DG1000

You mean he did his job to protect CMR pilots from getting stapled then immediately furloughed? Ala AA/TWA?

There’s a lot more to this story that is totally moot and a bad case of thread creep. But I hope we can both agree management was the one pulling the strings of all the puppets that were involved.

Sunvox

looks like ALPA and the company are more than a year ahead of me . . .

sailingfun

You clearly were not there at the time. Here is the letter that laid out the Conair pilots and their MEC’s position.

TO: Comair Pilots
FROM: J.C. Lawson, Comair MEC Chairman DATEecember 16, 2002
Your MEC met in CVG with the Delta MEC Chairman, Captain Will Buergey, at his request, to discuss preferential hiring of furloughed Delta pilots at Comair. Through this letter, I hope to dispel rumors and provide a more thorough understanding of the purpose and outcome of that meeting.

The Delta MEC, while in session at the bi-annual October Board of Directors meeting in Hollywood, Florida, formally directed the Delta MEC Chairman via resolution to meet with the Comair MEC Chairman to seek preferential hiring for furloughed Delta pilots at Comair while allowing them to retain their Delta seniority.

The general philosophy held by the Comair MEC is:

We are sensitive to the regrettable plight of all furloughed pilots in our industry.
We encourage our management to hire pilots who seek a future at Comair.
We have formally approached Comair management and our management has agreed to preferential hiring of furloughed ALPA pilots.
We agree with our company's policy that requires prospective Comair pilots to resign their seniority at their previous carrier. We believe our Company's industry-standard policy requiring seniority resignation is sound and wise. It promotes the general health and welfare of all Comair employees and serves to protect the future of our company.
At our meeting in CVG, Captain Buergey offered preferential hiring to Comair pilots if the Comair MEC would recommend to Comair management that they hire furloughed Delta pilots and allow them to retain their Delta seniority.
Your MEC responded that hiring any pilots at Comair who do not resign their seniority at their previous carrier gives rise to numerous substantive concerns. The Delta MEC's offer of (future) preferential hiring at Delta is not sufficiently substantive to overcome those concerns and solicit Comair pilots' support. We suggested three alternative concepts, any one or all of which might lead to a mutually beneficial solution:

Relax the Delta PWA, Section 1, seat restrictions imposed upon Comair and ASA that limit our growth in 70-seat and larger airframes.
Negotiate Delta Brand Scope language with Delta management that defines all Delta flying within the Delta revenue stream to be performed solely by Delta, Comair, and ASA pilots.
Negotiate a plan for future integration of our Delta, Comair, and ASA pilots seniority lists that fairly recognizes the efforts and contributions of all.

The Comair MEC stands ready to work with the collective MEC's to bring about change that makes sense in a challenging economic environment and works for all pilots who perform flying under the Delta brand. As we stated in the Tuesday, December 3rd meeting, our door is still open.

COMAIR MEC
AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION, INTERNATIONAL
SUITE 120 3940 OLYMPIC BOULEVARD ERLA

full of luv

Bull puckey!

DAL owned ASA at the time, their pilots didn't require submission of Delta seniority to join the bottom of their list... that was a COMAIR exclusive at the time.

Snap, the truth is a bitter pill even 17 years later and many Delta pilots will never forget for another 20 years!

DG1000

I most definitely was there. Hired in 1996 and stayed until Delta forced the doors closed in 2012. I could care less if you believe me or not.

I remember that letter well. That was the MEC’s letter not a line pilots opinion. That letter offered many resolutions, none of which were palatable to the Delta MEC chairman. There was no counter-proposal or future discussions. Hindsight being 20/20 there was room left open for dialog that could’ve changed the industry for the better, but it didn’t happen. Capt. Lawson did his duty to defend CMR pilots to the best of his ability. I might not have agreed with him; but I respect his integrity in doing his job. How often have you disagreed with your MEC?

DG1000

DAL owned Comair. We were a wholly-owned subsidiary, not a fee-for-departure carrier. DAL could’ve forced CMR management to change its policy and they chose not to. Management driving a wedge between employee groups to further their own agenda? What a novel tactic!

I really hope DAL pilots will never forget what happened and why. CMR pilots certainly won’t forget the way we (among others) were treated, as second class citizens within ALPA. The ALPA I still faithfully support.

Zenofzin

The other point is you can not resign your seniority number until you are recalled. My buddy got forloughed from NWA and had to “resign”his number, the NWA chief pilot threw the letter in the garbage as he said he would. You can’t quit a job you don’t have.... That’s just guys trying to be big fish in a small pond, doesn’t work that way. lol we had Express guys telling CAL flow backs that they bet they wished they could stay at Express and not have to go back to mainline, see how that one worked out.

sailingfun

If the line pilots did not support this where were the recall motions.

John Carr

Probably a similar place the L-UAL guys were after the back door/70 seat giveaway fiasco during BK round 2...........

sailingfun

I am still trying to wrap my mind around how a Comair pilot could claim the MEC did not support the position I posted given the letter directly from their MEC. On top of that there is of course the RJDC founded at Comair.