The Die is Cast
posted on September 04, 2012 19:14
Fellow Pilots,
By virtue of the extensive training we have all undergone as longtime professional pilots, we are planners by nature. We’re accustomed to flight plans, checklists and the many other methodical procedures that are required for the safe operation of large transport jet aircraft.
Yet there’s no reliable forecast for what to expect next in light of Judge Lane’s decision today to grant AMR management’s revised motion to reject our contract. About the only prediction I’m willing to make is this—we’ll find out whether management decides to proceed with caution, or whether the urge to take punitive measures carries the day.
I am hopeful that management distinguishes between their wants and their needs and that they focus on their legitimate needs, rather than succumbing to temptation and indulging their wants. How management decides to treat the pilot corps at this unprecedented juncture in our airline’s history will be revealing. I said as much to AMR Chairman and CEO Tom Horton during a brief telephone conversation late this afternoon after Judge Lane issued his ruling.
While I will refrain from making a lot of predictions, I do want to offer some advice courtesy of a TV cop—be careful out there. Be sharp, be knowledgeable, watch out for each other and maintain your professionalism at all times. Management may soon be implementing unilateral changes to long-lived collective bargaining agreement work rules and procedures. Don’t get yourself in an indefensible position and don’t hesitate to call your chief pilot if you have a question. In fact, calling your chief pilot should become your first recourse.
If management decides to make unilateral changes, it’s their responsibility to explain to our pilots how those changes will work. Your APA leadership has informed management that we will not serve as their messengers. If management discards portions of our collective bargaining agreement and substitutes new terms of employment—and as a consequence you do not know what is expected of you—ask the Flight Department to provide a definitive answer. APA’s contract administrators will not be able to explain something that isn’t contractual.
Actually, there is one other prediction I’d like to make—management won’t be able to restructure successfully without first reaching a consensual agreement with us. During testimony today, the lead attorney for the Unsecured Creditors’ Committee was emphatic on that point, stating “there has to be a deal” between APA and AMR. He also emphasized that our two parties’ ability to craft a consensual agreement will be enhanced if management takes a circumspect approach to exercising their right to impose new terms of employment.
While we may be uncomfortable with the notion that management can now enact changes to our working conditions at will, I strongly suspect they and other important AMR stakeholders understand that’s not a recipe for long-term success in our brutally competitive, customer service-centric industry.
The APA Board of Directors is scheduled to convene at 1 p.m. Central Daylight Time on Monday, Sept. 10 at union headquarters in Fort Worth to determine next steps and to assess any information management provides us regarding their plans.
As Julius Caesar proclaimed after crossing the Rubicon, “Iacta alea est.” With Judge Lane’s ruling, the die truly has been cast and there will be no turning back. Now we must rely on one another more than ever as we remain focused on our ultimate objective—appropriate recognition and reward as pilots for a major U.S. carrier.
In unity,
Keith Wilson
APA President
