What's new

Parker no shows on Larry King

USAPA knows that a Captain can have as much fuel on board as he thinks is necessary. USAir has no say in that. They can flap their mouths all they want but to no avail.

Well, if you had actually read the text of the USA Today ad, that's basically exactly what USAPA said.

Just like SATs and other standardized tests....you have to READ the entire passage before you jump down to answer the questions.
 
However.....I think the union made a HUGE mistake by taking this thing public. NOW look! A stupid Larry King show... This is NOT the way USAPA should make a name for itself.

Udder, I've got to disagree with you again on this. USAPA gave Team Tempe plenty of warning. Two weeks. This was an in-house issue until Isom forced USAPA's hand. You may not like the way USAPA handled it, but after the company refused to back down, what choice did we have? Play ALPA and roll over?

Doug's own people brought it on themselves. If Team Tempe had listened to reason, USAPA wouldn't have had to make a name for itself. Our union had little choice.

No USAir pilot is forced to go without the fuel he thinks he needs on board and that is a matter of fact.

Exactly, UU. But if the company gets away with questioning the judgment of its most experienced pilots on 10-15 minutes fuel, where does it end? Requiring extra training because a PIC demands 10-15 minutes extra fuel should never have been an issue. Increasing TOW by less than 1%? How much extra fuel does that cost?

For USAPA to do this when they are in contract negotiations with the company is in my mind........uh....rather stupid.

Udder, I'm not connecting your dots. It was the company that set the timing at the biginning of negotiations for this issue, not USAPA. You can't make the link that USAPA reacted because we are about to start contract negotiations. This sounds like more Jerry Glass to test our union's resolve. Keep in mind these negotiations can't even lead to a strike, because we aren't in Section 6 for another 18 months.

All the remarks about Parker drinking and missing the show for that reason are just plain silly. I'm sorry because I am on YOUR side but this kind of thing was shortsighted at best. The news media will be all over this for days and you know it! How does that help anyone, either USAPA or USAIr????

Yeah, the "Doug-Weiser" remarks (even mine) aren't necessary, but they're being floated on this board, not on CNN. Again, what choice did the union have? They tried to work this out quietly, behind the scenes, but Team Tempe wouldn't budge.

If any of you have been refused the fuel you want, please stand up here and be counted.
UU

We all know that no CA has ever been refused fuel as long as the plane didn't get overloaded. The problem is (I'm speaking as an FO/IRO), where does it stop? If you're worried about special training because your judgment is being questioned, are you going to hesitate or turn down that extra fuel when your gut and your experience tell you you need it? S
 
Hi Everyone,

Morgan from corp comm here. Wanted to share with this board the US News Now that was distributed last night to all US Airways Employees. Thanks.



Setting the Record Straight
July 16, 2008

Earlier today our pilots’ union, USAPA, ran a full-page advertisement in USA Today suggesting that US Airways is attempting to get our pilots to fly with less fuel than they are comfortable. Most media outlets when they called to inquire about the ad, after hearing the facts, quickly determined there really wasn’t a story to write.

Unfortunately, some media outlets are continuing to discuss these allegations, and because they are doing so in the context of safety, we want to make sure all of you know the facts as well.

We are carefully looking at all of our fuel burn metrics, including the landing weights of our aircraft. This is important because loading more fuel at the start of a flight actually means the aircraft will burn more fuel enroute because of the extra weight of the fuel. Pilots and Dispatchers always load enough fuel for flights so that there is ample time to “hold†in the event of weather or other delays. The FAA requires all flights to plan to arrive with 45 minutes of fuel. At US Airways we use 60 minutes of arrival fuel as minimum and currently average 100 minutes in actual operations.

Through the normal tracking of our landing weight and fuel burn, we recently discovered that a few of our pilots (eight to be exact) were adding fuel to their dispatched fuel loads much more frequently than their peers. While this is appropriate as our pilots always have the ability to order more fuel as conditions warrant, the data for this small number of pilots was well in excess of the norm.

As we would anytime there is data that indicates employees feel they must go well beyond the standard protocols over a consistent period of time in order to do their jobs effectively, we asked these pilots to meet with our training department so we could understand their experiences and ensure that our current protocols are at the right levels. This is entirely appropriate and indeed the responsible way to bring line experiences into the classroom so that our training programs are improved as a result.

