Tentative ALPA Agreement on Furlough Mitigation

[767jetz]

From the UAL ALPA MEC Communications Update:

"On Thursday June 26th, ALPA and the Company reached a Tentative Agreement regarding Furlough Mitigation. Over the next few days, the MEC will be reviewing the final language for the TA. This TA only covers Special Personal Leaves, Voluntary Furloughs, Staffing Formula modifications, Surplus Reduction Lines and a Furlough Recall Bypass program.

In subsequent meetings, the Negotiating Committee will be discussing with the Company other means to further mitigate furloughs to include a Voluntary Early Retirement Program, as well as possible job opportunities for furloughed pilots.

If the MEC accepts the Tentative Agreement, the Negotiating Committee will be sending out to the pilot group a series of Questions and Answers to help explain the agreement."
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Word from within is that ALPA hopes to cut the announced furloughs of 950 active pilots almost in half. Any amount of layoffs of our front line employees is a tragedy. But this is still good news as it will minimize the blow.

I found the part about "job opportunities for furloughed pilots to be interesting. I wonder what this could mean. I guess we'll find out once this TA passes and final language is released.

 

[BugWash]

Word from within is that ALPA hopes to cut the announced furloughs of 950 active pilots almost in half. Any amount of layoffs of our front line employees is a tragedy. But this is still good news as it will minimize the blow.

I found the part about "job opportunities for furloughed pilots to be interesting. I wonder what this could mean. I guess we'll find out once this TA passes and final language is released.
[/quote]


Hi there 767! I have been a lurker around here and have enjoyed reading your posts. Sort of like the voice of reason in the insanity.

I hope that they are able to cut the furloughs in half. Do you think that will be all that is necessary? Aren't there actually 1450 furloughs to get 950 active? So would that be half of 1450? Oil jumped up again Friday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it gets no worse.

Other questions for you - once DAL/NW merge, do you think there will be a merger announcement with UA/CAL? I think, with two trips to CH11, CAL is leveraged to the hilt and might be in worse shape that has been mentioned.

Do you think UA passesd on LCC because they were in such poor shape it would be easier to gain what little was left in a fire-sale?

Just curious about your thoughts on this.

 

[767jetz]

Hi there 767! I have been a lurker around here and have enjoyed reading your posts. Sort of like the voice of reason in the insanity.

Thanks for the compliment. There are those who only come here to attack, when all I am trying to do is inject some rational thought. Your sentiment is appreciated. I'll tackle your questions one at a time.

I hope that they are able to cut the furloughs in half. Do you think that will be all that is necessary? Aren't there actually 1450 furloughs to get 950 active? So would that be half of 1450? Oil jumped up again Friday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it gets no worse.

This gets a bit complicated. And let me preference this part of my answer by saying it is only an opinion based on things I have observed and read, and some discussions with union leaders. The number to focus on is 950. That is the number of active pilot positions (people actually currently flying airplanes for United) that counts. The company doesn't care where those 950 come from. They just want 950 less headcount.

Demographics vary widely from one airline to another. In our case we have many pilots on some type of personal or military leave who are not currently flying our airplanes. So to get to 950 actives, you need to start at the bottom and work your way up until you get there. The inactives have a seniority number, but are not flying for us right now anyway. In UA's case, I believe the majority of the inactive pilots are concentrated on the low and high end of the seniority list. Many junior pilots had other jobs, such as military flying that they went back to full time. Many older pilots are on some type of long term medical leave. Then there are certain management pilots scattered throughout who are not considered active pilots although they maintain their seniority.

Inactives are not eligible to participate in the furlough mitigation. In effect they are already on voluntary leave. ALPA hopes that enough people participate so that the company only needs to involuntarily furlough around 500.

Now, as for oil, I think it will get a bit higher before the bubble bursts and it comes crashing down. There is much discussion about regulating commodity futures to curb speculation. If this happens, you could see a quick decline in oil, much like the housing market. That changes everything, and airlines who are furloughing could swing into a hiring frenzy again. This is exactly why ALPA believes UAL is overreacting to market conditions.

