Dear Fellow Pilot,
In my opinion, here are the actions the MEC should take to protect every pre-merger US Airways pilot, not just those at the top, but the entire list:
- Listen to the company’s May 8 and 9 comprehensive proposal.
- Negotiate an A340 LOA, which would provide more high paying PHL-based positions.
- Stop the 3-engine taxi, TOGA takeoffs, and other actions that increase costs, damage the business enterprise, and lower profit sharing payments.
- Do not agree to a new combined contract, unless Doug Parker does not accept the Arbitrators award.
- Stop spending money on ALPA billboards, ads, and other issues and use this money to pay down our merger assessment.
The benefits:
- Maintain a DOH seniority list and capture all of the attrition based career expectation. George Nicolau commented on the US Airways pilot’s significant attrition and by not agreeing to a contract the East pilots would obtain every widebody position, every EMB-190 position, and continue having recalls/improved seniority only in East Coast crew bases.
- Continue with significant East Coast pilot recalls, which improves everybody’s seniority and limits POTA’s, the inability to drop trips, and better schedules.
- Obtain pay raises as reserves become blockholders, first officers become captains again instead of pulling the gear for a pilot about 10 years junior to them in regard to tenure, and narrowbody pilots become widebody pilots.
- Delay or prevent Pref Bid from being implemented, which will only benefit the very senior pilot and create quality of life problems for the junior pilot. Keep the current line construction, primary line, secondary line, SAP, VLA, and AIL bidding system in place.
By the way - not obtaining a new contract will hurt me because I want to be an A320 Captain in PIT and I will not bid a widebody at this time because quality of life is more important to me than money. Would a pay and benefit increase be nice? Absolutely, but to me it is not worth selling out the junior/majority of pilots seniority.
Regards,