume the worst of someone I've never met.

I figured you weren't referring to me anyway, what with all the positive letters of commendation in my PRIA file from the V.P. of H.R. on down to the Chief Pilot's office here at AAI for everything from flying skills to professionalism to customer service.

Thankfully the 3 senior managers responsible for the only blip on my entire flying record at ANY job are either gone, soon to be gone, and/or likely returning to the line when the integration is complete, but I just wanted to make sure before I responded.

You have yourself a great day out there, mkay?

 

[Cometman]

Just wanted to make sure you weren't referring to me... I wouldn't want to assume the worst of someone I've never met.

I figured you weren't referring to me anyway, what with all the positive letters of commendation in my PRIA file from the V.P. of H.R. on down to the Chief Pilot's office here at AAI for everything from flying skills to professionalism to customer service.

Thankfully the 3 senior managers responsible for the only blip on my entire flying record at ANY job are either gone, soon to be gone, and/or likely returning to the line when the integration is complete, but I just wanted to make sure before I responded.

You have yourself a great day out there, mkay?

You sound like you are trying to convince me. If you think I was talking about you then you need to convince SWA, not me. It sounds like you are guilty. I would not respond anymore to this because otherwise it will create a life of its own.

 

[Lear70]

You ATN guys are hillarious! Lear comes on to say he read a thread on your forum saying everything is cool, so you just believe it.

Ummm,,, it's not about what I posted. They don't have to believe me... they heard it directly from the horse's mouth on our internal forum before they came over here and read what I reposted for our esteemed future SWA coworkers, so please don't think they're just responding based on what I said alone.

Will your MEC Chair admit he screwed up with that letter? NO! Has he even engaged y'all regarding the letter? I bet not. He is too busy firing committee guys and directing your MC to bother.

Actually, the Vice Chair responded for him (he does all our web board communicating for the MEC), and the pilots are pretty broadly supporting the letter. I'm still trying to figure out why so many of the SWA pilots are trying to instill discourse between the AAI pilots and ALPA. It's just not going to happen and only aggravates people.

Don't take Lear's opinion. Ask to see the letter for yourselves. Then see if Lear's summary jives with the truth.

I doubt the MEC is going to release much of anything. They've pretty much gone into information lock-down mode since the SLI started, and there's honestly just not enough angst about it among our pilot group. To us, it's a non-issue between ALPA and SWA management. It was addressed by the pilot group. The MEC answered. There doesn't seem to be any animosity out of it from SWA management, seeing as they just sent all of us SWA coins and a very nice letter to go along with it well AFTER the letter in question was written and responded to by MV, so the VAST majority of the pilots are still content to let the process work as agreed.

I could be wrong about the mood of our pilot group, but that's what I'm seeing in both the MCO and ATL crew rooms as well as our internal message board. It's just doing the job, having a good time, discussing some of the SLI possibilities privately amongst ourselves at work, and going home to family; business as usual, sit back and wait.

Really there's no animosity on our side of the table. Hope you guys have a great day out there, wherever you may be. :beer:

 

[Lear70]

You sound like you are trying to convince me. If you think I was talking about you then you need to convince SWA, not me. It sounds like you are guilty. I would not respond anymore to this because otherwise it will create a life of its own.

Not worried about it. Just trying to clarify who you were referring to.

You take care now...

 

[texman]

If a quick upgrade is so important, you should have come to AT.

Upshot for SWA FO's is actually getting to upgrade sometime in the future. You had an indefinite hold prior to the AT deal. read my tag line below, your own boss said it. With Airtan out of the way you'll actually get a chance to upgrade. You're welcome.

Standby let me quote GK again after the DOJ sells job.


I’ll just reiterate to them my respect and admiration for what they’ve accomplished over 17 years, the fact that they are such a great airline. It’s one of the reasons we wanted to acquire them. That on a combined basis, they’ll be much stronger and have opportunities to grow their airline, whereas without Southwest, they wouldn’t, quite frankly.

Capt, I would of upgraded just through attrition. Also to have 1700 young dudes injected in front of us, thats the problem. Your welcome? What BS is that. Have you seen AT's financials. They where in the shizter. A FO at SWA or a failing company in the long run. You chose. Future growth! LOL! We hope! You have to understand something Captain, you can't sell that BS to us. I will say without us you would have been out on the street in the long run. Why in the hell do you think your shareholders sold you out. Your not the white horse, but only the Smarty Jones that couldn't make it to the finish line. It's all good. You may lose your captain seat and may keep it. Heck I might be your capt. You have know idea what will happen, neither do I. But thanks to SWA you get to feed your family.

 

[texman]

While I have never seen an AAI pilot come on here and comment about SWAPA's internal affairs, there is no shortage of SWA pilots who seem to think that they are free to comment on ATN71 matters.

