US Airways ALPA MEC Chairman's Message - June 6, 2007
This is MEC Chairman Jack Stephan with a Chairman’s message to the pilots for Wednesday, June 6, 2007.
Yesterday, the MEC met via telephonic conference call meeting to discuss issues pertaining to addressing the Nicolau award. At the request of several MEC members, the conference call meeting was discontinued so as to deal with the issues in a face-to-face meeting next Monday in CLT. The meeting will convene at 10:00 a.m. at the Charlotte Marriott Executive Park on Westpark Drive.
Today, I accompanied the other MEC officers to the ALPA offices in Washington DC for the meeting called by Captain Prater to discuss the merger with America West. The AWA MEC Chairman and Vice Chairman were also present along with ALPA’s General Counsel and ALPA’s Executive Administrator, Randy Helling. Immediately following the meeting, I along with the other MEC Officers held an MEC informational conference call and briefed the MEC, the Merger Committee and other committee members, and then held a question and answer session.
Overall, I was encouraged with the tone of the meeting. Captain Prater understands the threat to the US Airways Pilots and the implications to the America West Pilots. The purpose of the meeting was to lay some groundwork to support the process of fulfilling the Executive Council resolution concerning the AAA/AWA merger. Recall that a section of the resolution states that the Executive Council desires to fully consider the views of each group and fully deliberate all issues raised in order to effectively discharge its responsibilities. The MEC will continue to deliberate on the options before us with regard to the proposed process of dealing with the Nicolau award at our 2nd quarter MEC meeting next week in CLT.
Now comes the difficult part of my message to you, a message I never wanted to deliver as your Chairman. But accusations and implications made in a recent Council FastRead give me serious concern and need to be addressed. These insinuations, implied or otherwise, are taken totally out of context and grossly misrepresent and mischaracterize comments by myself and others. Much of what I and others have discussed regarding the Nicolau award and how we should best proceed, have been done in closed session. The meetings, you should know, are not closed because we don’t want our pilots to know what is being discussed—they are largely closed to keep information and strategy from management and others we deal with. And regardless of how anyone personally feels about particular comments and strategy concepts proffered at the table by individual reps, it would be reckless for me or for anyone to communicate any views that might misrepresent an individual’s intent or that could potentially cause harm to our strategy and our cause. I will not dignify the accusations with a response. Developing the best strategy and preserving every opportunity we have to succeed in righting the wrong created by Arbitrator Nicolau’s misguided logic is the number one task at hand.
I have warned your representatives, that in dealing with the crisis before us, the kitchen will continue to get hotter, and what we need most now is an MEC that will handle the heat, stay focused on working together, and lead this pilot group like they have since I’ve been MEC Chairman. I know our pilots don’t want excuses, and they certainly don’t want their leadership to play blame games. What our pilots do want are results, and this MEC has the ability to deliver.
I have also been quick to admit to the MEC that I don’t have all the answers. We are clearly in un-chartered waters at present. But our strategy has already paid dividends. The resolution passed by the Executive Council regarding their handling of the award and holding on to the list is historic for this association as well as is Captain Prater’s involvement in the process. And I believe we are on the right path to encourage the Council to continue to take ownership of the aftermath caused by the award. But if we want others to take bold steps on our behalf, we must take them ourselves.
As I have told many of you during my tenure as MEC Chairman, we have all the resources to be successful. The talent and passion that all 12 MEC members bring to the table has positioned us well in dealing with the adversity that has become commonplace at US Airways. I have asked much from them and they have delivered. We all need to roll up our sleeves and continue to do the pilots' work. And in doing so it will be important for all of us to remember going forward that if we want different results we need to find different ways to solve the problem. We need to channel our collective resolve into finding solutions. Rhetoric is a temporary elixir, and it won’t deposit well into your bank accounts, nor will it protect your careers.
There is much left to do. Know that I can handle criticism and admit when I’m wrong; that comes with the territory. Failure, however, is another matter. Failing to deliver to you is not an option as long as I am your Chairman.
So let’s all get back to work and continue to look out for each other. And as always, fly safe, and thanks for listening.