Other questions for you - once DAL/NW merge, do you think there will be a merger announcement with UA/CAL? I think, with two trips to CH11, CAL is leveraged to the hilt and might be in worse shape that has been mentioned.

I have always believed, and have said many times in the recent past, that an alliance between CO and UA COULD possibly pave the way to revisiting the merger possibilities between the two in the future. Especially if the DL/NW merger is successful and difficult economic pressures squeeze the airlines further.

I can't speak about how much CO is leveraged. I do know that they have one of the few management teams out there that knows how to run an airline and how to treat their employees in a customer service industry.

Do you think UA passesd on LCC because they were in such poor shape it would be easier to gain what little was left in a fire-sale?

There are many reasons UA passed on LCC. I can say with certainty that Tilton wanted it badly in order to cash in. He has demonstrated time and again that he is interested in enriching himself at all cost. And you can be sure that a good portion of any "synergies" realized would have been redirected in some form to him and his top dogs.

I'm sure there are some who will attack me on this next statement because they can't stand the thought that labor could possibly have any influence or power over the course of a company like UA (particularly those who have a grudge against ALPA), so I will say this with a wink and a nudge... It would be safe to say, "probably", without admitting to anything "definitively", that it is "possible", that behind the scenes ALPA played "some" role in scuttling the deal. Is that non-commital enough? You'll have to read between the lines. That is all I will say on that subject.

ALPA knew that a deal with LCC would bring huge labor problems and bring very little to the table in the long run. Even in a fire-sale there wouldn't be much value for United to step in. Domestically everyone is making huge capacity cuts. Why pick up more domestic capacity when you just parked 94 domestic airplanes? If UA wanted to increase domestic capacity again, they could just take delivery of the many A320 options that are currently deferred.

 

[BugWash]

767Jetz,

Thank you for answering my questions. I think the attack people on this board are probably at LCC. That is a guess. If I worked there I'd be in attack mode too. Fear brings out the worst in people.

On the company trying to help the laid off pilots, didn't they do this after 9/11 as well? It seems like they tried to get them interviews at Skywest and Mesa?

Here have have oil at $143 and counting. I'm so ready to get Bush out of office.

Another day, another dollar.................hope all is well in your part of the world.
Bug

 

[767jetz]

Thank you for answering my questions. I think the attack people on this board are probably at LCC. That is a guess. If I worked there I'd be in attack mode too. Fear brings out the worst in people.

Agreed.

On the company trying to help the laid off pilots, didn't they do this after 9/11 as well? It seems like they tried to get them interviews at Skywest and Mesa?

Well, there were some similar mitigation techniques applied, but not out of the goodness of their hearts. It was negotiated by ALPA. Also, there were a whole different set of rules because at the time we had a better contract and more control of the board of directors. That was all lost during BK. Thankfully our union members are unified and our union leaders are doing the best they can in a difficult environment to forward our interests.

 

[BugWash]

767Jetz,

Do you think the rumor is true that the company plans on paying the medical insurance for the pink slipped pilots for one year? Wonder why? Maybe they think they might not be gone that long?

Curious if it's true.

 

[767jetz]

767Jetz,

Do you think the rumor is true that the company plans on paying the medical insurance for the pink slipped pilots for one year? Wonder why? Maybe they think they might not be gone that long?

Curious if it's true.

I haven't heard that rumor yet. (Until now that is.) We'll see when ALPA releases the final language of the TA.

 

[UnitedChicago]

Hi there 767! I have been a lurker around here and have enjoyed reading your posts. Sort of like the voice of reason in the insanity.

Thanks for the compliment. There are those who only come here to attack, when all I am trying to do is inject some rational thought.

just warms the heart, a friendship is formed

 

[767jetz]

just warms the heart, a friendship is formed