RE: Retirees or Soon to be Retirees and Your Travel Benefits

[Kellerguy]

FWIW for those of you already retired and nearly ready to or considering it now, there is a link to sign up asking for parity for pass travel,  After nearly 40 years with AA, it's a little tough watching someone's fifteen year old kid, or the parents, get on a plane before I do.  I don't think we're asking for anything more than we think is fair, and even Parker admitted was probably fair last week!  The current system contradicts its own logic so many times over.
 
http://www.coworker.org/petitions/american-airlines-retiree-travel-changes-return-to-previous-travel-policy-prior-to-aa-us-merger?bucket&source=facebook-share-button&time=1396526952

 

[jimntx]

I agree, and I only have 12 years.  Now, I understand an argument can be made for those commuting to work getting precedent over vacationers and other leisure travelers. but I do not think that preference should extend to family and friends doing leisure travel.  They should have upgraded commuter passes--say, something like D2C, for commuters in uniform or work clothes rather than downgrade the retirees.  And, none of this "I'm commuting to work" wearing a uniform on a flight to Cabo so that you can get ahead of other vacationers.  Commuting only to a duty station.

 

[exs]

FWIW for those of you already retired and nearly ready to or considering it now, there is a link to sign up asking for parity for pass travel,  After nearly 40 years with AA, it's a little tough watching someone's fifteen year old kid, or the parents, get on a plane before I do.  I don't think we're asking for anything more than we think is fair, and even Parker admitted was probably fair last week!  The current system contradicts its own logic so many times over.
 
http://www.coworker.org/petitions/american-airlines-retiree-travel-changes-return-to-previous-travel-policy-prior-to-aa-us-merger?bucket&source=facebook-share-button&time=1396526952

 
With all due respect Kellerguy, you are Retired!! You can fly whenever you see fit. Everyone else in this company does not have the time the retirees have. I have 2 kids and you know what months they have off for vacation. You know how hard it is to get on a flight in the summer time. Most of the time I have to pull them out of school for a week so I can get on a flight in the low season. With reduced capacity not even frequent flyers can get upgrades. Also with more D1's handed out its going to get worse. While I see your point about getting hosed, you still can plan out a vacation anytime of the year when there is less traffic. Assuming you don't have another job.
 
BTW, You probably didn't mind when you were an active employee and got on before a retiree.

 

[lineguy43]

At NWA we had active employees over any retirees I liked it that way like some have said as an active employee we might have to report to work with the premise that retirees have more time off. I never had a problem with the system we had I would have almost 30 yrs today if NW hadn't screwed me over.  Also looking at the AA system I like a seniority based system rather that a first come first serve system. Seniority should count for something.

 

[DFWFSC]

I agree, and I only have 12 years.  Now, I understand an argument can be made for those commuting to work getting precedent over vacationers and other leisure travelers. but I do not think that preference should extend to family and friends doing leisure travel.  They should have upgraded commuter passes--say, something like D2C, for commuters in uniform or work clothes rather than downgrade the retirees.  And, none of this "I'm commuting to work" wearing a uniform on a flight to Cabo so that you can get ahead of other vacationers.  Commuting only to a duty station.

Wont work....there's hundreds of commuters who don't wear uniforms as part of their jobs, like res agents. If you choose to live in a city other then your work base, then you should be on your own for commuting to/from work. If im on vacation and wanna go to someplace like DEN or PHX, where there are always a ton of commuters and I can never get on a flight, that's not fair for other employees.

 

[jimntx]

DFWFSC, I was just saying that an argument could be made for the commuters getting a slight leg up on the leisure non-revs, but what is really unfair is that when they are non-revving on vacation, they, their children, their mother-in-law (that they don't even like), and their dog now get precedence over retirees.  I agree with the former policy that stated that said, in effect, "If you decide to live outside your base, it is your responsibility, not the company's, to get you to work on time."  The first-come-first-served policy that existed for years should have been retained.
 
As far as non-uniform employees...I spent over 20 years in the Information Technology field.  It would be a simple programming change to match the employee's name and their non-rev status to their work schedule which is also on the computer.  If I should show up in uniform saying I am commuting to work, a warning flag should go up if my non-rev destination is ANYTHING other than my home base.  Then, my travel could be matched to my current work schedule.  Again, if I am "commuting to work" more than 24 hours prior to my duty time, another flag should go up. And, the computer could then quickly check to make sure that I didn't have a separate non-rev listing for a flight out of my home base to somewhere else. No, I could not be non-revving to Cabo to take over a flight for a sick f/a. In a work assignment situation, I would be traveling A1D, not D1/D2. Employees caught lying about their status in order to get on the airplane ahead of others should be terminated for falsifying company documents.
 
If this new policy prevails (and it looks like it will), I may decide to never retire and bring back the ghosts of Juanita and Dovey.  Of course, we'll be rid of the S80s by then; so, I'm only going to work the C and the D seats on the 737. 
 
P.S.  I just signed the petition.  The retirees are being screwed over at every turn since bankruptcy began.

