So we're supposed to sit back and watch DECADES of seniority get flushed down the toilet, while some newbie Westie enjoys the fruits of our sacrifice. How about keeping everything separate? Disrespectful? How about voting NO to every contract presented? Disrespectful? This is going to be two VERY divided pilot groups if they're put together. Keep 'em separate, that way, there is no disrespect to anyone.(Unless you somehow feel entitled to my Paris trip out of Philly)...
Hi, I am a "westie" and I have a few comments.
Your decades of seniority were flushed down the toilet way before some of you found out the name was not American(emphasis on the "n")West. The furloughs and cutbacks were all caused by many reasons, none of which had to do with America West Airlines or their pilots. You know your history better than me. Agony Airlines, Colodny, Scofield, deregulation, Piedmont merger, PSA merger, five fatal accidents in five years, gouging passengers for the highest yield in the country,Wolfe, Gangwal, 9-11, closing DCA for a long period, no western market, ancient decrepid 767's competing with newer wide bodies, Metro Jet, code sharing, inability to compete with Southwest's eastern move, Jet Blue, an inefficient mix of narrow body jets including DC-9's, F-28's, F-100's, B-737-200,-300 and -400, Alabama pension, Dave Seymour, yada,yada,yada.
Those jobs were gone and attrition was the only way to get them back,,,, slowly and painfully.
The airline was in a corporate position similar to someone with several ex-wives, several children and step-children,upside down on their mortgage, lost money on adult toys, blew more on gambling and travel, bankrupt, and working within their two weeks notice of losing their job. The past is water under the bridge and only the lessons learned have an positive value.
Now, you could save yourselves a lot of heartache if you are an east pilot who had their heart set on DOH and are now spinning out of control and unable to deal with this award professionally. Look at the merger in general as a new lease on life, a fresh start with new money and a new plan. Consider the west pilots as bringing to the table a viable,large narrow body hub in PHX, and a small, specialized hub in LAS, similar to BOS,LGA or DCA.The wide body flying has been preserved, and international in general has been added, with the additional 757's and announced plans for expansion. You have had 300 some recalls, not only for attrition,but to staff this small amount of growth. Just play connect the dots on the route map and you can see the trememdous potential for additional domestic growth, when we get our act together.
Very few pilots will bid west to east or vice versa, and the operations will be able to operate in parellel for a while. Hating each other just weakens our ability to negotiate a new and more generous contract, and, it gives the growing airlines who have their act together, like Southwest, JetBlue and AirTran, as well as each post CH-11 legacy and unknown competiton like Virgin America a huge advantage over us.
I don't think DOH was ever a realistic result and your union leaders and/or negotiators and lawyers got caught up in the old political hurricane of promising everything but not being able to deliver. Think about how successful a union official would have been in getting elected or appointed to an important position if their platform had been something like seeking a fair seniority integration! They would have been laughed off the property! The DOH target was based on old ALPA merger policy and not realistic. Do you really think 1500 furloughed east pilots would usurp 5/6ths of the current AWA pilots, get retrained and take over the PHX and LAS domicile?
We will only see some positive results from this merger if we work together. I look forward to flying with you guys.
