Better Watch The Afa

[sweet-tart]

:down: I was invited to a meeting with AFA's general counsel, their USAirways council and our Senior Arbitrator concerning Flight Attendants that had been called back to work from furolugh for 'the mda alter-ego' airline with no rights. Incredibly
they are quite concerned as it was passed on to our general membership as an express airline operating under a seperate 'Potomac air' minority airline operated carrier that would be much as alleghaney and co,....not a threat to US Airways mainline employees. The fact of the matter is that everyone at Mid-Atlantic acting as an FA under the Mainline 121 certificate, is a mainline employee. Over 200 lines of flying including 50 of those at PIT, have been given away and flown by a group other than those recognized as mainline by 'Glass and company' , although under oath he testified that MidAtlantic was mainline. The AFA gave some sob story that, if they didn't approve this poverty wager agreement for this supposed division, they would have to 'part out the company and liquidate.' Which is precisely what they should have done, as it is not the Union, esp the AFA's job to keep the company affloat by signing on to bad business practice. I is our contention that if infact we were seperate, (yet not the IRS, FAA< or SEC sees us as seperate) we are only recognized by the AFA as seperate. I only thank God that the veil of protection has been lifted and those that are and were instrumental in the misinformation that has been spread throughout the ranks will now be PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE for misleading those very people they were paid to represent. We intend to keep the faith!

 

[2out]

Well said, sweet-tart! If all MDA f/a's stick together, (and we're off to a great start with the lawsuit!) we WILL correct the injustices heaped on us by the company, and the complete abandonment by the union we believed would be there to protect us! I'm sure the company and AFA wishes we would all just shut up or better yet, just go away, but they both under-estimated hundreds of employees who are sick and tired of getting screwed from both sides and are NOT going to take it anymore!!! ALL OR NONE, me too!

 

[mlt]

:down: I
they are quite concerned as it was passed on to our general membership as an express airline operating under a seperate 'Potomac air' minority airline operated carrier that would be much as alleghaney and co,....

[post="308354"][/post]​

I don't understand this sentence. Are you able to elaborate?

 

[BoeingBoy]

A short history of MDA....at least from the pilot negotiations perspective:

* As origininally negotiated prior to BK1, MDA was to be a 4th wholly-owned, just like PDT, PSA, & ALQ (which was separate at that time) - separate corporation wholly owned by Group, separate operating certificate. It was also to fly any RJ's over 50 seats, if I remember correctly.

* Through various scope changes between the original concept and startup, only the Emb-170's required to be flown by MDA. All other RJ's can go to wholly-owned and affiliates.

* For whatever reason, MDA was not able to or did not get a separate operating certificate prior to start-up so operated on the mainline certificate. It was a separate corporation, incorporated in Delaware and wholly owned by Group.

* Spring 2004 - it was claimed that GE was "nervous" about having having all the Emb-170's in the one US basket, so LOA 91 was passed. This allowed for transferring/selling these planes to an affiliate. The catch was that if there was a "change of control" of MDA (still a separate corporation at this point), all the Emb-170 pilots and the contract they operated under would transfer also. However, if there was only an asset sale only 50% of the pilots would go with the airplanes.

* July 2004 - MDA was merged into US Airways, Inc (mainline). MDA, as a separate corporation, ceased to exist. (Something of an amazing coincidence now that the 170's could go to affiliates with only 50% of the pilots as long as it wasn't a change of control).

* 2005 - Agreement with Republic to sell/transfer leases on the Emb-170's. Company says it is not a change in control.

Jim

 

[Light Years]

Potomac Air was born of the never-happened United Airlines-US Airways merger. There was an antitrust issue concerning Washington DC. US Airways had pretty much all of the valuable slots at DCA and a focus city there, a hub at Baltimore Washington (MetroJet), and a presence at Washington Dulles. Combined with United's Dulles hub, it was a monopoly that wouldn't fly.

It was proposed that a new airline would be formed from US Airways Washington National slots and gates (minus the Shuttle, which would be "split" by the new United and American Airlines). It would be called DCAir and operate the former US DC9s as well as regional jets. It would be led by Robert Johnson, who owned BET and was on the US BOD. It would be the first minority owned airline.

Potomac Air was set up to eventually become DCAir. It operated as the fourth wholly-owned with some of Piedmont and Allegheny's Dash 8s. The idea was, this airline would hire people while operating as a US Airways Express Dash 8 carrier, then, at merger time, spin off "ready-made" into it's own airline.

Potomac operated for around a year, but was dismantled after both the merger fallout and 9-11. The certificate, however, remained.

So, leaving the Wolf era and entering the Siegel era. Siegel wanted hundreds of regional jets, or at least lots of new planes to be called regional jets. After laying off about 50% of the airline, starting new ones or farming out all of the new replacement flying was not going to go over well with the unions. This gave birth to both Jets 4 Jobs and MidAtlantic Airways, both of which were well-intentioned but in the end twisted to harm pretty much everyone.

MidAtlantic Airways would use the remaining Potomac Air certificate to operate the new "regional jets" US was going to order, again as the fourth wholly-owned. It would exclusively employ furloughed US Airways employees. Scope ended up changing to allow pretty much anyone else to operate anything under 100 seats, but MidAtlantic was to operate the E170s and it's larger siblings.

Somewhere along the way the certification process was becoming too time-consuming. There were so many hiccups they decided to just put the 170s on the mainline US Airways Inc certificate. This meant they still used the same manuals, call signs, administration, you get the picture- regular old US Airways. When this happened, not a single aircraft had been delivered nor had any non-administrative employees been called back. No front line employee ever worked for any company called MidAtlantic.

