mastermechanic,
There is no doubting you feel passionately about what is happening, and from your writings, it appears you are passionate about your job, too. However, your opening salvos aimed at everyone at the company have led many people to pigeon-hole you as one of those "crazy grease monkeys." I am sure you are not, and I am sure you do an honest day's work for an honest day's pay (or what equeates for an honest day's pay these days).
However, that being said, I must point out that we are ALL in the same boat here at UAL, like it or not. If you must know, I have been one of the most vocal proponents of voting "NO" on the pilot ERP. I think it is a sham and the ATSB loan is being used as a hammer to force pay rate changes on the employees due to management's inability to get our financial house in order for the SHORT TERM cash crunch we face over the Winter. That was yesterday! Today, the landscape has changed somewhat. The markets have lost confidence (what little was left) in UAL, the company is floundering while we try and convince the new CEO we want to take the job and give him (or her!) something to come and work on.
Will 10% pay cuts be the AFA fix our problems? Or how about 20% for the IAM? Try 30% for ALPA, will that do? You see, it is not that the money will SAVE UAL, but that it will allow UAL to bend over and get what GWB is so graciously offering to us. The only problem is that he wants to hear labor squeal first. Should we? To each his own.
I used to be a Financial Analyst. A good job, with good benefits, and long hours at the mercy of "the man." I spent LOTS of time and money trying to get my dream job as an airline pilot. Do I want to protect that investment and dream? You bet! Do I think UAL will still be flying even AFTER a Chapter 11 filing...Of course! Do I think I will have to look for another flying job if UAL declares bankruptcy? Not until the bottom half of the seniority list is let go first, and at that point I might as well pack it in, because there will be about 20,000 pilots on the streets looking for jobs! Can I do something else? I would hope so, with two Bachelors degrees, A Master's degree, a Finance background and 3 years as an airline Captain under my belt! Would it be as great as flying? NO!
You see, I doubt ANY of the pilots who lose their jobs at UAL will suffer greatly. They will lose a job they love, but they ALL have a Bachelor's degree, they are all coming from a job where they were required to be both mentally and physically healthy and drug-free, and they ALL know how to act in a mature fashion at work. All of these traits are valued in the workplace. As for the money, we all managed to survive BEFORE we got here on less than minimum wage! While it might be an "adjustment" for many, we can all go back to living the way ALL pilots do before they get the "dream job" at the majors.
I am not so sure the grass is greener for ANY of us if we have to leave UAL, but if you honestly hink it is for you, I am glad. With your work ethic, I am sure you will do just fine. Maybe no flight benefits, no medical, or generous sick leave, or long breaks in the middle of the day, not many customers in the "real world" know or can accept the "deferral" process, but you love to fix stuff, so that will make the day go faster, too.
So, where is all this going? Nowhere fast...kinda like the ORD operation for the last few days, what with TRWs and then stalled fronts and low vis approaches and airplanes that seem to have more orange stickers by the day. I hope you DO stick to your guns, and I wish you luck. There are 84,000 of us who wish you luck, too, as we are all in this together. If ALPA wanted to kill this airline, we could. If IAM wanted to, they could. If mgmt wanted to, well, we can already see that they can do it better and stealthier than most. However, do we really want to cut off our nose to spite our face? Will the Studdeerts and Dutta's of the world REALLY feel the pain that we would? WIll life be better for you if we go to BK rather than the bargaining table? You have to judge that for yourself, and hope that 50% of the rest of your work group feel the same way.
However, you will, I hope, forgive the pilots if, after 6 months of studying the company's financials, sending out video tapes with 90 minutes of financial presentations, after discussing the future of the airline ad nauseum for the last 12 months, they decide they want to try and salvage something of a future for this airline, the employees, and, of course, themselves. One wonders if the guy who screws himself and others out of a job is better off than the guy who bends over backwards to help save the jobs of his own group and others, or whether he is worse off. I'll take MY medicine glass half full, you take yours any way you like it. Either way, the medicine is going to taste bad, but at least I will feel better knowing it was medicine and not poison.
I appreciate reading your views and gaining some insight into your thoughts on the current predicament. One can only hope they are a minority voewpoint for your workgroup, because if Chapter 11 does happen, and your ducks are not in a row with the company, it might sting a tad more than it will right now.
Good luck and thanks for the great work you do keeping 200,000 of us safe every day. Your contribution to UAL's exemplary safety record is overlooked by most, but not by the people who know what you do to keep us safe. Thanks, and keep up the good work!
mancityfan.
07 PM 