Out of respect for the small number of pilots involved, our desire is to refrain from commenting on this further. We have 5,000 professional pilots and dispatchers who do an outstanding job of ensuring our flights operate safely each and every day while conserving fuel in a responsible manner.

Finally, a few employees have asked about Doug’s appearance on Larry King Live as was previously planned earlier in the day. His appearance on the show was made possible by the fact that he is in Washington this week attending many meetings to help educate Congress on the fuel issue and the impact it is having on our industry. Doug was scheduled to appear on the show with Jim May, the CEO of the Air Transport Association, which is the lobbying group that represents the industry.

Unfortunately, a late meeting to discuss important potential legislation came about and we decided Doug’s time was better spent making our case and the industry’s case in that meeting, while Jim could handle the general industry discussion that the King show planned. What CNN chose to run instead was further discussion of USAPA’s unfounded claims. Had we known that those claims were going to become the main topic of the show, we would have had a US representative present the facts for Mr. King’s viewers and other guests on the show.

The facts tell the accurate story. We anticipate the media will soon discontinue speculating about allegations and will start reporting on the facts. In the meantime, we’ll continue to communicate the facts in an appropriate yet respectful way. And as you continue to do your jobs, we ask that you not let today’s action by our pilots’ union discourage your belief in the professionalism of our 5,000 pilots or US Airways. We are running one of the best on-time airlines in America and that is the result of all 35,000 employees working together. Thanks again for your commitment to US Airways and our customers.

This message was sent to all employees.
Please post for those who don’t have access to company email.
 
Hey Morgan-Can you people really look yourselves in the mirror with a straight face? No one buys the above load to crap. You were circumventing Captains Authority and you got busted hard by USAPA. You deserved the embarrassment and the CNN media attention. The board should eject Doug yesterday.
 
Hi Everyone,

Morgan from corp comm here. Wanted to share with this board the US News Now that was distributed last night to all US Airways Employees. Thanks.




This message was sent to all employees.
Please post for those who don’t have access to company email.

Morgan, I'm a really wise gnome that aspires beyond burger flipping at Wendy's and I was wondering if I could have a job not just at US Airways, which is a fine airline reknowned for it's upper hand in sophistication, but in corporate communications. You're actually my hero.

Besides, if you hook me up, I can help you. I know 60% of these fools in person.

Love and Fresh fries!
 
Unfortunately, a late meeting to discuss important potential legislation came about and we decided Doug’s time was better spent making our case and the industry’s case in that meeting, while Jim could handle the general industry discussion that the King show planned. What CNN chose to run instead was further discussion of USAPA’s unfounded claims. Had we known that those claims were going to become the main topic of the show, we would have had a US representative present the facts for Mr. King’s viewers and other guests on the show.


OK, Good enough. What prevented a company Rep from calling the show live via TELEPHONE. You might suspect this may go away soon but I don't. You get paid to represent this company and a rebuttal by PHONE would have enlightened the audience. Now they are just wondering, which hurts the situation more.

I know, I know. You were caught off guard. Well no you were'nt. YOU WEREN'T PREPARED!!!!! Period!
 
Setting the Record Straight??

Morgan

It appears to be poor planning on the part of Doug and Corporate Communications that niether of you were prepared for what happened. The USAPA's claim led the news all day and you guys thought the subject wouldn't come up on Larry King???? Very poor planning. It seems that Corporate Communications and Doug knew that he was possibly walking into a public relations nightmare and this was the only way out of it. You sound so confident in you "memo", but not confident enough to send Doug into the lions den. What did he have to loose??? The company's stock has joined the company's reputation in the toilet.

One would have thought the wiz kid in the sandbox would have come out with both barrels cocked, ready to fire, defend his company and give the employees, and stock holders, a leader to stand behind. Nothing can beat a well spoken leader inspiring the masses to believe in him and his efforts to make life a little better for them. Employees are afraid, worried, and deeply concerned about the direction of this industry and especially this company. If for no other reason but to help ease their fears he shoud have dropped everything, gone on national television, and reassured the employees, stockholders, and customers that he is doing everything he can to make things better instead of dumping the need for damage control in the lap of corporate communications.
 
