hoover

not enough pilots to cover more hrs on the schedule. If I remember they had 4000 hrs of flying and only 2000 hrs of pilots availability. Numbers aren't accurate but the point is.

LUVisLost

They are not ordering you to work on your day off. They will use regression analysis to show that over the last “N” months they have had this many trips filled in open time by the pilots, now they are not filling it. The court system is very sympathetic to business and they will say it must be because of an illegal job action. They will sue SWAPA and most likely win.

Same with sick time. If your sick calls exceed 2 standard deviations outside your norm they will pursue action. If the fatigue calls go up to exceed 2 SD they will assume a job actin. The key is actually to set the average high BEFORE this stuff happens thus you can drain your sick bank and not exceed 2 SD outside your norm. Call in sick 6 times a year you can pretty much call in sick all you ever want going forward. 1 fatigue call a quarter in the past, you are good to go exceeding that going forward.

I’m one of the 1221 and as far as I’m concerned Gary broke the spirit of this company. I will not lift a finger to help this company out moving forward. I am for all intensive purposes a US Air pilot....

ZapBrannigan

“Intents and purposes.”

- a former USAir pilot

JulesWinfield

This is also what has lead to the explosion of stock buybacks. Around the same time, the regulations preventing them were lifted.

barabek

First of all, I'm sorry you and others got the warn letters. Secondly, I'm not a lawyer, so I'm not gonna argue what would judge's ruling be in the case you presented. I'm trying to bring 2 logical arguments that in my opinion would discourage the company to sue in the first place, (that's provided they actually furlough and then the pilots collectively stop picking up trips - both premises highly questionable in my opinion).
1. SWAPA's counter argument: Of course our pilots pick up less open time. We have X number of furloughs, Y number of downgrades, and Z number of voluntary long term leaves. We have significantly less active pilots, thus significantly less picking up.
2. I think GK with his management is not interested in starting a "war" with the labor groups. They should already be in the damage control mode. Even if they end up not furloughing a single employee, the damage to the morale and management/employees relations already suffered greatly. Any legal action against the labor would just exacerbate the problem and further damage already fragile trust relationship.
Maybe I'm naive, but that's how I see it.

DownAndDirty

I saw something on a FB group that I thought was a good idea. I'm a 1221er but also on ExTO so this wouldn't affect me, but someone mentioned leaving OT trips for more junior dudes/dudettes in the 1221 group for these next few months. I know this might be a tough sell, but I know my batting average on OT is about .005 so it'd be cool for some of us in the potential furlough zone to stack some trips while we can. This might also help the standard deviation data if some of you senior people decide to not pick up OT if a furlough takes place.

Lewbronski

1. If there’s a significant uptick in the rate of sick or fatigue calls, maintenance write-ups, or a significant decrease in the rate of open time being picked up, airline management can, and has in the past, successfully sue a labor union. As demonstrated by Spirit’s filings in their 2017 case, management can submit APC posts as part of the evidence supporting their contention that labor is engaged in a concerted action in violation of the RLA’s status quo provisions. Management could also submit posts from just about anywhere like the FB group or the SWAPA forum. They could obtain declarations from management-friendly pilots stating that they heard other pilots discuss not picking up open time or whatever. They will also bring in their data and analytics to prove their point. All of this will be supported in the background by FordHarrison.

If a furlough occurs and open time stops being picked up as much for whatever reason, even if it’s completely unrelated to any kind of concerted job action, posts on this thread are examples of what could be used as evidence to damage the union’s cause. Some of the posts on this this thread are prima facile evidence of how many guys’ ignorance of the RLA and how it works has held back this profession not just in terms of losing lawsuits but also in not having the collective will to take advantage of the RLA during negotiations.

SWAPA could attempt to make any argument they want, but as was explained, even when Spirit published an unflyable schedule, management was able to obtain an enforcement action against the union. The imperative of the RLA is to avoid an interruption of commerce. The judge is duty-bound to enforce that imperative. If one side or the other presents a better case, the judge will rule in favor of that side. Unfortunately, in Spirit’s case, as bogus as you and I think it is, the Spirit pilots who posted on APC about not picking up, calling in sick, and intimidating other pilots made it easier for the judge to rule against the pilots.

2. Management at SWA does not seem to care about starting a war with employees. If they did, would they have sent out WARN notices a few weeks before Christmas? Look at the case of our maintainers that RJS linked to. Would management have done that if they cared about starting a war? They’ve already mostly torched the morale and trust relationship. If you’re still clinging to the idea that they luv you, even a little bit, maybe it’s time to let go?

barabek

Dude, did you even read my post?! Where did I say anything that would suggest I "cling to the idea they luv me"? On the contrary, I never bought into this LUV BS. The cool aid they make you drink in Dallas was always the most annoying thing for me about this airline. All I was saying is there is no real benefit for the management to conduct a war. It's self destructive and nobody benefits at the end. I also stated I believe the damage has been already done, but could get much worse if they want it.
Also, Spirit case was different. It was during nasty contract negotiations where they were unable to attract enough pilots to run their operation. Nobody was facing a furlough or was on the street.
Whatever, I'm not trying to convince anyone about anything. Just stating my opinion. Next time please read the post before you come to conclusions. If you actually read it, your comprehension failed.

LunkerHunter

thx👍
.........

CA1900

One of the many ways that the Railway Labor Act is horribly skewed against labor. All the more reason not to give them an inch of concession, because it's so hard to get it back.