This is MEC Chairman Jack Stephan with a Chairman’s message to the pilots for Wednesday, June 6, 2007.
Yesterday, the MEC met via telephonic conference call meeting to discuss issues pertaining to addressing the Nicolau award. At the request of several MEC members, the conference call meeting was discontinued so as to deal with the issues in a face-to-face meeting next Monday in CLT. The meeting will convene at 10:00 a.m. at the Charlotte Marriott Executive Park on Westpark Drive.
Today, I accompanied the other MEC officers to the ALPA offices in Washington DC for the meeting called by Captain Prater to discuss the merger with America West. The AWA MEC Chairman and Vice Chairman were also present along with ALPA’s General Counsel and ALPA’s Executive Administrator, Randy Helling. Immediately following the meeting, I along with the other MEC Officers held an MEC informational conference call and briefed the MEC, the Merger Committee and other committee members, and then held a question and answer session.
Overall, I was encouraged with the tone of the meeting. Captain Prater understands the threat to the US Airways Pilots and the implications to the America West Pilots. The purpose of the meeting was to lay some groundwork to support the process of fulfilling the Executive Council resolution concerning the AAA/AWA merger. Recall that a section of the resolution states that the Executive Council desires to fully consider the views of each group and fully deliberate all issues raised in order to effectively discharge its responsibilities. The MEC will continue to deliberate on the options before us with regard to the proposed process of dealing with the Nicolau award at our 2nd quarter MEC meeting next week in CLT.
Now comes the difficult part of my message to you, a message I never wanted to deliver as your Chairman. But accusations and implications made in a recent Council FastRead give me serious concern and need to be addressed. These insinuations, implied or otherwise, are taken totally out of context and grossly misrepresent and mischaracterize comments by myself and others. Much of what I and others have discussed regarding the Nicolau award and how we should best proceed, have been done in closed session. The meetings, you should know, are not closed because we don’t want our pilots to know what is being discussed—they are largely closed to keep information and strategy from management and others we deal with. And regardless of how anyone personally feels about particular comments and strategy concepts proffered at the table by individual reps, it would be reckless for me or for anyone to communicate any views that might misrepresent an individual’s intent or that could potentially cause harm to our strategy and our cause. I will not dignify the accusations with a response. Developing the best strategy and preserving every opportunity we have to succeed in righting the wrong created by Arbitrator Nicolau’s misguided logic is the number one task at hand.
I have warned your representatives, that in dealing with the crisis before us, the kitchen will continue to get hotter, and what we need most now is an MEC that will handle the heat, stay focused on working together, and lead this pilot group like they have since I’ve been MEC Chairman. I know our pilots don’t want excuses, and they certainly don’t want their leadership to play blame games. What our pilots do want are results, and this MEC has the ability to deliver.
I have also been quick to admit to the MEC that I don’t have all the answers. We are clearly in un-chartered waters at present. But our strategy has already paid dividends. The resolution passed by the Executive Council regarding their handling of the award and holding on to the list is historic for this association as well as is Captain Prater’s involvement in the process. And I believe we are on the right path to encourage the Council to continue to take ownership of the aftermath caused by the award. But if we want others to take bold steps on our behalf, we must take them ourselves.
As I have told many of you during my tenure as MEC Chairman, we have all the resources to be successful. The talent and passion that all 12 MEC members bring to the table has positioned us well in dealing with the adversity that has become commonplace at US Airways. I have asked much from them and they have delivered. We all need to roll up our sleeves and continue to do the pilots' work. And in doing so it will be important for all of us to remember going forward that if we want different results we need to find different ways to solve the problem. We need to channel our collective resolve into finding solutions. Rhetoric is a temporary elixir, and it won’t deposit well into your bank accounts, nor will it protect your careers.
There is much left to do. Know that I can handle criticism and admit when I’m wrong; that comes with the territory. Failure, however, is another matter. Failing to deliver to you is not an option as long as I am your Chairman.
So let’s all get back to work and continue to look out for each other. And as always, fly safe, and thanks for listening.
