Council 44
Chairman
and
Vice Chairman Update

June 14, 2018

Fellow Council 44 Pilots,

Last week the MEC by a vote of 12–7 directed the MEC chairman to remove Captain Kessler as the MEC Scheduling Committee chairman, and today nearly all of the Scheduling Committee volunteers have subsequently resigned, leaving one of our busiest and most complicated committees in a state of almost nonexistence.

The MEC administration has voiced no concerns to the MEC over the performance of the Scheduling Committee or its subcommittees (PBS, SOT, or RCC), which by all accounts have followed all direction given to them by the MEC and MEC administration, who they report to.

We acknowledge that voting representatives have the right to direct such a move, nonetheless, Scott and I are dismayed by the firing of Captain Kessler as this decision by 12 members of the MEC is a de facto vote of “no confidence” in the MEC administration. It stands to reason, if the MEC administration were concerned with the performance of the Scheduling Committee, the MEC chairman would have removed Captain Kessler before a vote ever took place, or at a minimum someone on the MEC administration would have briefed the MEC of their concerns. This was not the case.

We cannot find one single instance where Captain Kessler went outside the direction of the MEC or the MEC administration. To the contrary, Captain Kessler and his team were directly responsible for recovering over 27,000 hours of pay—which equals approximately $12.9 million in direct compensation to the pilot group.

The preceding facts bring us to the conclusion that this move was personal and politically motivated, and causes us concern in two main areas.

First, we see an obvious disconnect between a majority of the MEC and the MEC administration. As mentioned above, the MEC administration has made no reports to the MEC indicating poor performance from the Scheduling Committee, nor any intent to remove Captain Kessler from his position. This is the MEC saying we don’t trust and/or value your judgement on how to run the administration.

(It is important to note that the MEC chairman appoints the Scheduling Committee chairman, and the MEC votes to confirm the appointment.)

Second, to make such a move without a follow-on plan in place is irresponsible. Since no one with the appropriate experience was willing to work for this MEC as Scheduling Committee chairman, the MEC chairman was forced to appoint a sitting member of the MEC to temporarily oversee the daily functions of the committee. In essence, your Scheduling Committee is in a state of receivership. Using an elected representative to chair an MEC committee is unprecedented. Having a seated MEC member chair a major MEC committee brings MEC politics into the administration and is analogous to having the fox watching the henhouse.
This is a bad practice and usually results in bad business.

We voted against taking this discussion into executive closed session, and therefore will not discuss what was said during that session. However, during the Scheduling Committee report to the MEC (in open session), a few members of the MEC and one in particular questioned Captain Kessler as though he were on trial, and it became a virtual kangaroo court. Your MEC is well on its way to returning to less transparency. Additionally, if you don’t think exactly like the majority, you and your ideas are not welcome. This is a dangerous path and it will not produce positive and productive results.

Captain Kessler in open session was berated for ARCOS and the SILs. To be clear, Captain Kessler as the Scheduling Committee chairman does not have sole responsibility for either of these initiatives as they currently exist. This is a shared responsibility among the Scheduling Committee and the MEC Administration.

During the implementation of ARCOS, he briefed the MEC at every meeting—and in particular detail during the April special MEC meeting. ARCOS, like many new programs, had a less-than-optimal start, but Captain Kessler worked quickly to convince the Company to implement his suggestions, which were quickly being adopted by the Company. The system was improving on a daily basis.

SILs: The Company notified the Scheduling Committee chairman that they intended to offer SILs due to temporary overstaffing during the summer months caused by operational improvements not associated with any language in our contract. As soon as Captain Kessler was aware of this, he briefed the MEC administration and was not given any direction to engage with the Company over their implementation or value. After he briefed the MEC administration, the only direction given to him was to prepare an alert to help pilots understand how SILs work and how to bid for them.

No one can ever be forced into a SIL, and 186 pilots took advantage of them to take time off with their families. Fire the man for following direction and doing his job? We say—not!

Below this update you will find the letter of resignation that was submitted to the entire MEC.

In closing, we are extremely frustrated that the chairman of one of the most effective Scheduling Committees we have had was removed for dubious reasons.

Respectfully,

Sam and Scott