MAA flight attendant press release

[MarkMyWords]

xoxo and buckeye...

For those who say they knew, they did not, as no hardcopy contract was available until very recently (and way too late)

So let me get this straight....if you were an employee of the MAA Division, you accepted a position not knowing what your pay would be? What your rigs were? Meal allowance? whether the company would provide hotel rooms on the RON? Whether uniforms would be paid for?

Why would anyone do that? Why would you accept a job and not know what you were getting yourself into?

They and the pilots believed they were under a separate operating certificate from US, that's why the lower pay/benefits were agreed to, and yes that was understood. But, when it was found out the certificate was never separate, so they were mainline all along, that's why we are having this discussion today!

How does one small piece of paper make such a huge difference other then prinicple? Whether the airplane was flown under the US Cert, the PI cert or the Potomac cert, the union, the company and the employees all agreed to work at the set pay rates and conditions. If an employee felt that the conditions were such that they were being royally screwed to the tune of 1.2 billion dollars.....then why did they agree to come back in the first place?

This group does NOT want anything like this to happen to anyone else, and I hope everyone can support their efforts! They are a wonderful, savvy group for a bunch of "juniors"

So the 1.2 billion dollars will be used to educate the world on Crew working conditions at psuedo airlines masked as seperate divisions? Or will it be used to pay lawyers and "victims"?

 

[xoxo]

I AM educated and followed the entire process. Unlike you, I wasn't FOOL enough to buy into what the company was saying and REGARDLESS if MAA was on a single certificate or not, the pay scale and work rules were going to be similar to AE. It was N*E*G*O*T*I*A*T*E*D!!! GOT IT! AND you can go on about the senior this and the senior that, but the CONTRACT was passed. You actually BELIEVED that bunk about one certificate?. WOW!! Maybe YOU should had been more educated on the history of US Airways management. How cullable. The company would had gotten their little Metrojet in disguise anyway possible..I would guess by more threats..so nothing would had stopped it.

And remember that the ONLY reason the company kept MAA on the same certificate was because the process would delay putting those aircraft in service. If they came to you and said eventually you would be a seperate certificate, again, you were cullable.

I agree 100% that the e170 should have always been a mainline aircraft. At the time, many felt that his would help the company. I felt the decision was a mistake. And it was, but this is not the issue. You guys feel victimized. Well, BLANCHE, you were no more victimized than the rest of the 28,000 US East employees who watched stupid after stupid wasteful decision being made and money being piissed away on overpaid CEO's...but of course you wouldn't know this as I take it your senority is around 6 or less years? Maybe you need to sit down and talk to one of those senior mamas about how the screwd up past of US and how you should trust about a thimble amount of what is told to you.
To even insinuate that Doug Parker would somehow pull the same thing with the merger or that he was involved in some scheme to do such shows that you and your little club of victims need to lay off the booze and get a life.

When all the facts are presented, you will walk out of the courtroom with another person to blame for your victimization......da judge!!

Like i said "did you fly for "MAA" ? Obviously NOT! So you can follow along all you want..but..you will never really know.

 

[LCC_#1]

Because if the furloughees who passed this job up thought that they could collect longevity for pay purposes to carry with them back to mainline, many more would have taken the job instead of passing it. All furloughees who decided to take the job, knew this. Those who say they didn't, refuse to believe it. The company had told all the neogtiators in negotiations that they would offer jobs to involuntary fuloughess first before hiring off the street for this "lcc carrier within a carrier". It was part of the overallconcessions given. The negotiatiators wanted to make sure that their folks who were furloughed after 9/11 could get back into the industry via MAA if they chose to, and then wait for "recall" back to mainline.

MY POINT EXACTLY!! Thanks Pitbull. THEY KNEW...PERIOD!! This is why at best, the judge will verbally repremend US but will NOT provide a cash settlement.

 

[BoeingBoy]

Your post seems to incline that the contracts came AFTER the organization of MAA.

Well, actually is wasn't so clear-cut.....

The theory of a separate "Eagle type" contract came before the ogranization of MAA/MDA, when it was to be a stand-alone carrier (like PSA, PDT, and ALQ).

In reality, there never was a stand-alone MAA/MDA, though negotiations sporatically continued to complete an "Eagle type" contract for the pilots (though with the sale to Republic, there probably never will be a completely negotiated contract).

