I'm gonna stick around for a while and see what I can make out of whats left. Maybe we can go back to having a good time once in a while
My feelings
exactly. B)
700UW...
This is not about you, it is about cost driven changes to the regulation era organizational and operational structure. The most important fact is, that if we can get our costs down to where WN and JB are, we will not just survive but succeed. If we cannot, it is only a matter of time until we cease to exist.
You have to understand , I hold no animosity towards your work group, I only support efforts to rationalize our overhead in comparison to our direct competition.
That competition is no longer the other legacies (they are as wounded, or even more so than U at this point). It is the LCC's that are attacking our core markets,
Unlike past management (that could allow the regulation era structure to remain intact). this one has no choice. We have nowhere left to run, no shelter from the changes around us. We have to stop clinging to what was, and move on.
Your pipe dream of some "Super CEO" that could have come up with some magical business plan that no one could copy, that could overcome the numerous advantages of our competition, and allow all of the work groups to avoid sacrifice is pure fantasy. We cannot compete at a disadvantage, that is plain and simple.
Face it, even if every management mistake (that you are more than wiling to point out) was never made,
we would still be fighting for our survival right now (just like every other carrier... including those with the managers that do give away Explorers)
Because it is the one "mistake" that you are
not willing to point out, that has kept us at a disadvantage with our low cost competition. That "mistake", was that all the legacies created a "false sense of security", by maintaining labor cost parity with ONLY with one another, not the LCC's. Was that managments fault, or should labor share the blame for an unwillingness to address such a weakness until it was too late...?
Your job is important 700UW, and I respect those that accomplish it in the same way I respect all the people that make this airline work. But the sad truth is that it is not certificated, and it is caught in a situation in which both the company looks to cut costs, and your union is looking to salvage what leverage they have remaining.
With that combination, you cannot maintain the situation that you have tried so hard to keep. That is economic and political reality. Neither the comapny nor the IAM is looking to get rid of utility, but in the grand scheme of things, when cuts have to be made, then choices have to be made as well.
You know as well as I do, that the position you maintained, at the pay you made, can no longer exist in our new reality. But that does not mean that we have to write off utility altogethr. IMO it is a better idea, and
better job security for the role of those positions to focus on aircraft maintenance/upkeep, where you can work alongside mechanics in a cost effective manner to keep the fleet in prime condition... Rather than mere aircraft servicing. (better skills and higher productivity = higher pay and job security)l
Change is inevitable, and smart people adapt to and profit from it, while those that are inflexible are just left behind. I hope that a person as smart as you are 700UW will be able to make the most of what remains, and what opportunities will arise. That is the best that any of us can do right now.
Good Luck, to you and everyone here...
