The answer may not be easy, the choice is clear.

[buscador]

Well is it just me or have all the forums quieted down a lot,,, seeing as a Pilot Vote is now reality.,, they must vote by Nov 7th!!

Most think it will pass by 70% or more,, sending a ripple down the line to the other work groups. So lets hear what both sides think, can everyone get along? whats the rumors? etc, Because like it or not.. predicitions have it that this BUYOUT/ merger will soon be reality. (at least for the Pilot groups)

If you don't believe in the majority.. what do you make of the letter sent to the FL Pilots,, ..These are supposedly a couple of lines from that letter(if you read the actual letter, let us all know )..Is this the official white flag being waved?


"Although the answer may not be easy, the choice is clear."


I will close by urging you to continue to uphold the high personal and professional standards that made AirTran such an attractive partner for Southwest; to continue to remain informed, engaged, and considerate of our coworkers; and to join me in ensuring our future at Southwest Airlines, by supporting and voting for the Seniority Integration Agreement

 

[grmach1]

Well is it just me or have all the forums quieted down a lot,,, seeing as a Pilot Vote is now reality.,, they must vote by Nov 7th!!

Most think it will pass by 70% or more,, sending a ripple down the line to the other work groups. So lets hear what both sides think, can everyone get along? whats the rumors? etc, Because like it or not.. predicitions have it that this BUYOUT/ merger will soon be reality. (at least for the Pilot groups)

If you don't believe in the majority.. what do you make of the letter sent to the FL Pilots,, ..These are supposedly a couple of lines from that letter(if you read the actual letter, let us all know )..Is this the official white flag being waved?


"Although the answer may not be easy, the choice is clear."


I will close by urging you to continue to uphold the high personal and professional standards that made AirTran such an attractive partner for Southwest; to continue to remain informed, engaged, and considerate of our coworkers; and to join me in ensuring our future at Southwest Airlines, by supporting and voting for the Seniority Integration Agreement

The word on the street is the very senior swa captains like it but all of the fo's do not. We shall see.

 

[swamt]

Well is it just me or have all the forums quieted down a lot,,, seeing as a Pilot Vote is now reality.,, they must vote by Nov 7th!!

Most think it will pass by 70% or more,, sending a ripple down the line to the other work groups. So lets hear what both sides think, can everyone get along? whats the rumors? etc, Because like it or not.. predicitions have it that this BUYOUT/ merger will soon be reality. (at least for the Pilot groups)

If you don't believe in the majority.. what do you make of the letter sent to the FL Pilots,, ..These are supposedly a couple of lines from that letter(if you read the actual letter, let us all know )..Is this the official white flag being waved?


"Although the answer may not be easy, the choice is clear."


I will close by urging you to continue to uphold the high personal and professional standards that made AirTran such an attractive partner for Southwest; to continue to remain informed, engaged, and considerate of our coworkers; and to join me in ensuring our future at Southwest Airlines, by supporting and voting for the Seniority Integration Agreement

- As someone has already posted, Capts like it FO's don't at SWA. However I do believe the AT pilots will vote it in knowing what will happen if they don't. The question here is, will the FO's at SWA be a majority and vote this down. I don't think so either. I too think this will get a pass vote with the pilots. Someone has posted that they are hearing that it will pass by 70%. I do not agree with that, I think it may be more like 55 to 66% or less.
- With all this said, and I don't know this for sure, but if the pilots vote theirs down then there may not be a vote for the mechs or FA's. SWA is dead set on keeping the two companies seperate if this pilot intregration does not go thru. therefore no vote required for the other groups. This more than likely why the post have gotten a little quiet, just waiting in the winds, for the pilots vote to surface. It's the not knowing that kills us all. Hopefully some of the AT guys as well as the AMFA observers will post after the 19th and 20th meetings.

 

[buscador]

- As someone has already posted, Capts like it FO's don't at SWA. However I do believe the AT pilots will vote it in knowing what will happen if they don't. The question here is, will the FO's at SWA be a majority and vote this down. I don't think so either. I too think this will get a pass vote with the pilots. Someone has posted that they are hearing that it will pass by 70%. I do not agree with that, I think it may be more like 55 to 66% or less.
- With all this said, and I don't know this for sure, but if the pilots vote theirs down then there may not be a vote for the mechs or FA's. SWA is dead set on keeping the two companies seperate if this pilot intregration does not go thru. therefore no vote required for the other groups. This more than likely why the post have gotten a little quiet, just waiting in the winds, for the pilots vote to surface. It's the not knowing that kills us all. Hopefully some of the AT guys as well as the AMFA observers will post after the 19th and 20th meetings.