Jim

 

[LCC_#1]

Like i said "did you fly for "MAA" ? Obviously NOT! So you can follow along all you want..but..you will never really know.

HELL NO!! I wouldn't be that stupid!!

What part of the second sentence did you not understand? Geez, VICTIM!! After all the whinning I have heard from you and some of the other MAA people, I can only hope you are the last ones called back, if ever.

Why would anyone do that? Why would you accept a job and not know what you were getting yourself into?
How does one small piece of paper make such a huge difference other then prinicple? Whether the airplane was flown under the US Cert, the PI cert or the Potomac cert, the union, the company and the employees all agreed to work at the set pay rates and conditions. If an employee felt that the conditions were such that they were being royally screwed to the tune of 1.2 billion dollars.....then why did they agree to come back in the first place?
:

I can here the crickets already. h34r:

Well, actually is wasn't so clear-cut.....

The theory of a separate "Eagle type" contract came before the ogranization of MAA/MDA, when it was to be a stand-alone carrier (like PSA, PDT, and ALQ).

In reality, there never was a stand-alone MAA/MDA, though negotiations sporatically continued to complete an "Eagle type" contract for the pilots (though with the sale to Republic, there probably never will be a completely negotiated contract).

Jim

Now Jim, come on...who do you work for?

Nothing with this company has ever been clear-cut. Infact, some of us use to joke that it was fitting that the airplanes had so much gray, mirroring our contracts.

If anything, perhaps this will put the new US Airways on notice to be more cut and dry.

I do agree with you. Unfortunately, I read the petition, there are some really gross distortions and exaggerations on the how, when, where, who. Whoever was the historian who gave the attorneys the info for them to develop a brief, it is grossly inaccurate.

Now imagine THAT!!


AND XOXO, if you see this, BECAUSE of the slippery way management dealt with this, YES, I agree the judge should give you guys longevity. The company MUST be sent a message to stop the years of deception. But money? NO WAY!!!

And while an apology would be great, those SOB's would live in a colony of the plague before doing that.

 

[BoeingBoy]

If anything, perhaps this will put the new US Airways on notice to be more cut and dry.

The company MUST be sent a message to stop the years of deception.

See - there's merit in the lawsuit after all. Even if it's only of the "You can't do this and expect to get away with it" variety.

Jim

 

[EMBFA]

blah blah blah bitter

WOW! Someone is really bitter and upset... are you mad because the mda f/as had blocks and you didnt? why are you so hateful to your co-workers? number one you obviosly know nothing about midatlantic at all, if you did you would know

1 they never usaed the ae contract, it used elements of ae's, elements of mainline the rest was made up

2 there WAS no contract until a month ago

3 there has never been a new hire for us airways since 2001? how would there be a "off the street" working "at" midatlantic? you obviously dont even get what a division is

4 yes the mda people have been through more. i dont care what kind of pay cut you took. try 100%, then come back for 40% less, now another 40% pay cut. how dare you

5 mark my words we didnt agree to any contract, mark your facts. it was voted on by the actives and just said mda will be under AE contract. violation there because scheduling, uniforms etc were not by AE contract. there was also no mention of it being a division of mainline

6 most importantly page 1 of the US Airways contract says THIS CONTRACT APPLIES TO ALL US AIRWAYS INC F/As there is no sidenote that says except if we paint express on the plane and call it midatlantic or whatever.

furthermore your attitude of "you only have six years seniority" is what is wrong with us airways. preople like you who cant support thier co-workers should just leave. the way you are speaking to your own f/as is disgusting and you should be ashamed of yourself. you dont know anything about it and this lawsuit doesnt affect you in any way so theres no reason for you to get your panties in a wad about it. so this "kid" says f@ck you and i hope i never fly with you.

im sick of these senior a**holes who call us "KIDATLANTIC" and act like we are express.... you know what! if we "kids" hadn't kicked up a fuss, U would not be getting 25 new E190s... republic or someone else would. we wont even be flying them, you will. and you'll probably complain because you have to demo. its because of our our pilots and f/as educating people on what was done to us that the pilots )the america west ones mostly) said no these stay at mainline.

 

[FlyOnWall]

It's amazing to hear some of the misconceptions "mainline" employees have about "MidAtlantic" employees. It's scary to think that people open thier mouths without researching.

