Some guy

Just got a message from our illustrious leader concerning the FDA's and future hiring. Here's a direct quote:

"Management agreed to incorporate existing and future enhancements to the FDA LOA through the negotiating and implementation process and work is under way to craft the necessary language for deposit assistance and the increased shipping allowance. Management acknowledged their requirement to fill remaining FDA vacancies through hiring and is well into that process."

Good luck to all those interested! SG

FR8Hauler

I hope these new hires have big saving accounts. They are going to need it in HKG and Paris. If you want a job bad enough I guess going bankrupt to fulfill your dream is acceptable!

Deuce130

Did I correctly understand DW when he said that individual 757 FLEX/LCA pilots negotiated their own deals with the company, on a case by case basis and outside of the union? Then those same pilots had issues when the actual CBA caught up to them? Please tell me I misunderstood that.

Gunter

You paint the 757 Standards guys with too broad a brush.

When they, and others, worked 727 standards/LCA/Flex they got widebody passover. It is a job held by some bright and hard working folks and I think they deserve the pay. Are you expecting these highly experienced folks to do the same job on the 757 at narrow body rates AND be forced to pay back years of passover pay due to a hole in the CBA concerning the addition of a narrowbody plane to the fleet? I didn't think so. No one does. So they bid the widebodies they could hold and are now out of standards because the company wants to pay 757 LCAs and Flexes narrow body pay. I don't think the 757 guys had unreasonable expectations of keeping their previous pay rates.

RedeyeAV8r

Unreasonable? Maybe , maybe not, except that is outside the bounds of the Contract.

Albief15

I'm not a flex, so I am going to speak with some "percpetions" and second hand SA here that may not be entirely accurate. So take this with a grain of salt. RAC96 and some others may have better SA.

A long while back, Flexes didn't get POP--they used POPA or some other program. TT and a few others in the 727 decided to return to the line and signed a letter saying they wanted to return. Seems like it was 27/35 or a similar ratio. So...faced with a large walkout--the compay came through with a better deal.

I seem to remember when the training guys got lost some benefits on the last contract, part of the answer to them was they had their own leverage and could use that to improve their situtation. Again--that was my PERCEPTION of what was being said--I may have heard it wrong. But that's what I thought was implied. Now that the guys used that very leverage, they are being told "not so fast...."

Fact is if a guy could bid and hold CDG in the left seat but not MEM, and could swing a deal to stay in MEM...I'd probably say "hey...I want a piece of THAT!" (And in fact....I am in that situation). Allowing some guys to negotiatie their own side deals isn't in our best interests--it completely negates seniority. At the same time, some of those bros are great instructors and good guys--and I'd like to see them get a good POP deal. But those deals need to be written down, so anyone can compete for them.

I have mixed emotions on this. I like the 757 team--some great guys. I understand (especially after the LOA) some of the folks might have decided to work their own in-house deal instead of getting the union involved. The company apparently doesn't want to put anything down in writing or firm things up--which means those guys go the union to see what they can work out. However, how many of YOU would have competed for a job where you could hold 757 overseas at widebody pay but not had to go? So-tough spot. To help everyone out we have to slap the beer glass out of some good guys hands...

The guys I really sorry for are the ones about to train. Lots of chaos right now. Earlier in the year I got to meet the FAA guy who oversees our A300 and 757 program. He told me repeatedly how great the AQP program is and how much I would enjoy the 757 training. Interesting to see if that will still be the case..

av8rmike

First off, DW has made a whole lot of new friends with his assertions that the 757 Flex/LCA/SCA cadre tried to work their 'own deals'. That's pure BS.

Additionally, he asserted that there was no requirement to have experienced instructors to stand up the program. Also, pure BS. Do you really think the local FSDO fellas would allow a program to be stood up with a cadre of inexperienced instructors?... That requirement came from the FSDO, the FAA at the national level and upper management who was concerned about this from a safety standpoint. No other way to put it, he's flat wrong.

Almost every single Flex instructor and all LCA/SCAs at this company are getting WB Captain pay. If you have to use experienced people, WB pay goes along with it.

The 757 program has been built from nothing through the efforts of these individuals. The company goofed up and didn't address the issue early enough, no question there. They are trying to redress this wrong and take care of the very people who are necessary to the continuation of the 757 program. However, who's standing in the way? Our own union.

We have never brought a lower paying aircraft on property and our contract does not address issues associated with this. Rather than acknowledge this is a deficiency and work to fix it, the union leadership trumpets that they won't allow the contract to be violated! When the 757 program shuts down because there are no instructors, make sure you let the MEC know how happy you are that they elected to stick it to the man rather than fix the problem.

DW's comment about addressing issues with new aircraft introduction with the 777 is disingenuous. The issues are the same, just in reverse as those of the 757. If he's willing to work to let guys too junior to hold an aircraft be instructors, then he sure as he11 should be willing to work on behalf of the senior guys keeping their pay to stand up the 757.

The MEC should be the champion of the individuals who made the effort to stand up the 757 program. They should be fighting to protect their pay and recognize that they are necessary for the success of the program. Instead, they rail against "the actions of the 757 Flex/LCAs" and "special deals", neither of which are true. Isn't 98 hours a month at the highest pay rate, housing stipend, use of company car and 5 hours a day a "special deal"? Must not be....

OK, off the soapbox now....

Unknown Rider

What's the current status with 727 Flex's? Are they being allowed POP or did that go away with the last contract?

Busboy

No offense Mike. But, in the simplest of terms...Wouldn't this be called leverage? Call me crazy, if you want. But, I know the company does not waive contractual issues when we realize that we've "goofed up".

If this causes the 757 program to come to a halt...I would think it would definitely be called leverage.

FlybyKnite

And I just thought the LOA by itself stunk to high heaven, now the mudhole appears to be much deeper. So help me understand.
OK, it was addressed at the MEC meeting and the answer was ?? Was it the second part above that is buried several paragraphs down ?? And that means the MEC was "facilitating the issue" ?

And who could blame someone for thinking that "facilitating the issue" wasn't an all-inclusive action? And should I be shocked that the company only told the union part of what was transpiring?

Apparently somebody believes there is FDA leverage to be had.

"with management" -- So why so many holes in the LOA that it needed to be spruced up time and again??
"and the membership"-- Would that be Before, During or After the Vote, or the would it be the Bid??

If Process is important, then Content is paramount. I personally have a problem with a goal to "Secure ANY . . . enhancement" that sacrifices $$$ for QOL or vice versa. Securing enhancements should be tempered with the words: reasonable, member-supported, and leveraged to name a few.

I can't wait for the 777 show to begin.