Congratulations to Mechanic and Related

[wrenchbender]

Tug Slug: what were going thru at US Air is just the beginning for the airline industry

The only way the employees at other carriers will surender wages is through the bankrupcy process.
United may follow in our foot steps but American, Northwest, Southwest all filing bankrupcy?

The Airline business is extreemly cyclical and will soon rebound.

There will once again be a shortage of A&P's and USAir will be in a poor position for recruitment.

Good Luck

 

[wrenchbender]

We at USAirways are now the lowest paid mechanics of any major airline in the US with the current exception of America West although they have a contract amendable in November, 2003 and if you factor in our lost week of vacation, they are actually better compensated.
We must continue to 2008 as the industry leading concession airline.

We are the lowest paid not by a small measure, but a huge chasm of 25 to 30 percent.
2004 AMT wage scale
AMR 36.75 NWA 36.53 UAL 37.75 WN 37.23 US 27.15
To all the yes voters consider this:
Many experienced AMT’s will leave USAirways to pursue better opportunities and many more will retire in the next 7 years.
Who’s going to fill their shoes?
The starting wage at USAirways is now a measly $16 per hour, which is less than when I started in 1988.
Why would anyone want to work here? When we top out 20k less per year than every other major?
USAirways will be forced to hire what other carriers turned away.
USAirways will now be the training airline, a role once played by Continental in the mid 1980’s and we all remember all the trouble they had.
Mechanics will hire on, get a few years experience and leave.
Let’s not forget the cost of having a high turnover rate and the quality issues that come with it.
I wonder if the bean counters factored in training for new hires and all the mistakes a FNG make for the first few years.
All the parts changed in error shot gun troubleshooting.
I will for one will make the yes voters happy and pursue other employment opportunities and take my training and experience elsewhere.
BTW, I added up the aircraft schools I have had in my 14 years at USAirways and it totaled 27 weeks not counting on shift training like our failed self directed teams training.
Six months wages plus per-diem, about 35K. USAirways has invested in my
training, not bad
There is a hidden cost of having the lowest wage in the industry and it isn’t pretty.

 

[tug_slug]

Wrench Bender, what were going thru at US Air is just the beginning for the airline industry. At this moment United's unions are in the process of renegotiating their contracts their trying everything possible to keep the company out of bankruptcy which in my opinion is a losing battle.

The mechanics at United just settled their contract and now their not only going to get screwed out of their retro pay their going to have to take a pay cut... talk about adding insult to injury. The question is, whose next after United?

 

[A320 Driver]

I respect your decision to pursue employment elsewhere. Every employee must make that decision whether or not to find greener pastures and I can understand your being upset. But we won't always be at the bottom. We have a good franchise and I'm seeing an excitement from my fellow employees that I haven't seen in a while. The economy will cycle, and things will pick up eventually. Some things will not change however like business travel being the sum total of our profit margin.
We will have to make do with low fares and low fare competition. My hats off to you sir for having the integrity to move on if you can’t support our restructuring in good conscience.

A320 Driver

 

[PHL]

You can't compare yourselves to AMR, UAL or NWA. They are all much larger airlines with much larger fleets. SW can probably afford to pay their AMTs that much because there's fewer AMTs per plane in the fleet. And, they've managed their costs from day one, with just two heads (Herb and his successor). They've had a consistent vision and strategy that hasn't waivered. They have demonstrated the epitome of how an airline should be managed.

So, whether your new pay is fair is debateable. How does it compare with similarly sized airlines?

As for leaving for another AMT job elsewhere - this is a tough market. You won't likely find one at another major airline, no matter how skilled you are. It's just reality right now.

 

[wrenchbender]

Lakeguy, Maybe where you work it's a country club but third shift Line maintenance we earn every dollar.

The reason you earn the wages you do is on the coat tails of the mechanics.
We need to get rid of Utility and Stock clerks like lakeguy and tug slug the company union/IAM lapdogs are holding us back.

 

[Lakeguy67]

I would say it is a big no, we still have a contract and be it a concessionary one, people are failing to see the bottom line. US Airways is out of cash, plain and simple, otherwise they would not be in chapter 11. [BR][BR]There were two choice facing the membership, to give concessions and still have gaurented scope, wages, work rules and benefits, or become employees at will with the company farming out heavy maintenance, plant maintenance, closing all the shops, eliminating utility, and go down to a few stock clerks, and maybe 1,000 mechanics instead of the 4,200 mechanics we have. Giving the company the right to basically tell you when, where and for how much you are gonna work for.[BR][BR]You whiners and complainers really need to go out into the real world and see what it is like to work. This is not a job, it is a retirement home or country club. Where else could you play cards or watch sports on tv and still get paid? You all need to stop acting like immature babies and having the thoughts that the world owes you, take a look around the real world and see what it is like. If things are so bad, just resign so the rest of us don't have to listen you complain and carry your dead asses around.[BR]

 

[Chock]

Wrenchbender, the brain drain has already begun, and aside from some of the doom and gloom report's of NO job's in the aviation field, there are still opening's for those who are qualified and willing to change venues. I know I won't be waiting around for the other shoe to drop.

 

[Lakeguy67]

dude, who are you trying to fool, I work 3rd shift and I see all the parts that the line mechanics on 3rds shift RTS because they dont do the work, and they are in a mode in of inactivity by 2am unless they have a major squawk. Third Shift mtcs keeps stores in business with all the RTS parts. So don't try to fool me, I know what goes on.

 

[tug_slug]

[blockquote]
----------------
On 9/19/2002 11:23:01 AM wrenchbender wrote:

Tug Slug: "what were going thru at US Air is just the beginning for the airline industry"

The only way the employees at other carriers will surender wages is through the bankrupcy process.
United may follow in our foot steps but American, Northwest, Southwest all filing bankrupcy?

The Airline business is extreemly cyclical and will soon rebound.
Good Luck

----------------
[/blockquote]

The year 2002 is shot as far as any kind of economic rebound and 2003 isn't looking much better.

American's announcement of laying off 7000 next year is just the beginning for them and Northwest has so many loop holes in their contract that they'll soon begin to outsourcing more jobs and demand their employees to shell out more for health insurance which as you know is a pay cut of sorts.

Southwest, that's a different story. Because of their cost structure their mechanics could be making $40.00/hr and they'd still be underpaid.

So you are right in the sense that not every airline is going to file BK to get their employees to take a pay cut, they'll either lay them and or make them pay more for their benefits. Either way its the employees that are going to hosed.