People need to keep in mind with this that both the company and the AFA are being sued, so you're going to get different stories from each, each trying to ridicule the flight attendants. However many donations for the F/As lawsuit have come from mainline pilots at both US and HP, as well as donations from employees of other airlines like Northwest. It says alot that more mainline pilots have contributed than mainline flight attendants. As you can see here, they seem to not really understand the issue or te big picture of scope... I guess pilots have a better understanding of it.

Nasty co-workers aside, let's hope that NOTHING like MidAtlantic is ever propsed again at US Airways or anywhere else. Whether this lawsuit is successful or not, it has blown the lid off of this alter-ego within an airline idea. It has also caused unions to define the EMB190 as a mainline plane. Northwest was able to stop Newco from being a DC9 replacer with 190s to instead be a 70 seat operator. It was the best they could do, but they knew the MidAtlantic playbook because of how vocal the US MDA employees have been. As for the 170, since it's the same aircraft type as the 190, maybe US employees will be able to scope it back in since it's cheaper to operate in-house anyway.

It would be great in an Erin Brockovich way if a small group of incredibly smart flight attendants were able to bring a major corporation to it's knees and define mainline scope clauses once and for all. It's probably not too likely but either way this is something that every flight attendant should be supporting and sending at the very least goodwill to. This is something that could be done again tomorrow and the precedent needs to be stopped. Does it have to happen to a person individually? Does it have to be a 737?It's mind boggling that people would even try to insult this... futher proof that it's often your "brothers and sisters" that sell you out under the company's suggestion.

 

[goodgirl37]

Now that's a good one!! CULLABLE!!
Your post seems to incline that the contracts came AFTER the organization of MAA


WWOOOWWWWWW - Who is really to blame here is the unions!!! Trust me - the AFA-CWA flat out said and I quote "please do not move forward with a lawsuit" - and the question was raised well why is that? teetttthhhh gritting in the background - wellll - it is just simply to complex to understand - The AFA - CWA basically sold their own down the river b/c in no way shape or form can they say that they did not know these employewes were being mislead to believe they were working under a seperate cert. for a seperate airline - as for me when I found out after (and trust me I asked and asked questions regarding this deal during my requal) I had started that there was no such thing as the POT CERT. I said well hhmmmm who do I work for and thee answer was USAIRWAYS - go figure - when i signed on it was to work for MDA under the PO CERT. not MDA under mainline - The company as well as the AFA know they are wrong and I can assure you the dealings in the MDA division were so shady it made me sick to my stomach to even look at someone from USAIRWAYS AFA - LIES LIES LIES and MOOORRREEEE LIES!!!!! Including the ringleader now!!!!!! What a joke - And for the people out there that thing little D. PARKER is doing such a fabulous thing by not taking a bonus is absurd - you people are so out of the loop no wonder they pull sh*t on you constantly! He will receive a bonus just not a formal one - It will be filtered in other ways. If he was such a saint - he would live on 1500 a month for 5 years and that would prove something - he has enough savings to do it I am sure...unfortunately that isn't realistic - but hey worth a shot!!! I wish all my co-workers at USAIR the best they deserve it - (even the mullets from PIT) god that was painful!!

 

[FlyOnWall]

Keep in mind that some of the people that are so anti-F/A just have a CHIP on thier shoulder.

 

[Bear96]

It was 100 one time...that was it. then a small amount per month or what ever you could put forth. And you know that there is not time line for law suits. So, to just say 20 years is absurd.

You mean it is not a contingent fee arrangement?

That speaks volumes about how strong this case is, right there.

 

[MarkMyWords]

5 mark my words we didnt agree to any contract, mark your facts. it was voted on by the actives and just said mda will be under AE contract. violation there because scheduling, uniforms etc were not by AE contract. there was also no mention of it being a division of mainline

You agreed to the contract by accepting recall. Taking the recall, you agreed to work under the rules and regs set by the company and the union. no one told you that you had to come back and work for MAA.

just my opinion....

 

[FlyOnWall]

You agreed to the contract by accepting recall. Taking the recall, you agreed to work under the rules and regs set by the company and the union. no one told you that you had to come back and work for MAA.

just my opinion....

Well you know what they say about opinions. They are like @#$holes, everyone has one. I'm sure everyone appreciates yours formed on vague facts and obvious bias.

 

[FWAAA]

You mean it is not a contingent fee arrangement?

That speaks volumes about how strong this case is, right there.

