Republic Airways to buy Frontier Airlines

[LGA / 037]

Heard from a friend at Frontier that WN withdrew it's bid because the two pilot groups could not come to an agreement on seniority. According to my friend, SWAPA wanted to staple the F9 pilots to the bottom of their seniority list, and the F9 pilots did not agree. (Imagine that. )

Evidently there is a belief that the Bond-McCaskill(?) legislation from last year has no teeth.

WN was rejected due to a poor presentation and plan to the BK judge. Talk about predatory practice! WN was going to return ALL the A319's and then staple the employees to the bottom! Figure that out? At least Republic has stated they will keep F9 in their current state for now and that also includes the relationship with LINX.

 

[Tanker]

WN was going to return ALL the A319's and then staple the employees to the bottom! Figure that out?

Yes WN over the next 2 years was going to return all of the Airbus aircraft, but would replace each one with a 737.
Yes SWAPA wanted to staple the Frontier pilots but WN was also going to give them pay protection in that they would get their pre-bankruptcy Frontier pay, plus any % pay raises that SWAPA gets in the new contract, or SWA pay, whichever was higher. Also they would have 75% of any 737 F/O seats in a Denver domicle . Also any Frontier pilot who didn't have the 737 type would be given it when they upgraded at SWA. What the Frontier pilot's wanted was about a 1 for 8 intergration, plus they keep all positions in Denver forever. They also wanted any Frontier pilot currently, or in the future, on furlough to get $3000 per month plus full medical.

 

[SharoninSAT]

Pilot Union Response to Failed Frontier Bid
Following is a statement of attribution to Capt. Carl Kuwitzky, SWAPA President:


"We have received notice of the bankruptcy court's decision to not award Southwest Airlines with the acquisition of Frontier Holdings. It appears, as we suspected, that the lack of an agreement between the two pilots unions on an integration plan caused the court to not deem the Southwest Airlines bid as qualified. However, it should be noted that Frontier also said that Republic's bid was the 'highest and best.' So it wasn't solely about labor.


"First and foremost, we wish the best of luck to the current Frontier Airlines pilots. We felt they would have been a good fit for our culture and operation. The offer that we presented FAPA representatives on Wednesday night addressed three of their four stated needs; allowing pay protections for their pilots which would have given roughly a 40 percent raise for their First Officers, providing domicile protection for their Denver-based pilots, and guaranteeing that all of their 650+ pilots would be placed on our seniority list including their furloughed pilots. While they chose to not entertain placing their seniority list below ours, we felt protecting their pay and home domicile while providing a job security was an extremely fair offer. In the end, the Frontier bankruptcy lawyers allowed only a few hours to negotiate an integration agreement that historically takes months or years to accomplish.


"Next, we are thankful to work with a company that in this instance chose to put employee relations ahead of all other priorities. Southwest Airlines chose to include a labor contingency in their bid for Frontier Airlines. That contingency guaranteed no drawn-out labor integration battle that is seen in so many other mergers and acquisitions. They felt that having happy and satisfied employees, on both the SWA and Frontier sides was paramount to a successful deal and a successful airline. We applaud that mindset. SWAPA encourages the Company to maintain that successful labor relations mindset while working with us to swiftly complete negotiations on our 15-year-old contract."

 

[WNjetdoc]

You're exactly right Tanker. I was talking to different pilots over the past several days, boy did F9's pilots shoot themselves in the foot.

Sure they would be put at the end of WN's pilot seniority, however they would've gotten a 40% pay raise, (with other benefits as well)....and been employed with WN....what to do? duhh, lol.

F9's pilots wanted more and more and kept trying to get additional things thrown in. What it boiled down to was F9, THOUGHT WRONGLY, that WN wanted them badly and would agree to anything to acquire them.....WRONG.

Frontier has been in bankruptcy several times....too bad for you Frontier, WN will be picking up your assets in a few years during the "fire sale". SWA's management is very smart and they didn't get in the position they are in because of bad moves.

I feel for the employees that wanted to be part our family, part of the best airline in the world....Southwest Airlines.

 

[whatkindoffreshhell]

Most companies only say their employees are their most valued asset.

WN actually walks the talk.

How many other companies would ditch a corporate transaction just because their union peacefullyrejected the merger as not being a good business decision?

Frontier will soon be gone now.

 

[rjh]

They also wanted any Frontier pilot currently, or in the future, on furlough to get $3000 per month plus full medical.

They wanted PAY while on FURLOUGH?? Stupid.

 

[WNjetdoc]

They wanted PAY while on FURLOUGH?? Stupid.

As I and others have said, they, (F9's pilots), really, really screwed the pooch on this one. Talking about looking a gift horse in the mouth, hahaha.

