You're never going to believe this... (sarcasm)

[P3-Adub]

So how is the mood around the property these days ? Really think they will sink the ship out of spite ? Not like slinging bags is going to be that hard of a job to replace. I know there are a lot of good people in the IAM, just hope they are getting good advice from their representation. That being said though, I think that there is entirely too much complaining considering how much other groups have given, give me a break !

 

[skykid]

I think this really shows that mgmt is truly, truly, truly out of touch with labor.

Have to disagree with you on that one. UAL mgt is in negotiations! Calling a would be strike illegal is part of it. I'd have to wonder about their competency if they didn't use the "illegal strike" tool. They know exactly what they are doing and what the situation is. This is no bluff where there is actually another solution where the IAM can take a fraction of the concessions needed and UAL still gets exit financing. Just kidding guys, you can have your pensions back - never mind Frontier, Airtran, Jetblue, SWA, and any other airline growing seats by double digits doesn't have one. United's contracts will mirror roughly what the LLCs have, with retirement benefits on the top end like Airtran. It would have been nice if the industry could have built on the contracts United and Delta got through - that didn't happen for more reasons than can be contained in this post.

The sad truth is that management hasn't a clue on how they're going to get this airline upright again.

Not hardly. I would have agreed if Goodwin, Doo-daa, and the gang were still around, but Tilton knows what he is doing. Most people can't see that because they are too busy hoping United will die for their own selfish reasons, or are so hung up on the evils of management they couldn't think about it objectively if they had to.

 

[G100driver]

If Tilton is such a great guy, why did he and his cronies keep their pensions while terminating everyone else's?

Any wonder why airlines are in management mess that they are in.

 

[skykid]

Hey G100, if you can show me where I said he was a great guy, I'd like to see it. However, I will repeat for your benefit since it seems to apply:

or are so hung up on the evils of management they couldn't think about it objectively if they had to.

 

[G100driver]

Not hardly. I would have agreed if Goodwin, Doo-daa, and the gang were still around, but Tilton knows what he is doing.

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

The sad truth is that management hasn't a clue on how they're going to get this airline upright again.

Maybe, but I disagree. I think the sad truth is they are on a proven path toward getting upright and there seems to be no way to stop them. USAir is still attracting much capitol after gutting pensions and pay. There are some employees who will never quit no matter how much you abuse them.


America West, US Air get new funds
Sunday May 29, 10:47 pm ET


NEW YORK (Reuters) - The proposed merger of US Airways Group Inc. (OTC BB:UAIRQ.OB - News) and America West Holdings Corp. (NYSE:AWA - News) has received a new pledge of $150 million from an investment firm, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web Site on Sunday.

According to the newspaper, which obtained the information from a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Alexandria, Virginia, Boston-based Wellington Management Co LLP pledged $150 million in new equity to the combined company. Wellington has $423 billion of funds under management, the Journal said.

The total pledges for the new company now total about $500 million, the report added.

On May 19, US Airways and America West announced plans to merge in order to compete more aggressively with low-cost rivals. The airline would become the sixth largest domestic carrier as measured by passenger revenue, and would use the US Airways name. The combined carrier would also fly internationally.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Stephen Mitchell is expected to grant a motion on Tuesday to set guidelines for other investors to make offers that compete with the merger plan, the newspaper reported.

The companies currently employ 43,000 people and operate roughly 400 aircraft combined.

Key investors to the deal include ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. (Toronto:ACERV.TO - News), Air Canada's parent, and Boston's PAR Capital Management. General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE - News) will take back planes and Airbus (Paris:EAD.PA - News) will provide a $250 million loan in exchange for being the A350 launch customer.

America West stock rose two cents, to $5.48 a share, on Friday in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

 

[ualdriver]

If Tilton is such a great guy, why did he and his cronies keep their pensions while terminating everyone else's?

Any wonder why airlines are in management mess that they are in.

Tilton is the only member of UAL management that got to keep his pension. And long story short, it was his pension from Chevron (his former employer) and not a UAL pension. All other UAL management personnel lost their pensions and are subject to the benefits provided by the PBGC, just like everyone else. In fact, some ex-management people sued UAL for their pensions, claiming that they couldn't live on the benefits provided by the PBGC. Let's just say that they lost their cases.......

 

[ualdriver]

So how is the mood around the property these days ? Really think they will sink the ship out of spite ? Not like slinging bags is going to be that hard of a job to replace. I know there are a lot of good people in the IAM, just hope they are getting good advice from their representation. That being said though, I think that there is entirely too much complaining considering how much other groups have given, give me a break !

The mood on the property is very good, believe it or not. In fact, we've had our best operational performance while in bankruptcy and taking it up the shorts with pay and concessions........go figure. Generally, despite the 94% strike vote, most IAM members that I have talked to are generally clueless about what is going to happen over the next couple of days. Few understand the difference between striking a company in bankruptcy (like cutting your nose off to spite your face) and striking a healthy company under section 7 of the RLA. I assume few will cross the picket lines if there are any, and probably won't realize how fast things can get ugly until they're applying for unemployment benefits with the rest of us in their respective states. I'm sure the IAM leadership will declare victory,though, if that happens!

As far as replacing their jobs, I think the guys on the low end of the seniority scale will be able to find similar paying jobs. However, the guys pulling in $15/hr or more + full benefits + retirement (yes, there still is a small retirement benefit) will have a hard time finding a job of similar pay and quality unless they have a college degree or some sort of vocation. That's their problem to figure out I guess.

ualdriver

 

[ultrarunner]

Hey, when has an airline in dire straights been saved by concessions by an employee?

Was is EAL, PAA, TWA, I can't remember...

someone help me out here.

 

[UALjan15]

Hey, when has an airline in dire straights been saved by concessions by an employee?

Was is EAL, PAA, TWA, I can't remember...

someone help me out here.

How about....American Airlines post 9/11? Concessions definitely kept them out of CH11, now whether it was enough to weather this entire sh!tstorm remains to be seen.