Ground Handling News?

[concourseA]

I think I might have figured it out- RHS(OH) was awarded ground handling of United Express in IND starting June 1. (According to a post on airliners.net)

I keep forgeting that they are bidding on all ground handling work and not just work for NW and DL.

 

[night-ice]

I think I might have figured it out- RHS(OH) was awarded ground handling of United Express in IND starting June 1. (According to a post on airliners.net)

I keep forgeting that they are bidding on all ground handling work and not just work for NW and DL.

Does anyone know - or heard - what the non-rev benefits will be on this newly comprised, combined "RHS"?
Also if employees are hired into Comair before they convert to RHS, are they grandfathered in as far as benefits go, or is everything beginning with whatever the newer benefits will be with RHS?

(ie..current Comair employees receive non-rev on DL, DCI, ZED's, buddy passes and vacation passes (3 per yr)..when RHS kicks off, will it convert to something similar to what DGS employees currently receive [DL/DCI, NO ZED's/NO budddy passes, etc)

 

[T5towbar]

I'm following this thing with a lot of interest for obvious reasons, and this may set a template for things to come. I just wanted to know what happens next. I'm not a DL/NW employee, but wanted to ask the following:

A. Comair and any DCI partner (and or Compass) will be folded in to the new RHS, which will ground handle
all of the Delta Connection and mainline flights in the spoke stations where ther are no mainline employees. Does this include
the hubs too? Also do any (NW/DL) mainline employees do express flights in your respective hubs? You also
said that all Comair employees (and others before the merging of workforces) benefits will be grandfathered
in. Is that true?

B. Since this new company is formed, will DGS just be doing contracts OUTSIDE the DL system? I think that they will
since they will be redundant in the DL system with the new RHS. I know that they have and serve a lot of other airlines in
mid to small sized stations. Or will they do the mainline flights where there is any mainline employees or
it isn't a RHS city?

C. Are the Compass (or any wholly owned NW company which are unionized) how do they play into this?
Do they follow NW employees if/when they are unionized?

D. Is any of the 40 or so NW mainline cities, RHS cities too?

E. Once representation issues are finished, how is staffing filled? (ex: Once the mainline workforces are
filled, and there has to be permanent staffing due to retirements or transfers, how does that work, since
I hear that DL is not hiring permanent people, just Ready Reserve temps. If there has to be staffing, do
RHS or DGS people get first crack at a permanent spot, or the RR person gets "promoted" into a full-
time bid?


I just had to ask these questions, and hopefully things will work out for everybody involved, and the displaced can come home to their respective cities.

 

[john john]

Sounds like a lot of what ifs that management will decide with out any collective bargaining or negotiations on behave of the employees

 

[Kev3188]

A. Comair and any DCI partner (and or Compass) will be folded in to the new RHS, which will ground handle
all of the Delta Connection and mainline flights in the spoke stations where ther are no mainline employees. Does this include
the hubs too?

RHS will be comprised of Comair, Mesaba, and Compass. They will do the handling in cities that are currently outsourced, either entirely or just below wing. In cities that are "all express" that formerly had, say, XJ doing NWAirlink, and Comair doing DCI, both will now be handled by RHS.

In the NW hubs (MSP/DTW/MEM), mainline employees will work all M/L flights for both carriers. In the DL hubs of CVG and SLC DL mainline employees are working the NW flights (these were outsourced cities for NW). RHS will do the airlink work in MSP & DTW. Not sure about MEM... ATL & JFK have M/L employees for both carriers.

Also do any (NW/DL) mainline employees do express flights in your respective hubs?

M/L line employees do work some of the express flights in MSP & DTW. All Compass flights are in our scope clause. As for Mesaba/Pinnacle, we work the bagrooms and do the transfer driving.

You also
said that all Comair employees (and others before the merging of workforces) benefits will be grandfathered in. Is that true?

The memo I saw said both Comair and Mesaba would be... Compass doesn't have any airport ops employees.

B. Since this new company is formed, will DGS just be doing contracts OUTSIDE the DL system? I think that they will since they will be redundant in the DL system with the new RHS. I know that they have and serve a lot of other airlines in mid to small sized stations. Or will they do the mainline flights where there is any mainline employees or it isn't a RHS city?

My guess-and it's only that- is that they'll stay in the cities where they currently are. The exception would be if they're performing below wing for for DL in one of the cities they recently announced that they'd be restaffing.

D. Is any of the 40 or so NW mainline cities, RHS cities too?

There is currently M/L NWA and RHS in the following cities:

FNT, MSN, GRR, MDW??? MKE??? They used to be in GRB as well, but Comair pulled out.

E. Once representation issues are finished, how is staffing filled? (ex: Once the mainline workforces are
filled, and there has to be permanent staffing due to retirements or transfers, how does that work, since
I hear that DL is not hiring permanent people, just Ready Reserve temps. If there has to be staffing, do
RHS or DGS people get first crack at a permanent spot, or the RR person gets "promoted" into a full-
time bid?

At NW, they're filled in the following order:

*Local preference bid
*Recall
*System preference bid (someone can transfer in from another city)
*Letter of interest (same as above, except this applies to someone who hasn't yet established seniority in the classification)
*Company selection
*New hire

At DL, all I know is that if 2 new spots open in any given city, one has to be Ready Reserve. For any spots that may come open subsequently, on gets offered to a local Ready Reserve...