We will just pick up what we need when they totally break apart in short order.

 

[ORDmech]

Good job Republic!!!

 

[WNjetdoc]

Good job Republic!!!

Actually it was a good job by WN and the pilots there newb. We will now be able to aquire the assets we need wihtout going through all of the employee merge headaches.....so in reality Republic just screwed the employees of F9.....it will just take a little time, but cost a lot less.

Good job Republic!!! hahahaha :blink:

 

[appnavapp]

wnjetdoc,

(Deleted by moderator: namecalling.) SWA management was schooled by Republic and F9, SWA's bid was not enough and had to many conditions, they just used the pilot talks as an excuse to save face. While I would have rather SWA win the bid if the conditions were better and 20% of our pilots wouldn't have hit the streets from day one. BUT it didn't happen so life goes on ! As for F9 going away, not gonna happen sparky. <_<

 

[WNjetdoc]

wnjetdoc,

SWA management was schooled by Republic and F9, SWA's bid was not enough and had to many conditions, they just used the pilot talks as an excuse to save face. While I would have rather SWA win the bid if the conditions were better and 20% of our pilots wouldn't have hit the streets from day one. BUT it didn't happen so life goes on ! As for F9 going away, not gonna happen sparky. <_<

We saw your books and saw the nightmare on the horizon. How many times have you guys been bankrupt? Yea 20% of your pilots would've hit the streets, the other 80% would've gotten a 30% pay raise AND been employee by WN. Now 100% will be out of work.

BTW, name calling is so 8th grade, how old are you?

 

[appnavapp]

We saw your books and saw the nightmare on the horizon. How many times have you guys been bankrupt? Yea 20% of your pilots would've hit the streets, the other 80% would've gotten a 30% pay raise AND been employee by WN. Now 100% will be out of work.

BTW, name calling is so 8th grade, how old are you?

You expect to make post slaming F9 and not be called on it? Get a life.


While I agree that SWA has a good company and as I said I would have rather SWA won the bid. As for F9 going away, I don't see that, I do think that things will change and probably not for the better in certain aspects, but life goes on. <_<

 

[WNjetdoc]

You expect to make post slaming F9 and not be called on it? (Deleted by moderator: namecalling.) Get a life.


While I agree that SWA has a good company and as I said I would have rather SWA won the bid. As for F9 going away, I don't see that, I do think that things will change and probably not for the better in certain aspects, but life goes on. <_<

Settle down dude, you're blowing a head gasket, lol. How did I slam F9? If I hurt your feelings or upset you I didn't mean to, ok? I understand working for a company that is on shaky ground, (WN isn't my first rodeo).....I am saying how WN offered a good deal for F9 and especially its pilots. The offer has been posted all over this board.

The pilots of F9 thought WN would give anything for them, so they kept asking for more and more. Finally WN said, "take a hike".

Thats not slamming, its a fact.

 

[appnavapp]

Settle down dude, you're blowing a head gasket, lol. How did I slam F9? If I hurt your feelings or upset you I didn't mean to, ok? I understand working for a company that is on shaky ground, (WN isn't my first rodeo).....I am saying how WN offered a good deal for F9 and especially its pilots. The offer has been posted all over this board.

The pilots of F9 thought WN would give anything for them, so they kept asking for more and more. Finally WN said, "take a hike".

Thats not slamming, its a fact.

Okay Buckwheat get the facts straight,

First off SWA didn't say take a hike, the court and F9 accepted the Republic bid over what SWA was offering. One of the big reasons that the bid failed is because a LARGE part of F9 would have just disappeared leaving thousands of people out of work, that didn't sit well with everyone. While the pilots who were not furloughed would have gotten a pretty sweet deal even with the staple, the others would have been standing in line at the unemployment office. So no matter how you spin this, the majority of the employees at F9 would have been looking of another job.


It will be interesting to see what RAH ends up doing with F9, hopefully it will turn out well, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[WNjetdoc]

Okay Buckwheat get the facts straight,

First off SWA didn't say take a hike, the court and F9 accepted the Republic bid over what SWA was offering. One of the big reasons that the bid failed is because a LARGE part of F9 would have just disappeared leaving thousands of people out of work, that didn't sit well with everyone. While the pilots who were not furloughed would have gotten a pretty sweet deal even with the staple, the others would have been standing in line at the unemployment office. So no matter how you spin this, the majority of the employees at F9 would have been looking of another job.


It will be interesting to see what RAH ends up doing with F9, hopefully it will turn out well, but I'm not holding my breath.

Buckwheat? Dude you really need to grow up, any intelligent points you may have made get lost by your name calling.

Become a man and come back and talk to me.