Furlough around the corner
- Thread starter damajagua
- Start date
Doubt it. If the APFA agreed to that, then seniority means absolutely nothing in the future. The company would be able to use "precedent" to bypass seniority just about any time they wanted to. That being said, I would not be surprised if the APFA allowed something like that in order to keep the LAX-PVG route for the very senior people that will hold it.
Or, the company might pull a stunt like force transfer CM speakers from IOR to LAX-I on "temporary assignment." Or, deadhead speakers from IOR to LAX-I. It would cost more because they would have to dhd them the day before, and dhd home the day after to keep them legal.
Well the APFA really has no say in BK...... yes some say but the judge calls the shots so back off and cut the union some slack. APFA really does have our best interest at hand. This economy is taking its toll on every work group in America..... not just APFA.
While that could happen, my prediction is that it won't.
AA's got at least eight 773s on the way starting next year and there are still un-claimed China frequencies available. MAH4546 and others have mentioned rumours that perhaps JFK-China and, of course, DFW-China, and maybe LAX-PEK are possibilities.
Yes, I realize there's still the APA duty time limitation preventing many of the routes mentioned above - but that will be taken care of in the new pilot contract (along with a greenbook rate for the 777-323ER).
If only one new route to China comes to fruition, AA will need more Mandarin speakers, not fewer of them.
Correction, there are 29 CM speakers. One quit in training. Not that it matters. Also, IOR barely has enough speakers for it trips to PVG and PEK.
Overspeed
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Fewer flights could cost jobs at American Airlines
Employees could lose jobs due to reduced flight schedule at American Airlines
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David Koenig, AP Airlines Writer, On Tuesday October 11, 2011, 2:32 pm
DALLAS (AP) -- Fall and winter service reductions at American Airlines could cost some workers their jobs at the nation's third-largest airline company.
American announced late Monday that it will reduce passenger-carrying capacity in the October-through-December quarter by about 3 percent compared with late 2010. It cited the weak economy, high fuel costs, and more pilots retiring.
Analysts said the move, along with similar recent announcements from United and Delta, showed that airlines were serious about controlling costs. Barclays Capital said Tuesday that it still expects American's parent, AMR Corp., to lose money through next year -- but not as much, thanks to the reductions.
AMR shares led a rally in airline stocks, rising 17 cents, or 6.5 percent, to $2.70 in afternoon trading.
While investors were encouraged, employees at American had new reasons to worry about their jobs.
"These capacity adjustments could have a significant impact on operations and, unfortunately, could result in employee reductions companywide," said spokesman Tim Smith.
Smith said American was studying whether it could limit the number of furloughs by offering voluntary severance.
American said advance bookings are about in line with last year's, but analysts predict that travel demand is likely to weaken in the fourth quarter.
Airlines usually cut capacity by reducing flights or using smaller aircraft. Both result in fewer seats for sale. That should help maintain current airfares, a "positive for the airline sector," said Dahlman Rose & Co. analyst Helane Becker.
Even with the fourth-quarter moves, American's capacity for all of 2011 will still be 0.4 percent higher than 2010. But the increase is far smaller than the airline's original plan to grow by 3.5 percent.
American also plans to retire up to 11 Boeing 757 jets next year. It already has fewer pilots to fly its fleet of about 600 planes.
In the past two months, 240 American pilots have retired -- about 10 times the normal rate. They are taking advantage of an unusual contract clause that lets them lock in the value of some pension benefits before the recent stock market slump.
American parent AMR Corp. was the only major U.S. airline to lose money last year and is expected to keep posting losses through next year. High fuel prices have hurt American, which has a relatively old and inefficient fleet, and the company says that its labor costs are higher than those of competitors.
While announcing the reduced schedule, AMR also said it would take $51 million in charges against earnings in the third quarter related to fuel-hedging contracts and changes in currency exchange rates.
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Employees could lose jobs due to reduced flight schedule at American Airlines
tweet
David Koenig, AP Airlines Writer, On Tuesday October 11, 2011, 2:32 pm
DALLAS (AP) -- Fall and winter service reductions at American Airlines could cost some workers their jobs at the nation's third-largest airline company.