I guess my biggest question for airtran is WHAT do you Want??.... So I am getting this correct..You want a far superior contract(more money=QOL), far superior work rules(flexibilty), you want a company that has a FAR greater chance of being around 20 years from now(job security), You want To Keep your SENOIRITY..you want to keep your current base, you want far superior health benefits,,far better management team and profit sharing.... does that sum it up...

Now my next question is What is the trade off,, what do SWA employees get to better their life from this deal,, because isnt a merger(air tran words) or a buy out (reality) supposed to be some win/win for both?

What Pain are Air Tran employees willing to endure,or do they just want to take what someone else has worked a carreer to gain??.we all are workers and all should respect that much with some fairness ,,but lets see what the SWA employees get
DO SWA employees gain more Money? NO,, better profit sharing? NO better health care?NO,,, better management team? NO,,, better seniority? possibly.. more cities..YES.. seems like a lot more NOs for SWA employees

I hope that the complaining of few isnt the voice of the majority,, because if all they want is EVERYTHING,, I would hate to invite those squeaky wheels to a dinner party,, with that mentality.. they would stop by 7-11 and pick up a small bag of M&M's ,,walk into to the party and be proud of the gift they brought as they left with the fine china, crystal and the most expensive bottles of wine in the house,, and think they were doing a favor by leaving the flatware and some tupperware...

No I am not saying that airtran is a small bag of M&Ms.. ( just an example squeaky wheels)

I am still confused ,,what is Air Trans idea,, of fairness to SWA employees???? but come Nov 7th,, the reality dust will settle ,,fairness or not,, the ripples will be felt from the pilot YES vote,,,then it will be more than just useless forum chatter,

 

[jimntx]

I hope that the complaining of few isnt the voice of the majority,, because if all they want is EVERYTHING,, I would hate to invite those squeaky wheels to a dinner party,, with that mentality.. they would stop by 7-11 and pick up a small bag of M&M's ,,walk into to the party and be proud of the gift they brought as they left with the fine china, crystal and the most expensive bottles of wine in the house,, and think they were doing a favor by leaving the flatware and some tupperware...

LOVE THE ANALOGY! Whether it is accurate or not. (P.S., if they touch the tupperware, break their arms.)

 

[AvTech04]

I guess my biggest question for airtran is WHAT do you Want??.... So I am getting this correct..You want a far superior contract(more money=QOL), far superior work rules(flexibilty), you want a company that has a FAR greater chance of being around 20 years from now(job security), You want To Keep your SENOIRITY..you want to keep your current base, you want far superior health benefits,,far better management team and profit sharing.... does that sum it up...

Now my next question is What is the trade off,, what do SWA employees get to better their life from this deal,, because isnt a merger(air tran words) or a buy out (reality) supposed to be some win/win for both?

What Pain are Air Tran employees willing to endure,or do they just want to take what someone else has worked a carreer to gain??.we all are workers and all should respect that much with some fairness ,,but lets see what the SWA employees get
DO SWA employees gain more Money? NO,, better profit sharing? NO better health care?NO,,, better management team? NO,,, better seniority? possibly.. more cities..YES.. seems like a lot more NOs for SWA employees

I hope that the complaining of few isnt the voice of the majority,, because if all they want is EVERYTHING,, I would hate to invite those squeaky wheels to a dinner party,, with that mentality.. they would stop by 7-11 and pick up a small bag of M&M's ,,walk into to the party and be proud of the gift they brought as they left with the fine china, crystal and the most expensive bottles of wine in the house,, and think they were doing a favor by leaving the flatware and some tupperware...