Not necessarily. If $100 each was really charged, that would simply be applied toward costs and expenses, which lawyers aren't supposed to absorb in contingency cases. That doesn't stop many lawyers from advancing those costs and then failing to collect them if they lose the suit. On occasion, I've asked for a retainer to cover out-of-pocket costs in contingency cases when the plaintiff(s) can easily cover them. And $100 each is no real burden.

 

[LCC_#1]

WOW! Someone is really bitter and upset...

On the contrary, tired of the whinning. I am very happy and far from bitter and state my opinion because you guys are presenting one side.

There are two things going on here.

First
The company was careless, irresponsible, clueless, and desperate. In true "old" US Airways fashion, they were looking at numbers and not thinking about their own people. As always, they somehow sneak in terminology that they can spin and twist to mean what they want. They will then take you to court if you don't like and plea it was in writing. I am sure they are busy doing the same with this issue. New US Airways management will claim they weren't in charge and shouldn't be responsible as this is a new company. They will claim that the lawsuit is fruitless as the employees made a choice to work there.

The company never should have let this go to court. I feel you guys got stuck in CH 11 hell and when the company changed leadership didn't feel any obligations. Doug should had handled this better by apologizing for the past and promising this kind of shotty decision making would NEVER happen again.

The lawsuit is not the problem I have with all of this. As BOEINGBOY stated, if this puts the new US Airways on notice alone, it was worth going to court and IF thats's the f/a's intention, then I applaud you guys.

Having said that, SECOND thing going on...

You guys don't want to take responsibility for a POOR choice and you want everyone to pay for it.

Just ONCE I would love for one of you guys to just say..."Man this sucks...they suck...did I make the wrong choice. I can do better. I'm outta here."

Paint me the uniformed person all you want and twist around my words as you please...SPIN IT GURL!!.. but you have to had been either desperate or out of your mind to have even considered working for MAA. YOU guys made that decision, not me. YOU decided to go into unchartered territory DURING uncertain times. Geez...think about it..We are in Chapter 11, made no money for YEARS, are about to go under, sacrifices by ALL (NOT JUST MAA FOLK), obituaries being written and the buzzards circling....and you REALLY think the company would have a clue on starting and running a division or whatever you were? And not get sympathy from the anti-labor judge we had? I hope this enlightens you and others to ask important questions about making decisions.

BTW, you are a better spinner than that ahole in the White House. How DARE you twist what I said about the 6 years senority, That was in reference of the whinning about the senior people and mainline not understanding the MAA plight and MY response that with the 6 years, this person doesn't know the full history of US Airways management or needs to sit down with senior mamas to understand. You twisted that statement the way YOU wanted. READ before you write. You let your defensive mind get in the way and you were on the border of making it personal.

It's not my problem that you made the unwise decision to trust a management team that has screwed over it's employees for YEARS. Didn't just a tiny part in your brain raise a red flag? One thing I have learned in this industry and that is that 5 years these days is peanuts and you can move on to perhaps a company like Southwest or to a company like CAL that has problems, but not on life support.

Hey, any of us could had been there had we not given back AND I find it funny how nobody wants to admit to voting yes on the last contract ( YES, I voted YES), but that decision saved our dying ass and put us where we are today, which is in a MUCH better place. For that, I AM proud of my vote and while not happy with all things, am enjoying the fact that investors and analyst BELIEVE in US Airways now and my YES vote help make that possible.

Believe it or not, I hope you guys win...but NOT on my dime, Had MAA never happened, guess what? You would had been out on your butt anyway so the 100% plus 40% or whatever the point was makes no sense. No job equals NO PAY!! The verdict should find US Airways negligent and irresponsible and they should have to sign a contract WITH the court where they would have a third party to monitor all negotiations and contracts. This would irritate the hell out of them but most importantly would send a statement to ALL airlines to negotiate contracts in good faith AND that the contracts be black and white and crystal clear.

But monetary value only hurts all of us. Some of you guys may feel you deserve some payback. Guess what? So do most of the other US employees who watched the likes of Wolf, Gangwall, and Siegle walk away with millions while we all sacficed. Court induced monitoring is the way to go.

Well you know what they say about opinions. They are like @#$holes, everyone has one. I'm sure everyone appreciates yours formed on vague facts and obvious bias.

Of course, anyone who disagrees with you could only have vague facts and obviously be bias.

PASS THE WHINE, MYRTLE!!!