Despite the fact that there was no MidAtlantic, nor would there ever be, the company still came up with a logo for it, made very unpopular MidAtlantic merchandise, had a Pittsburgh "headquarters" address used on paychecks later revealed only to be a maibox, put the logo on the employee IDs, and even put it on the plane (US Airways Express MidAtlantic Airways Operated by US Airways Inc- the last bit was required by the FAA). They even made half-ass attempts at making these mainline employees on mainline planes use the "Express" tag in announcements and wear Express wings and hat emblems to no avail. Laughable as the efforts to force this fictional airline upon the recalled employees were, it sadly worked as far as the rest of mainline went. Little concern was given to these employees from thier unions, the fact that they were being misrepresented by the company and had no actual contracts.

Now the planes have been sold, without the employees, and for the first time mainline jobs have been directly outsourced. There's still little notice given to the "MAA" situation by "mainline" employees, and probably won't be even as more mainline employees get furloughed as the jobs are farmed out to the likes of Republic.

 

[BoeingBoy]

LY,

I'll only disagree with the "Despite the fact that there was no MidAtlantic, nor would there ever be".

From the original CK2 motion to consolidate the debtors into one proceeding:

"As of July 1, 2004, three mergers took place among Group’s subsidiaries. Allegheny Airlines, Inc. was merged into Piedmont, and US Airways Services Corporation Inc. (f/k/a MidAtlantic Airways, Inc.) and US Airways Leasing and Sales Inc. were both merged into USAI.

There really was a corporation called "US Airways Services Corporation, Inc" which did business as and everyone called MidAtlantic, registered in Delaware (as is US Airways Group). The record still exists - I've checked Delaware's website.

Jim

 

[Light Years]

I think Material Services (?) may have been MidAtlantic before the first bankrupcy, but it was gone by the time the planes began operating in April 2004.

 

[SoldWholeSale]

I've been involved with MDA since the beginning, there never was a separate corporation. Both ALPA and the company went to great lengths to make sure we knew how happy they were to have us back in the USAirways family. Both Ashby and the MEC Chairman made appearances at the school house in PIT to give the "group hug". Initially all employees were given their ID badges from date of initial hire, their original employee numbers, and coverage under the USAirways group medical plan. Even ALPA national showed us as "recalled AAA" for purposes of dues and assessments, and believe me, they weren't shy about sending the bill.

The FAA shut down MDA ground school on the second day because it "looked and felt" different from mainline and in the eye's of the FAA, the Embraer 170/175 was nothing more than another fleet type. To this day, if you go to the PIT CMO, they will tell you the aircraft is a fleet type. There is NO proof or legal evidence of separation of MDA as anything more than what it was. Smoke and mirrors.

The change of control provisions spelled out didn't require MDA to be separate or aside from mainline. MDA described the the operation and assets of the Embraer 170 fleet, and as such to retain the fleet in scope, the LOA made it clear that any attempt to sell all of the aircraft (the only fleet worth anything on the open market), would require both acceptance of the representative body, and employment of 100% of the employees.

The Embraer crews will win the arbitration. Soon both the Flight Attendants and Pilots will begin legal action against both the company, and respective unions. The timeline for this has been delayed due to exit from Chapter 11, and the completion of the merger.

Time will tell.....

ALL OR NONE

SH

 

[BoeingBoy]

Sorry, LY - I clicked the wrong button and posted a partial post before I put the quote I wanted in from the BK motion. If you'd like, I can dig out the quotes from old annual reports.

Jim

 

[BoeingBoy]

Oh, and Material Services' primary role is fuel vendor to the wholly-owned and affiliates. It remains a separate division of Group.

Jim

 

[Light Years]

Thanks BB. I knew it was something services!

I could swear someone posted something at one point detailing what went on behind the scenes that they decided against the seperate certificate. There's differing stories.

 

[BoeingBoy]

I have no idea what happened when on the AFA side. The recap I gave is strictly from the ALPA side, and the Eagle contract was in the original LOA that created the idea of MDA.

Jim

 

[BoeingBoy]

From the Delaware Division of Corporations:

Name: US AIRWAYS SERVICES CORPORATION, INC
File Number: 3275694
Incorporation Date / Formation Date: 08/18/2000
Entity Kind: CORPORATION
Entity Type: GENERAL
Residency: DOMESTIC
State: DE

Jim

ps - I've never had the inclination to pay the $10 and get a status report, so this is all I have.

 

[SoldWholeSale]

BB, Your pretty good with the facts and unlike another frequent poster, usually on the mark.

With MDA/ALPA/Eagle Contract, there is a lot more to it than just the LOA. It was only parts of the Eagle Contract, the final version has yet to be agreed on, but much like US2 is a hybrid of the AAA agreement. The MDA pilots do not have a complete and accessable working agreement. Also, the Eagle Contract which ALPA agreed to, was the raw agreement. No letters of interpretation, not the living document, but rather a document frozen in time which provided pay rates which at the end of the year, paid less on larger equipment than the Mesa Pilots working agreement which frequently gets bad press....

The whole thing is a sham. ALPA is dated, ineffective, top heavy, and no longer usefull to anyone other than the top 15% of any seniority list (as long as they made other arrangements for retirement).

ALL OR NONE!

SH

 

[BoeingBoy]

You'll get no argument from me on any of that. What's happened to the folks flying the 170's is a crime - possibly literally.

Jim