Charlotte Domicile Update
Aug. 10, 2012
August 10, 2012
Note: Just prior to sending this update to Comm. for publication, we received word that APA President Bates resigned his position. That news will undoubtedly result in significant questions from our pilots. We will attempt to address his resignation in a future update in the near term.
Lack of Transparency; Lack of Response
On July 27th, we communicated some concerns to you through a domicile update about certain actions related to MOU negotiations. Our concerns remain unanswered by the Officers and yesterday we sent a second formal request to President Hummel for a meeting to address the handling of negotiations, and in our view, many serious improprieties that are occurring within your union behind the scenes.
Due to an apparent lack of transparency to the pilots and the BPR, this letter will serve as the first in a series of letters that will be written expressing our viewpoints and opinions on the state of affairs of negotiations and what is occurring within your union. Without having received a formal briefing, it is becoming apparent that we are fast approaching a possible vote on an MOU regarding the removal of specific scope and job protections that are in our current contract. We believe that you should know what each of your Representatives is thinking, based on the facts we have today, relative to the road we are now traveling.
You deserve to know that we are all proponents of a merger with American Airlines, with one very important caveat: US Airways pilots' careers must be protected, as well as receiving reasonable returns for their 8 years of sacrifices. We really don’t think that’s too much to ask in return for the countless years of sacrifice that have allowed Mr. Parker to be in the position he finds himself today - the hostile bidder for the once largest airline in the in the world. We are confident most of you would agree.
So far, Mr. Parker and his management team have not only failed to offer any real protections to our careers, they have actually passed language to our Negotiating Advisory Committee repeatedly that confirms we have every reason to be concerned that downsizing and the resulting years of additional stagnation could occur at the expense of your attrition. Job protections and long term minimum fleet and block hour protections are missing from the last version we saw of the MOU. Meanwhile Management seeks relief from the protections afforded us from our Change of Control and Code Share language, specific to the East pilots working agreement.
We don’t believe it is necessary to detail all of the sacrifices we have endured over the last 10 years to illustrate how insulting Mr. Parker’s position is, and how little he and his management think of this pilot group and our profession. Read the above again,
”…they have actually passed language to our Negotiating Advisory Committee repeatedly that confirms we have every reason to fear downsizing and the resulting years of additional stagnation…” That’s right, they have asked us to give up countless protections contained in our contract, and the leverage we possess including our minimum fleet, minimum block hours, change of control provisions, LPP’s, code-share limitations etc. and so far all we’ve seen is a potential carrot of $172/HR. This could mean current US Airways jobs will shrink or be eliminated. Additionally, the bankruptcy term sheet that APA has signed would bind us all to not only a brand new b-scale and the worst regional jet allowances in the industry, but continue to place us at the lowest pay rates and the worst work-rules among the top three Major Airlines for at least another 3 years, without any recognition or return for our sacrifices that enabled US Airways to be in the position to even contemplate pursuing this merger. Insulting? You bet it is.
By now you may find yourself scratching your head as to why our view of the MOU language appears to conflict with the rosy picture being painted by President Hummel, who believes we are “close” to an acceptable agreement. The answer is simple; as of this writing, we have no idea what terms have been agreed to in our negotiations with Management. We’ve only heard general accounts from the NAC and our President about the progress of the talks, so we are left to believe the worst until we hear otherwise. We believe President Hummel seems to think that a merger with AMR is the only way to enhance our pay and has teamed with the APA to deliver USAPA support to Doug Parker, in an effort to chase this deal. This mission conflicts with the initial intent of the BPR who unanimously agreed to deliver an MOU that protects all US Airways pilots’ careers to include the attrition we all have waited so long to capture, as well as delivering reasonable and expected returns to all US Airways pilots for the years of sacrifice we have sustained. If we fail to protect the pilots at this juncture in this MOU negotiation, we may have forever lost any chance of attaining any proper returns including retroactive and parity pay for our pilots, as well as any leverage to ensure fair and equitable treatment in this merger. Many of you could experience more years of stagnation with potential subsequent furloughs (regardless of the much-advertised “no furlough clause&rdquo
😉 and many more could be relegated to return to the right seat, or the left seat of the E-190 at $116.95/hour. Without proper protections we could all be put at further risk in the eyes of an Arbitrator in any future merger seniority integration scenario. President Hummel may think we are” close” but as far as the disclosed facts that we’ve seen from the NAC so far, our assessment is that we are miles apart and are nowhere near an acceptable agreement.
At our last complete briefing over two weeks ago, the Company continued to fail to make any substantive movement, notwithstanding what was reported by the NAC in their Saturday update – that they had
“settled the bulk of the issues”. If they are using the term “settling” as our Grievance Committee Chairman uses the term "resolved", we fear that they mean that they were forced to “capitulate” under pressure from President Hummel. If that is the case, then their report was accurate and we as US Airways pilots may have once again been sold out by our leadership. We fully expect the NAC to soon bring the BPR an MOU that will be marketed to the Board and the pilots as “protections” that have been “agreed to”. When the details of these negotiations are finally unveiled, we have concerns that it will not include any significant long term protections offered by the Company. If that is the case, we will be forced to vote against accepting this MOU unless modified to attain the goals we were led to believe we would pursue by our President. The behavior of our Management continues to be text book Parker and Kirby; give employees nothing and take all you can without negotiating in good faith. Capitulating to achieve a deal at any cost is not in the US Airways pilots best interests; achieving a fair deal that protects and rewards all US Airways pilots for their dedicated service and long term sacrifices over the last 10 years is all that we can and will support. There will be no selling out of your expectations from your Charlotte Representatives and we will continue to fight to ensure that any deal made with management will protect you all well into the future.
If you have been led to believe that the Company has offered real fleet and block hour protections, enabling our pilots to capture the advancement that we are guaranteed as a stand-alone carrier, you may have been misled. Unless Management has made drastic positive changes in the last few days, we can assure you that no such protections exist. The last offer we saw, Management had offered to guarantee that the “ratio of flying” between the original American Airlines and the original US Airways, will remain within certain percentage points of where it began; the devil of that statement is in the details. You don’t have to be in the airline business very long to understand what it means; regardless of what they say, they may plan to shrink the airline. Without specific fleet minimum and block hour protections that have protected us all in our current contracts, that downsizing would cause continuing career stagnation for all US Airways pilots.
We want to stress again, we are proponents of a merger with American Airlines, but we will not sign on to a concessionary MOU hoping everything will be OK by trusting the word of Mr. Parker. We have all lived and witnessed over the past decade that trusting Management’s verbal or incomplete working agreements brings nothing but hardships to the employees of this airline. This time we are not in the cross hairs of liquidation or in the dire straits of bankruptcy. We are in a position of being able to work to negotiate in good faith, a fair and equitable deal for all, without further eroding our futures or profession.
The lack of transparency and communications from our leadership during these negotiations has been disturbing, and is creating many valid concerns for all. When we receive more information from what we view as the closed circle of USAPA Officers and their confidants, we will forward any and all details directly to you.
Thank you all for protecting the safety and integrity of our airline. It is time to focus on protecting the integrity of our remaining careers by ensuring that adequate scope and job protections remain firmly in place to protect us all in any merger scenario.
Captain Bill McKee Chairman
First Officer Steve Crimi Vice Chairman
First Officer Dewitt Ingram Vice Chairman