American announced late Monday that it will reduce passenger-carrying capacity in the October-through-December quarter by about 3 percent compared with late 2010. It cited the weak economy, high fuel costs, and more pilots retiring.
Analysts said the move, along with similar recent announcements from United and Delta, showed that airlines were serious about controlling costs. Barclays Capital said Tuesday that it still expects American's parent, AMR Corp., to lose money through next year -- but not as much, thanks to the reductions.
AMR shares led a rally in airline stocks, rising 17 cents, or 6.5 percent, to $2.70 in afternoon trading.
While investors were encouraged, employees at American had new reasons to worry about their jobs.
"These capacity adjustments could have a significant impact on operations and, unfortunately, could result in employee reductions companywide," said spokesman Tim Smith.
Smith said American was studying whether it could limit the number of furloughs by offering voluntary severance.
American said advance bookings are about in line with last year's, but analysts predict that travel demand is likely to weaken in the fourth quarter.
Airlines usually cut capacity by reducing flights or using smaller aircraft. Both result in fewer seats for sale. That should help maintain current airfares, a "positive for the airline sector," said Dahlman Rose & Co. analyst Helane Becker.
Even with the fourth-quarter moves, American's capacity for all of 2011 will still be 0.4 percent higher than 2010. But the increase is far smaller than the airline's original plan to grow by 3.5 percent.
American also plans to retire up to 11 Boeing 757 jets next year. It already has fewer pilots to fly its fleet of about 600 planes.
In the past two months, 240 American pilots have retired -- about 10 times the normal rate. They are taking advantage of an unusual contract clause that lets them lock in the value of some pension benefits before the recent stock market slump.
American parent AMR Corp. was the only major U.S. airline to lose money last year and is expected to keep posting losses through next year. High fuel prices have hurt American, which has a relatively old and inefficient fleet, and the company says that its labor costs are higher than those of competitors.
While announcing the reduced schedule, AMR also said it would take $51 million in charges against earnings in the third quarter related to fuel-hedging contracts and changes in currency exchange rates.
Follow Yahoo! Finance on Twitter; become a fan on Facebook.
I agree in principle, but I think you may be overestimating the number of pilots per plane; if it were 40 per, that would require 5,000 pilots just for AA's 757 fleet. Not to mention the 777s, 767s, 738s and MD-80s.
No, we got it! You are a TWU troll. Never waste an opportunity to to put your anti line maintenance spin on any issue. You must be a popular guy at work.
eolesen
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My bad... speaking in a client's language, not Americanese (you'd think Berlitz could make money selling translation guides to consultants for all the different terms used at each airline for the same damn thing...), compounded by using an old membership number (12,000) for APA...
No idea what the actual ratio is for the 757/767 fleet, but APA has around 9,500 active members and AA has just about 600 aircraft right now; that works out to around 15 pilots per airplane, not adjusted for training and vacation relief, or aircraft not in use due to maintenance schedules.
Training moves can work out to be about 4x higher than the actual seats vacated, since for every guy who moves up to 777 CA has a FO or CA backfilling him, and so on into the 767 fleet, and the 738/MD80 fleets. With leapfrogging (a really senior 738 or MD80 guy moving up to the 777, bypassing the 767 entirely), the training moves get a little muddy to predict.
Some of those moves are offset by aircraft retirements, and there's always some degree of activity underway -- I'm just guessing on the incremental moves triggered by the higher retirements.
No idea what the actual ratio is for the 757/767 fleet, but APA has around 9,500 active members and AA has just about 600 aircraft right now; that works out to around 15 pilots per airplane, not adjusted for training and vacation relief, or aircraft not in use due to maintenance schedules.
Training moves can work out to be about 4x higher than the actual seats vacated, since for every guy who moves up to 777 CA has a FO or CA backfilling him, and so on into the 767 fleet, and the 738/MD80 fleets. With leapfrogging (a really senior 738 or MD80 guy moving up to the 777, bypassing the 767 entirely), the training moves get a little muddy to predict.
Some of those moves are offset by aircraft retirements, and there's always some degree of activity underway -- I'm just guessing on the incremental moves triggered by the higher retirements.
