Great letter right on...........
It's finally beginning to sink into the Legacy American Pilots just what a petty individual the self-appointed leader of the West pilots and founder of Leonidas, Eric Ferguson really is. He continues to demonstrate over and over that his sole purpose is to do whatever he can for his fellow Phoenix comrades, even if by doing so, it is detrimental to the pilot group as a whole. Unions have a word for this "it's all about me" behavior.
We have all watched this man continually hurt the entire pilot group and now he demonstrates he will stop at nothing to hurt anyone not from the Legacy America West. The latest example of this is that Ferguson was the ONLY BOD member (out of 22) to object to permitting a former LAA pilot to return to the LAA Seniority list after being out on LTD since 2009. Unlike LUS east pilots on LTD who do not have any time limits to return to active service from LTD, LAA pilots are removed from the seniority list after a five-year period. (the West pilots are removed from the list after eight years with no return).
However, for the LAA pilots, there is a provision that allows a pilot to return to his original placement on the seniority list with BOD approval.
If no BOD member objected to this pilot returning, he would be back on the payroll today, however, PHX Vice-chairman Eric Ferguson was the only BOD member to object. As a result, this pilots return is delayed and a formal board meeting is now required, (either in person or via a conference call) at a cost to the pilots, so they can vote on whether to allow this pilot to return to flying for American Airlines.
Why would Eric Ferguson stoop to such low depths in denying a fellow pilots a job? He stated it was because the West pilots' contract does not have such a provision, so in his myopic view of the world, no one should have it. Add this behavior to the many unprofessional behaviors that we have seen from the West. By his "NO" vote, Eric Ferguson decided to possibly delay the return of a pilot that fought and beat a life ending disease for six years. I'm sure this pilot had no idea his biggest obstacles may be from the side that brings the least to the table. I would guess Ferguson has no understanding of "The Band of Brothers" we are all supposed to emulate, especially a so called, union official.
We are reminded of the resolution that Ferguson brought forward a few weeks ago that would permit pilots on furlough (most, if not all West pilots) and who are also on multiple seniority lists (AA, East, West), the luxury to bypass recall and it will be interesting to see how this will manifest itself in the eyes of the LAA pilots watching this kind of behavior going forward into the future. We have seen selfish unprofessional and in many cases dangerous behavior from the West towards the East. Now it's the turn of the Legacy American pilots to see for themselves what the West brings to this merger. If they don't get their way, will they sabotage airplanes, make unfounded accusations against other pilots, or create dissension in the airline allowing the company to benefit from that dissension?
One thing Eric Ferguson has been successful at however, is his negative ad campaign against USAPA. Apparently his rhetoric has even made its way all the way to the 9th Circuit as they obviously saw fit to ignore the law and help Eric in his quest to attempt to implement an unfair and inequitable list which has no basis in law according to Judge Tashima and will not stand up to the McCaskill Bond Statute on its own merits. It seems Eric is quite aware of this problem which is why his ambulance chasing attorney is doing everything possible to attempt to tie the hands of the Board of Arbitration when even they seem to understand that the only way to a fair and equitable agreement that has the best chances of standing up in court is to have free speech from all parties.
They say a leopard never changes its spots, so I believe the Legacy American pilots will begin to witness for themselves what we have seen since the merger of America West and US Airways. As one American pilot asked me recently, what do they bring to this merger? We already know the answer to that.
Another thing that is certain is that the negative rhetoric of the West and the overwhelming list of sabotage of aircraft from the West will likely ensure that no East and West crews should ever fly together for the remainder of all of their careers. Public safety is a serious concern and after the 8 years+ of hostility from the West, everyone will be culpable, from the company, to the pilots, to the Board of Arbitrators. It has even been reported that one of our Chief Pilots has seen first hand and himself been a victim of West aircraft tampering. The Charlotte reps have recently publicized this tampering and of course Eric was the first on the bandwagon to back pedal. What a surprise. While he advocates that pilots will adapt, it is likely that after all the negative ad campaigns from the West and the constant barrage of threats to our aircraft, our crews, and of course the personal lawsuits against our Officers and BPR members for voting in favor of their constituents; I don't believe there is any level of professionalism that will overcome the threat of public safety should East and West crews be forced to fly together. I wonder what the world would think when they find out that our own pilots are encouraging their families not to fly our aircraft with mixed crews?
West scabs.....big smiles,
gee, I wonder who wrote this drivel? Of course it's unsigned...so you know it's real.