 

[Kellerguy]

 
With all due respect Kellerguy, you are Retired!! You can fly whenever you see fit. Everyone else in this company does not have the time the retirees have. I have 2 kids and you know what months they have off for vacation. You know how hard it is to get on a flight in the summer time. Most of the time I have to pull them out of school for a week so I can get on a flight in the low season. With reduced capacity not even frequent flyers can get upgrades. Also with more D1's handed out its going to get worse. While I see your point about getting hosed, you still can plan out a vacation anytime of the year when there is less traffic. Assuming you don't have another job.
 
BTW, You probably didn't mind when you were an active employee and got on before a retiree.

If you must know, for 24 years while I had 3 eligible kids I lived in Tulsa the most challenged on NONREV cities at the time, could never get on any flights as a family of 5, so we bought tickets  or else had to drive five hours to Dallas and usually overnight at a hotel to catch an AM flight out, and then of course loose our through status. So after years and years and years of that, now that we have retired and take fewer trips anyway--not may retirees on AA pensions are flying all over the place on fixed incomes you know---now this?  I don't know of any retirees asking for anything more than parity.

 

[bob@las-AA]

DFWFSC, I was just saying that an argument could be made for the commuters getting a slight leg up on the leisure non-revs, but what is really unfair is that when they are non-revving on vacation, they, their children, their mother-in-law (that they don't even like), and their dog now get precedence over retirees.  I agree with the former policy that stated that said, in effect, "If you decide to live outside your base, it is your responsibility, not the company's, to get you to work on time."  The first-come-first-served policy that existed for years should have been retained.
 
As far as non-uniform employees...I spent over 20 years in the Information Technology field.  It would be a simple programming change to match the employee's name and their non-rev status to their work schedule which is also on the computer.  If I should show up in uniform saying I am commuting to work, a warning flag should go up if my non-rev destination is ANYTHING other than my home base.  Then, my travel could be matched to my current work schedule.  Again, if I am "commuting to work" more than 24 hours prior to my duty time, another flag should go up. And, the computer could then quickly check to make sure that I didn't have a separate non-rev listing for a flight out of my home base to somewhere else. No, I could not be non-revving to Cabo to take over a flight for a sick f/a. In a work assignment situation, I would be traveling A1D, not D1/D2. Employees caught lying about their status in order to get on the airplane ahead of others should be terminated for falsifying company documents.
 
If this new policy prevails (and it looks like it will), I may decide to never retire and bring back the ghosts of Juanita and Dovey.  Of course, we'll be rid of the S80s by then; so, I'm only going to work the C and the D seats on the 737. 
 
P.S.  I just signed the petition.  The retirees are being screwed over at every turn since bankruptcy began.

I for one like the fact now, that they dont get a leg up. If you are a AA employee, look at Doug Parker's  first town hall meeting. He explains the changes to retirees, because they out number the acitve.

 

[bikeguy]

If you choose to live someplace other than your duty station you should not get a leg up on nobody.
Most of us have had to move to follow our jobs.
It is your choice not to live in your base.
Non-rev is a privilege not a right. No one is entitled to get on the plane before me cause they want to live somewhere nice rather than live in PHL.
TOO BAD stop crying about it. It will not change.
And yes my kids going to see their Grandma once a year should go ahead of some FA that wants to live in sunny San Diego but be based in JFK. They (the FA )made that CHOICE now they must live with it. Provided I check in first on-line.

 

[exs]

If you choose to live someplace other than your duty station you should not get a leg up on nobody.
Most of us have had to move to follow our jobs.
It is your choice not to live in your base.
Non-rev is a privilege not a right. No one is entitled to get on the plane before me cause they want to live somewhere nice rather than live in PHL.
TOO BAD stop crying about it. It will not change.
And yes my kids going to see their Grandma once a year should go ahead of some FA that wants to live in sunny San Diego but be based in JFK. They (the FA )made that CHOICE now they must live with it. Provided I check in first on-line.

 
I can almost guarantee that FA will get on before you if the flight is full. Its called a jump seat.

 

[AANYER]

exs,
 
If they are jump seat qualified, then more power to those folk.  However, all 100,000 active employees and their plus/minus 300,000 direct dependents should have a fair opportunity to those available seats.  Let's not be short sited, the retirees had their opportunity for 30 plus years.  Moreover, they can fly whenever they want and however they want. You boys and gals dislike and even castigate Obamacare, but you're attached to corporate welfare like an infant to a pacifier, go figure.
 
People "see the forest for the trees" then and only then will things be apparent. 

 

[Topcat187]

If you don't like commuting, either move or quit. The same people complaining about how hard it is to commute, are the same ones who complain how much they hate the job. 

 

[Hope777]

so this is kind of what happened to my family this weekend.  I retired from US with 32 years and my Wife flew this weekend with one of my twins.  She was Bumped by the family of a Retiree from AA on a USAirways flight.   Got to Love an SA5A getting on before an SA5P.  That was the thanks me and my family got for 32 years of service!

 

[MetalMover]

If you don't like commuting, either move or quit. The same people complaining about how hard it is to commute, are the same ones who complain how much they hate the job. 

What next? Commuters getting positive space?

 

[eolesen]

Let's not be short sited, the retirees had their opportunity for 30 plus years.

Translated...