Teddy Blasts Management

[USA320Pilot]

PineyBob:

If you do not like it around US Airways, nobody is telling you have to fly on the company. In fact, management has bared passengers from flying on US Airways before for public comments made and it would not surprise me if that happens to you.

In regard to your comment of “Praying for the day Parker takes over and some self absorbed arrogant pilots end up flying reserve out of PHXâ€￾, it’s clear you do not have a understanding of ALPA Merger Policy. Every integration to date except the Shuttle merger went date of hire. If the Shuttle integration is used a a “slottingâ€￾ template, I and many other US Airways will do very, very well with the integration.

Regards,

USA320Pilot

 

[longing4piedmont]

and now a word from our other Bob..........




notice the lower case and non bolding, not be confused with the real BOB from whom we just heard.......

 

[BoeingBoy]

If the Shuttle integration is used a a “slottingâ€￾ template, I and many other US Airways will do very, very well with the integration.

Regards,

USA320Pilot

[post="279157"][/post]​

An excellent argument for the HP pilots to use against that specific method of slotting - sorta throws the "no windfall" provision out the window.....

Jim

 

[AP Tech]

Great comeback Piney!!!! Its nice to see that U managment and a few of the company "suckups" are now attacking something U requires the most.....the now famous as our inempt managment team likes to refer to as the "Business traveler"

Let the media have a field day!!!!!

 

[MrAeroMan]

You've got my support Bob. There comes a time when a lesson needs to be taught and when that time comes it's best to remove the gloves and teach it with bare knuckles. I'll be in your corner on this one!

 

[ClueByFour]

ClueByFour:

With all due respect, your post is a little to simplistic and there have been mistakes made by both management and labor. Do you think industry fundamentals have had anything to do with US Airways and other legacy carrier finances?

And how many of the major legacy carriers have been in Chapter 11 twice?

How about the events of September 11?

See above. Only one company has been bankrupt twice since then. Only one squandered savings in the first BK in a little over a year.

How about the federal government mandate to close DCA?

For what, a month? It's back open, and U has received the majority of the revenue from this highly competition-insulated airport since.

How about Internet booking and LCC expansion driving down yield?

Been happening for years. CCY, to this day does not recognize the challange this poses. It's 5 years too late. If, after being run out of BWI, the message was not clear than it never will be. PHL and PIT suprised only CCY.

How about government directed increased security costs and taxation?

Matters not. They are passed onto the customer. And every airline is faced with them, not just US.

How about current energy prices?

A solid hedging program would have curtailed the impact. Since US (and the CCY crew) pissed away their hedged positions to "burn furniture," it's no wonder that U is getting hammered with the current cost of oil. Look for some help on this in the not-so-distant future as the bright boys and girls in PHX (who made money via hedges in the past few quarters) take over for the CCY resident losers.

How about the stock market meltdown and bond market yields? Did this have anything to do with retirement fund market values?

Failure on management's part to see it coming. Also, a failure to properly fund the plans to begin with. When you gamble on %15 returns forever, you are bound to get burned. Many companies (my own included) use a much more conservative model than forced to by the feds, and as a result enjoy solid pension plan funding even in a down market.

How about LCC companies who never had offered Defined Benefit plans, retiree health care, or pay their employees a fraction of legacy carrier pre-bankruptcy employee wages?

US still cannot make money despite the fact that your wages are now below the benchmark LCCs. Say it with me: M-a-n-a-g-e-m-e-n-t f-a-i-l-u-r-e.

Now to shift gears, how about prior management mistakes such as creating the largest regionalized airline in the world with the highest CASM? How about de-capitalizing the balance sheet by $2 billion? How about focusing on selling versus managing the company?

I see you get it, even tho you don't want to admit that many of those decisions were made by losers still on the property in CCY.

ClueByFour, there are many more examples and enough blame to go around, but you need to tell the entire story.

[post="279156"][/post]​

Someday, they'll give you that ACP job, and you can wipe the brown off.

As for post-integration ALPA--you better hope that the arbitrator decides to completely ignore the career expectation part of the integration policy.

 

[Harry Callahan]

Bob:
You have my support also. A320 is a company suckup.

 

[jimcfs]

Especially for a company in Chapter 22. Bob's got it on the head... You don't pay yourself at least until you come out of BK.

And dittos about the person Bob is referring to here. What's the old saying? It's hard to soar with eagles when you fly with a bunch of turkeys. This person continues to do so with class above all. I guess we need to get some chicken wire around the CCY compound.

 

[Art at ISP]

I agree with Bob's comments regarding the individual at CCY. This person is a class act, and I sincerely hope they have the opportunity to stay with the new company. I respect and admire this person immensely.

 

[longing4piedmont]

I agree with Bob's comments regarding the individual at CCY. This person is a class act, and I sincerely hope they have the opportunity to stay with the new company. I respect and admire this person immensely.

[post="279182"][/post]​

And "it's not her/his fault" since she/he has to work with what you're dealt. B) I too wish this person the best in the future.