No one cares what you think about our union, but if you want to guarantee this thing goes to arbitration, just keep poking your finger in our eye. . . . .

Be careful what you ask for, though. :erm:

That picture is exactly how imagined you. Big old captain glasses!LOL!

 

[CaptWidgeon]

if things were so fine at AT prior to the acquisition announcement why:

1. was alpa brought onto AT's property?
2. was such a high percentage to strike approved?

just looking for a little perspective from that side.

edit:
3. how long were in you without a contract? i thought it was 5+/- yrs, but
i am curious.

 

[PapaWoody]

How long have you been in the airline biz? I ask because you post as if things never change. The SWA contract has an ammendable date, a seniority number does not. If things go badly for SWA, the first thing to go will be the pilot contract that I gave up seniority to get.
You're not giving up any seniority, because you have none on our list. What remains to be seen is what your seniority at AirTran translates into at SWA. And yes, the value of the career that you earned at AirTran vs. the value of the career that I earned at SWA will be taken into account when the conversion is complete.



They get a growth and seniority advancement that they wouldn't have had otherwise, they get a larger profit sharing check, they get 27hr layovers in the Carribbean and Cancun. BTW, the pilots didn't buy us.
If you believe that SWA wasn't gonna grow without AAI, then you must also believe the things that your CEO said about your future prospects. Or maybe you can realize that both were making statements that were designed to get the deal past the regulators. As for the statement "the pilots didn't buy us", you are correct. However, we were a part of the profit machine that allowed our company to acquire your company, not the other way around. Another fact that the arbitrators seem to be interested in.


What if they give concessions in 5 years from now, will I get that too? Think that will never happen? Talk to guys fron UAL/DAL/UsAir. SWA guys were leaving in droves to go to those airlines 10 years ago when the SWA contract was the anchor of the major airline industry.
LOL - "SWA guys were leaving in droves". A handful of guys left to go to legacies back then. Meanwhile, at AAI, your guys were actually leaving in "droves" to go anywhere else, including SWA. One of the reasons your seniority is what it is today, turnover. Something of which we have had very little. Oh, and I would also like to remind you, even when our "contract was the anchor of the major airline industry" we were still leaps and bounds above AAI from a contractual standpoint.

My point is, things change in this business, seniority, not so much. Arbitrators know this. Apples to oranges my friend.
Again, refer to my previous comments on your "seniority", of which you currently have none at the company that acquired you. And yes, things change in this business, but if history is any guide whatever ill winds may or may not blow at good old SWA, they would affect AAI in a more negative manner. (How many did we furlough in '08 again?) As the sage said, those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.

I hope this negotiation / arbitration goes well for all involved and I hope that we are one big happy family soon. But unlike the AAI guys, I actually have the potential of damage to the future of my career because of this. Maybe if more AAI pilots realized this, the position of the SWA pilots rebutting your claims to relative seniority and, yes, even DOH, would be more understandable. We're not arrogant, we just know that this has potential to damage our careers, and if so, how much. You, on the other hand, get to benefit no matter how this goes down. See the difference yet?

Respectfully and Fraternally,
PapaWoody

 

[PCL_128]

Yes, the letter asked for a public retraction.

Actually, it didn't. It only requested a clarification to the two unions. Nothing public.

 

[gt1900]

I hope this negotiation / arbitration goes well for all involved and I hope that we are one big happy family soon. But unlike the AAI guys, I actually have the potential of damage to the future of my career because of this. Maybe if more AAI pilots realized this, the position of the SWA pilots rebutting your claims to relative seniority and, yes, even DOH, would be more understandable. We're not arrogant, we just know that this has potential to damage our careers, and if so, how much. You, on the other hand, get to benefit no matter how this goes down. See the difference yet?

Respectfully and Fraternally,
PapaWoody

Hate to tell you this, but this has already damaged my career in the short term. Long term is anyones guess. I would be sitting in the left seat bidding over 50% if it weren't for the SWA merger (and yes, my pay would be about the same, or better, as a right seat SWA guy). I would retire in the top 10 and get any schedule I want. The SWA guys forget that this isn't just about contracts. SWA's contract is much better, but don't forget that SWA is what it is because SWA historically paid much less then its competitors, and that allowed them to grow based off of their cost advantages (sound familier). The biggest issue Im hearing is with the SWA FO's. However, if this merger leads to you guys gaining a few percentage points seniority wise and speeds your upgrade time, then why are you b!tching? This is a good thing for you as well if it speeds your upgrade do to huge growth. Face it, SWA wasn't growing before the AAI purchase (AAI was growing and hiring), and now they are. This is a great thing for the SWA FO's. The growth potential because of the AAI buyout is HUGE. And don't kid yourselves, SWA wasn't coming into ATL or DCA without the AAI purchase. AAI and DAL locked up ATL with their gate contracts.