No I am not saying that airtran is a small bag of M&Ms.. ( just an example squeaky wheels)

I am still confused ,,what is Air Trans idea,, of fairness to SWA employees???? but come Nov 7th,, the reality dust will settle ,,fairness or not,, the ripples will be felt from the pilot YES vote,,,then it will be more than just useless forum chatter,

@ Buscador, What?? Sounds like you're just carrying on aimlessly on this forum.. Didn't you start this topic and say at the end to be respectful and professional? But yet, you're the first one on here to through an insult?? I hear a wheel squeaking somewhere... I've read a lot of your posts on this forum today and would like to clarify something for you. You can ask a lot of specific questions and make anything look bad when you ask them together. Same thing with Airtran, we can combine a series of questions and comments and make us seem like the victim here. Let me put this in perspective for you. You say that Airtran Mechs are getting better everything while SWA Mechs are getting nothing when in fact Airtran Mechs are more valuable than our SWA counterparts! I know you're probably blowing your load right now in anger but allow me to clarify. What A/C type does SWA Mechs work on?? 3 different versions of the same A/C (737). What A/C type do Airtran Mechs work on? Same as SWA Mech's plus the 717! What Maint computer system is SWA Adopting?? The same that all Airtran Mech's have become extremely proficient at! Now I know what your rebuttal is going to be, "who cares about the 717, SWA doesn't want them anyway" But never the less, that gives us more MRO power if SWA decides to go part 145 with it's MX dept. Those are just the first 2 that come to mind right now, but those are 2 very important points.. All that being said, the only thing that Airtran is asking for is their seniority in exchange for our experience. But as a measure of good faith, I'd be willing to give up my right to bid slots and days off for, I don't know, 5 years or so.. I proposed this to the union committees. If SWA Mechs are worried about losing their days off and slots, then give it to them! Let them bid before any Airtran Mech to their current and existing slots regardless of seniority, then Airtran would get the left overs... Would that make SWA Mech's happy??

 

[buscador]

I

@ Buscador, What?? Sounds like you're just carrying on aimlessly on this forum.. Didn't you start this topic and say at the end to be respectful and professional? But yet, you're the first one on here to through an insult?? I hear a wheel squeaking somewhere... I've read a lot of your posts on this forum today and would like to clarify something for you. You can ask a lot of specific questions and make anything look bad when you ask them together. Same thing with Airtran, we can combine a series of questions and comments and make us seem like the victim here. Let me put this in perspective for you. You say that Airtran Mechs are getting better everything while SWA Mechs are getting nothing when in fact Airtran Mechs are more valuable than our SWA counterparts! I know you're probably blowing your load right now in anger but allow me to clarify. What A/C type does SWA Mechs work on?? 3 different versions of the same A/C (737). What A/C type do Airtran Mechs work on? Same as SWA Mech's plus the 717! What Maint computer system is SWA Adopting?? The same that all Airtran Mech's have become extremely proficient at! Now I know what your rebuttal is going to be, "who cares about the 717, SWA doesn't want them anyway" But never the less, that gives us more MRO power if SWA decides to go part 145 with it's MX dept. Those are just the first 2 that come to mind right now, but those are 2 very important points.. All that being said, the only thing that Airtran is asking for is their seniority in exchange for our experience. But as a measure of good faith, I'd be willing to give up my right to bid slots and days off for, I don't know, 5 years or so.. I proposed this to the union committees. If SWA Mechs are worried about losing their days off and slots, then give it to them! Let them bid before any Airtran Mech to their current and existing slots regardless of seniority, then Airtran would get the left overs... Would that make SWA Mech's happy??

Very valid points you make and I applaud your level headed response,, these are things I was unaware of and why I pose questions...
I will never as you say.. blow my load and be angry,, because after the dust settles we all will have to work together. My point is that Swa seems to always be the bad guy,, yes ..you bring value and lots of it ,,that isnt my point.

My point is that fairness seems to be lost on the swa employees who seem to get little if anything from this deal.... I dont care what anyone says,, most of us find $$$ very important,, combine that with a company that provides a good work environment as well as job security... Now all the AT postings want to diminish the fact a stronger company bought AT,, a better company as far as profitability and balance sheets,, Do you see how the swa employees feel that they gain little if anything that benefits them personally or professionaly.. Dont bore me with the normal response ,,who cares you already have everything,, who cares if AT people get more money and a better lifestyle,, that doesnt fly anymore

You seem level headed and I would hope you see how it can urk many SWA employees when the AT people seem to want everything.. will you ever admit that this could be a good thing for AT,, That AT has more to gain from this buy out than SWA employees could ever