 

[PITbull]

USA320,

We also negotiated the option to accept either profit sharing or stock. The Company states now, we do not have an option. You gave $300 million, we gave $150 million (including our dumped pension). If you negotiated to receive 8%, we should have the option to have 4% if we don't want the "Profit sharing" (specifically now since it has been reduced to shreds).

However, they steamed rolled over us again.

 

[PITbull]

How about the events of September 11?

Company had the luxury of shedding their debts in 2 BK over using the "trump card" of 9/11 over and over again.

How about the federal government mandate to close DCA?

The closing of DCA International immediately after the attacks for 3 weeks yielded the company over $315 million via the ATSB tax payers' bail out of $5 billion for airlines that experienced losses during that interim of time. The company also received a loan of $900 million from the ATSB. What? Are you experiencing amnesia, or do you think we have on this Board?

How about Internet booking and LCC expansion driving down yield?

How about being more creative than "gofares" in PHL.

How about government directed increased security costs and taxation?


All but one other legacy (United who copied us into BK) have experienced or are experincing the same costs and taxation...they have not even had the advantage of a "free pass" through BK even once.United was not so lucky as to capture themselves and ATSBer as the gov. got wise once they realized they screwed up involving tax payers in saving "free interprise" businesses.


How about current energy prices?

Again, all other carriers are experiencing the same energy fuel prices and have not had the luxury of flying into BK. In fact, CO just paid into their employees defined pension plan payment of $50 million.

How about Labor fighting with managment? You've got to be kidding. I think giving $2 billion in cost savings and dumped pensions gives us the "right of way" and the RIGHT to speak out to the senior execs on the lack of hindsight, insight and foresight in operating the airline, not having the acumen of a sound business plan other than a merger with $2 billion worth of cost savings in 2 years from labor alone, not including the vendors and total downsizing of the airline. This same management kicks labor in the teeth every chance they get as evidenced by 3 concessions and an extra bonus of a 5% deferral of free interest moula after we ratified concession #2. And here we sit with only the prospects of a merger plan to survive to show for it.

Why is it that in all the MEC ALPA Code a phone messages it states "please remember that we have 1,879 pilots on furlough"? Is this to impress the furloughees?

 

[PITbull]

I agree with Bob's comments regarding the individual at CCY. This person is a class act, and I sincerely hope they have the opportunity to stay with the new company. I respect and admire this person immensely.

[post="279182"][/post]​

And I hope that AWA CEO is smart enough to take a great Director of Crew Scheduling to PHX with his team in c/s. He is a "class act" along with the VP who is in Employee Benefits. We don't get along too well of late, but he is the finest, and has been at U for a century.

As I have said many times..."balance and fairness" is the key to managing employees and fostering trust.

 

[USA320Pilot]

PitBull:

There have been enough mistakes to go around for year’s to come, both by management and labor. I do not like the unilateral change to the profit sharing plan and what upsets me the most is that the unions were not even notified that the Board was even thinking about the change.

In my opinion, that lacks character.

In regard to ALPA’s position, tonight Jack Stephen said, “MEC Chairman Bill Pollock and MEC Vice Chairman Kim Snider will meet with senior management tomorrow to address several troubling issues, including reports that US Airways' management unilaterally decided to reduce the profit-sharing program the pilots ratified in LOA 93. Captains Pollock and Snider will also discuss other pilot contractual rights that have not been adequately addressed by management as the proposed merger between US Airways and America West moves forward. The MEC will receive a report about this meeting during Wednesday's continuation of the MEC’s regular second quarter meeting in PIT.â€

Meanwhile, my point on industry comparisons is that there are external industry factors in addition to management and labor mistakes that have contributed to this mess.

In fact CBS MarketWatch recently published an column titled “Credit analysts: Ugly picture for airlinesâ€, which speaks to some of the problems I discussed.

See Story

Earlier in this topic I listed a number of huge management mistakes, but every US Airways problem cannot be blamed on management.

Industry fundamentals and labors mistakes have contributed to the problems too. My problem here is that every union gave a concession larger than management’s concession “ask†and every US Airways employee is suffering because of that. It takes a big person to admit a mistake, especially a union leader, when they go against the advice of every financial and legal advisor to obtain a contract worse than what the company sought.

In the case of ALPA, the RC4 lead MEC was the first MEC in history to give senior management more money than management sought – “in my book†that’s not too bright.

For example, senior management offered ALPA the America West pay rates and what did the pilots end up with? Pay rates 10% less than their America West counterparts.

With that said, there is nothing, absolutely nothing that can be done about the past. A colleague of mine often quotes Wayne Gretzky who said, “Look for where the puck is going, not where it has been,†which is why the JNC is a second chance and part of the reason why the Negotiating Committee has been re-staffed.

Regards,

USA320Pilot

 

[PITbull]

First time I agree with you on the "profit sharing" modifiation with no word from managment that this was in the works until after the BOD voted on it.

However, I would ask Pollock just how he voted on that issue being he represents ALPA on that ALPA negotiated seat (which btw, will be gone as well this year. That was taken away last month).