Thoughts On A Friday Nite

[BoeingBoy]

I started to call this "Deep Thoughts", but quickly realized that a more apt title would be "Misellaneous Bits & Pieces That Happened to Pop Out"


THE PLAN

In the beginning there was the MOAP (Mother of All Plans) - the employees grudgingly accepted it, the creditors & BK Judge blessed it, and it was good......for awhile.

A month and a half ago there was son of MOAP, affectionally called "the New Plan". This new plan was to be announced amid much fanfare. But wait, those pesky unions didn't want to negotiate. Can't let them peek at the New Plan until they pay the price of admission, so the New Plan was hidden away.

Now we have - "a work in progress" that will hopefully give birth to a plan.

But don't worry - we haven't reached Plan 9 .... yet.


OUTSOURCING

It could be said that Bronner fired a shot across the IAM's bow today, but that wouldn't be accurate. A shot across the bow is usually the first shot fired and we're far past that. It could be argued that the change-over to Sabre was outsourcing. Going back a lot further, the co-branded affiliates represented a form of outsourcing. Of course, there are many other "partial" outsourcing episodes - catering, expressed stations, and the list goes on. So the heavy-maintenance issue is just the latest, and possibly not the last.


SCOPE

The outsourcing issue leads naturally to scope, since the scope clause defines how much flying can be outsourced. In exchange for scope relief in MOAP, a "soft landing" was arranged - jobs for all those furloughed by the mainline fleet reduction. There was the promise of jets for the W/O'ed, the affiliates, and there was MDA - at the time destined to become the 4th W/O'ed. Well, PSA is finally getting jets, the affiliates are getting jets about as fast as they come off the assembly line, and MDA has morphed into a "sorta" mainline.

As things stand at this instant, the W/O'ed are in a state of limbo - combined, divested, who knows. MDA, which hasn't carried a revenue passenger yet, is also facing an uncertain future. Will it fold into PSA? Or Mesa? Or stay as is? The only thing that seems certain is that the "soft landing" promised to the mainline furloughed may be turning into a rocky road for not just them, but all the folks at PSA, ALG, & PI.

Looking forward "through a glass darkly", what could the future hold. The Emb-190 is on the horizon and the word seems to be "if JetBlue flys them we will follow". Since the 190 & 170 are more similiar than the 757 & 767 (at least on paper), it seems natural to assume that where-ever the 170's go, the 190's will trail along behind. Didn't someone important once say that the 190 would make a good replacement for the 737?


GROWTH

Way back in the MOAP days, there was no promise of growth but merely a limit on shrinkage. It may be safe to assume that many of us hoped that growth would follow somewhere after MOAP was successful.

With the talk of the New Plan late last year, there were hints (teases?) that a component could be mainline growth. Mention was made of "60 new Airbus's" that would make the future rosy.

Today, Bronner mentioned that growth could be possible, would even be desirable. Just not necessarily as part of the "work in progress". Once the company is in the black (is that the same as stabilized?) there might be interest in growth.


Well,

That's enough of my ramblings for now.

Jim

 

[USA320Pilot]

BoeingBoy:

BoeingBoy said: "Once the company is in the black (is that the same as stabilized?) there might be interest in growth."

USA320Pilot: Yes and it could happen sooner than later.

Respectfully,

USA320Pilot

 

[BoeingBoy]

USA320Pilot,

As far as that one statement of mine, we're probably talking semantics.

To me, being "in the black" means ongoing profits. Obviously, this industry goes thru annual cycles with good quarters and not so good quarters, but I would consider us "in the black" when the profits in the good quarters significantly outweigh the losses in the bad, resulting in a string of annual profits.

"Stabilized" means, to me, that the ongoing losses have stopped. Again, there'll be some quarters better than others, but the overall effect is break-even or slightly better.

As for the greater issues, lets just say we apparently have different perspecdtives. After Braniff went under and we started hiring some of their people, I quickly realized that this industry wasn't necessarily the "put in 30 years, get the gold watch, and live comfortably ever after" world it had been. I later found that there was life after Piedmont - not as good as I'd hoped, but life none-the-less. And here we sit today. I'm fully confident that, for me, there'll be life after US Airways. Whether that "afterlife" starts in 2-1/2 years when I retire or in 2 months with the liquadation of the company, makes little difference to me personally.

Jim

 

[cavalier]

I'm fully confident that, for me, there'll be life after US Airways. Whether that "afterlife" starts in 2-1/2 years when I retire or in 2 months with the liquadation of the company, makes little difference to me personally.

Jim

When you come to that point you find yourself relaxed and able to think clearly.

Part of my entertainment is watching posters. It's as though they write this stuff believing if they write what they want to happen, reality will not affect them personally. It's like a child closing his eyes and telling the people around him they can't see him.

The industry has changed so much that even if every union stood firm and steadfast, it may no longer matter? Every union is NOT standing firm!! This management team knows this and using that fact to their full advantage exploiting the U employee to the point my co-workers are bailing after years of service.

Bronner holds the cards, he has spoken and it will be done, no high IQ required to understand that.

To all my fellow posters before you start on me. No I didn’t cave. NO I will not consider another round of concessions. I hope the IAM refuses to even talk about it, period. But with that stand I do understand the possible consequences of it, so here I am ready and willing to walk away anytime from this point. Like Jim, I am ready.

At least we still have the Employee Assistance Services for people not there yet.