MEC CODE-A-PHONE UPDATE - November 20, 2003
This is MEC Chairman Bill Pollock with a US Airways MEC update for Thursday, November 20th, with two new items.
Item 1. The leadership of the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee is considering the Senate version of pension legislation. Proposals include a temporary change to the interest rate used in calculating pension liabilities and a three-year deficit reduction contribution moratorium. The administration expressed its strong opposition to even this modest relief proposal yesterday in a letter from three cabinet officers to the leadership of these two committees and to the Senate leadership. Treasury Secretary John Snow, Commerce Secretary Donald Evans, and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao signed the letter as board members of the PBGC.
The letter is available on ALPA’s website at www.alpa.org under the ALPA Member Portal page, as well as a response from Captain Duane Woerth. Captain Woerth points out that the letter contains "mischaracterizations and outright falsehoods." In opposing any change to the current deficit reduction rules this administration jeopardizes defined benefit plans throughout the industry. Their strong opposition to any form of funding relief makes restoration of our plan even more difficult.
Long-term funding relief is necessary for plan restoration to conform to the Company's plan of reorganization. Our allies on the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee are attempting to include the restoration language in these deliberations. The Company has indicated its willingness to support restoration language even if it is not precisely that of H.R. 2719, provided the restoration conforms to the plan of reorganization.
In one final grassroots push, we can ask our U.S. Representatives and Senators to urge the leaders of these committees and the Senate leadership to include restoration of our plan in Senate legislation. The template letters posted on the Legislative Affairs webpage will convey this message. Your participation in the grassroots campaign has been unparalleled in getting our message to the leadership on Capitol Hill. The Congress is trying to adjourn for the year before Thanksgiving. This could be our last opportunity to persuade Congress to restore our Defined Benefit pension plan. An email using the template letters or one of your own composition, or a phone call with the same message will remind your U.S. Representatives, Senators and the leadership of these committees how important this legislation is to our financial security in retirement. The U.S. Capitol switchboard number for connection to your senators and representative is 202-224-3121.
As always, if you need assistance in contacting your legislators, call the ALPA office at 800-USAIR MEC.
Item 2. Yesterday, I, along with MEC Vice Chairman Kim Snider and MEC Secretary Treasurer Mike D’Angelo attended a meeting with US Airways CEO David Siegel to hear his thoughts on the “State of the Airline.†This meeting took place in the corporate offices at Crystal City. In addition to Mr. Siegel, the Company was represented by Senior VP of Employee Relations, Jerry Glass and VP of Labor Relations, Doug McKeen. Our meeting lasted approximately 80 minutes and offered us an opportunity to restate the absolute need to see our DB pension plan restored. We opened the discussion with this topic, and after my opening statement, Mr. Siegel agreed that the Company would support restoration consistent with the plan of reorganization. This is significant because previously, the Company’s support was tied directly to the language of H.R. 2719. The significance of this development is that the Company will now evaluate, and support where possible, other options that may become available during the closing days of this Congressional session.
On the subject of the “State of the Airline†we heard many of the same issues that have been stated recently by management including: Southwest Airline’s scheduled service at Philadelphia International Airport and the pressure from so-called Low Cost Carriers. This discussion provided relatively little insight into the Company’s plans to deal with these concerns. During this discussion I advised management in clear and unambiguous terms that the pilots will not consider additional concessions. I reminded management that the pilots saved this airline and took the necessary leadership role in the restructuring process. We have done our part and the pilots have provided management with the necessary tools to return this airline to profitability.
The Company indicated that their plan to deal with the “low yield†environment would be predicated on the needs of the customer as the driver for the planning process. Several references were made to the Company’s slides as presented to the Labor Advisory Council in late October. These presentation slides are available for your review on the pilots only website.
Despite media reports suggesting otherwise, nothing was offered regarding the Company’s long-term business plan.
This is MEC Chairman Bill Pollock with a US Airways MEC update for Thursday, November 20th, with two new items.
Item 1. The leadership of the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee is considering the Senate version of pension legislation. Proposals include a temporary change to the interest rate used in calculating pension liabilities and a three-year deficit reduction contribution moratorium. The administration expressed its strong opposition to even this modest relief proposal yesterday in a letter from three cabinet officers to the leadership of these two committees and to the Senate leadership. Treasury Secretary John Snow, Commerce Secretary Donald Evans, and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao signed the letter as board members of the PBGC.
The letter is available on ALPA’s website at www.alpa.org under the ALPA Member Portal page, as well as a response from Captain Duane Woerth. Captain Woerth points out that the letter contains "mischaracterizations and outright falsehoods." In opposing any change to the current deficit reduction rules this administration jeopardizes defined benefit plans throughout the industry. Their strong opposition to any form of funding relief makes restoration of our plan even more difficult.
Long-term funding relief is necessary for plan restoration to conform to the Company's plan of reorganization. Our allies on the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee are attempting to include the restoration language in these deliberations. The Company has indicated its willingness to support restoration language even if it is not precisely that of H.R. 2719, provided the restoration conforms to the plan of reorganization.
In one final grassroots push, we can ask our U.S. Representatives and Senators to urge the leaders of these committees and the Senate leadership to include restoration of our plan in Senate legislation. The template letters posted on the Legislative Affairs webpage will convey this message. Your participation in the grassroots campaign has been unparalleled in getting our message to the leadership on Capitol Hill. The Congress is trying to adjourn for the year before Thanksgiving. This could be our last opportunity to persuade Congress to restore our Defined Benefit pension plan. An email using the template letters or one of your own composition, or a phone call with the same message will remind your U.S. Representatives, Senators and the leadership of these committees how important this legislation is to our financial security in retirement. The U.S. Capitol switchboard number for connection to your senators and representative is 202-224-3121.
As always, if you need assistance in contacting your legislators, call the ALPA office at 800-USAIR MEC.
Item 2. Yesterday, I, along with MEC Vice Chairman Kim Snider and MEC Secretary Treasurer Mike D’Angelo attended a meeting with US Airways CEO David Siegel to hear his thoughts on the “State of the Airline.†This meeting took place in the corporate offices at Crystal City. In addition to Mr. Siegel, the Company was represented by Senior VP of Employee Relations, Jerry Glass and VP of Labor Relations, Doug McKeen. Our meeting lasted approximately 80 minutes and offered us an opportunity to restate the absolute need to see our DB pension plan restored. We opened the discussion with this topic, and after my opening statement, Mr. Siegel agreed that the Company would support restoration consistent with the plan of reorganization. This is significant because previously, the Company’s support was tied directly to the language of H.R. 2719. The significance of this development is that the Company will now evaluate, and support where possible, other options that may become available during the closing days of this Congressional session.
On the subject of the “State of the Airline†we heard many of the same issues that have been stated recently by management including: Southwest Airline’s scheduled service at Philadelphia International Airport and the pressure from so-called Low Cost Carriers. This discussion provided relatively little insight into the Company’s plans to deal with these concerns. During this discussion I advised management in clear and unambiguous terms that the pilots will not consider additional concessions. I reminded management that the pilots saved this airline and took the necessary leadership role in the restructuring process. We have done our part and the pilots have provided management with the necessary tools to return this airline to profitability.
The Company indicated that their plan to deal with the “low yield†environment would be predicated on the needs of the customer as the driver for the planning process. Several references were made to the Company’s slides as presented to the Labor Advisory Council in late October. These presentation slides are available for your review on the pilots only website.
Despite media reports suggesting otherwise, nothing was offered regarding the Company’s long-term business plan.