The FAA requires all flights to plan to arrive with 45 minutes of fuel.

Well Morgan, you and the company lost all credibility on this issue with this one statement as far as I'm concerned. Someone really should at least read the appropriate parts of the FAR's before putting out such a statement - whether they understand what they're reading or not. Or maybe the company is merely using the least fuel required by the FAR's for domestic flights under the best circumstances in an attempt to mislead the public who aren't familiar with those FAR's either.

Jim
 
1st : political concerns should override free PR , if it comes down to larry king or the senate , the obvious answer is the senate … good choice . However , on such an important show mike is correct , there should have been a backup speaker or a prepared statement etc .

2. Morgan speaks with a forked tongue …. You do your PR very well Morgan , but I ask you , with our stock so low , why bother with some of the fakeness ? After reading your above post what you were really trying to say is that 8 or so pilots were dragging their feet trying to be dead weight to the company costing us money with extra fuel burn …

While you may feel “constrained†to speak , I am not ….

These pilots have caused MATERIAL HARM to our company , I’m sure that most of our pilots have good sense , however , there are too many who don’t …

We have a 2 billion dollar FUEL cost this year , up from LAST YEAR …. That’s 2 BILLION DOLLARS … !?!?!?! ???? are you unable to grasp what the means ? you must be , so I’ll tell you …

You won’t be seeing any large wage increases … in fact our poor west pilots may in fact be driven down to the wages of the east pilots if our company enters BK … that’s a sad reality ….

Hey us airways pilots ? do you like having a job ? do you enjoy flying ? well then don’t do ANYTHING to harm this company … guess what , if we go out of business , your all going to be out of jobs for a GOOD long while .. what company would even want to touch a us airways pilot ? In any sort of hiring situation your now akin to the plague …


The US economy is collapsing around us , have the good sense to behave like men and accept the realities of the current day .
 
If US Airways wants this to end this PR nightmare they need to come right out and say we screwed up. The aforementioned press release is bull crap they need to come right out and say "WE STAND BY OUR PILOTS AND RESPECT THEIR DECISION TO OPERATE THE AIRCRAFT AS THEY SEE FIT"

Can you imagine a hospital telling a heart surgeon to turn down the lights so they'll save on energy costs?

My god, the stupidity resonating out of Tempe is downright scary. The BOD should meet and heads need to roll over this.

Later,
Eye
 
Morgan, the way things transpired last night I perceived, rightly or wrongly, that Doug ducked the show because of the way events transpired during the day, mostly due to the USAPA ad. Larry King stated on air that they had offered to bring a camera crew to Doug, but that the offer had been refused. Seriously, it seems to me that Doug could have, at a minimum, done a stand-up interview somewhere for five minutes and at least attempted to change the perception that he was ducking the issue. Unfortunately, as we all know, that did not happen.

I do have one question to which I would like to see a company response. From the company perspective is the crux of the USAPA complaint correct, specifically that if the pilots were to be in a training session and an FAA inspector was to sit in on the session that the pilot's license could conceivably be in jeopardy due to the nature of the training? I know USAPA is alleging such a scenario, so I would personally like to see how the company perceives such an allegation.

Thank you for participating here.
 
autofixer' date='Jul 17 2008, 10:23 AM' post='627150']

This is a PR debacle of gigantic proportions for USAPA. Most of the general public will be left wondering about safety. USAPA knows that a Captain can have as much fuel on board as he thinks is necessary. USAir has no say in that. They can flap their mouths all they want but to no avail.

[b]The public will not remember squat past tomorrow night. They will remember there was a problem, but they will not remember the airline. They probably are getting on American and Continental flights today, asking the flight attendants if the pilots have enough fuel. They buy their tickets on Priceline and don't even know the airline on which they are flying until they click "purchase". It is, was and always will be about price for the general public.[/b]
[/quote]


You are spot on but what they will remember is the perception that USAir has -safety issues-.
 
<snipped for brevity> I haven't turned my TV on yet today and I don't think I will.

Well I did and IT was there. Ugh. BTW I am not in the habit of writing to myself but I turned the dang telly on so I felt I had to fess up.

Utterly with a

U
 
Back
Top