Displacement Bid 20-07D
#281
Banned
Joined APC: Mar 2018
Posts: 1,358
I agree with everything you said except this. OM and SK put us in this situation. They have squandered every penny earned on our backs since they took over. They could have been paying down debt, hoarding cash and preparing the airline to support its employees in the next downturn. Instead they rewarded shareholders (and themselves) and required taxpayers to save us. Nobody could have predicted a 90% drop, but we would be in this situation with a 40% drop and no taxpayer assistance.
#282
I haven't tried to figure out how many NB CAs we will end up with at the end of this bid. But, when the results come out it might be possible to estimate what comes next. For example, we currently have about 3100 Bus/737 CAs and 1032 of them are being displaced. If 400 displacees wind up as Bus/737 CAs, we'd be at about 2500 NB CAs. I assume the CO would want about an equal number of NB FOs.
One tweak to my post yesterday saying we had 3000+ Bus/737 FOs, it was based off the "Active" numbers on Vacancy 20-06. Displacement 20-07 shows 2876 active Bus/737 FOs, which I presume is due to guys heading off to training since the vacancy closed last winter. So, at least we are starting the displacement process beginning from a lower total of Bus/737 FOs system wide. Also, with PS service moving away from the 757 I think the system wide percentage of flying done by Bus/737 FOs may go up somewhat. So if you read me loud and clear, I'm telling you there's a chance...
#283
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2007
Position: FO
Posts: 424
Honest question: since many are displacing into a full qualification course regardless, what’s to stop a furlough of say 4000, 5000, 6000 etc on Oct 1 (and if demand returns then just 100-200 per month recall back to TK for training into available vacancies)? The ones who are above the furlough and who fit into the post-furlough plan would be trained immediately. I mean what does it really take to bring someone back after 3 months or more? Yes there is landings class and maybe a recurrent depending on how long it goes if it’s not a full qualification.
I don’t want to sound negative but I could very easily see a case to let a bunch of people go Oct 1 and then pick up the pieces once the dust settles, but with everyone off the payroll. I am hoping otherwise of course.
I don’t want to sound negative but I could very easily see a case to let a bunch of people go Oct 1 and then pick up the pieces once the dust settles, but with everyone off the payroll. I am hoping otherwise of course.
#284
Honest question: since many are displacing into a full qualification course regardless, what’s to stop a furlough of say 4000, 5000, 6000 etc on Oct 1 (and if demand returns then just 100-200 per month recall back to TK for training into available vacancies)? The ones who are above the furlough and who fit into the post-furlough plan would be trained immediately. I mean what does it really take to bring someone back after 3 months or more? Yes there is landings class and maybe a recurrent depending on how long it goes if it’s not a full qualification.
I don’t want to sound negative but I could very easily see a case to let a bunch of people go Oct 1 and then pick up the pieces once the dust settles, but with everyone off the payroll. I am hoping otherwise of course.
I don’t want to sound negative but I could very easily see a case to let a bunch of people go Oct 1 and then pick up the pieces once the dust settles, but with everyone off the payroll. I am hoping otherwise of course.
Depending upon UAL's forecast for summer '21 there's no cost saving to short term furloughs. In fact, it's probably more expensive than just offering ESRLs for that seniority range.
#285
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2020
Posts: 484
eyuuuup. Just last week you were mouthing off about how last year you just knew the economy was going tank, taking the airlines with it. Apparently the virus somehow proved your “thesis.” What you may not realize is that the major airlines were smoking FedEx’s AS$ in profits as well as outlook. The difference is that if the cargo carriers suddenly fell on difficult times due to a completely unforeseen reason, no one from 121 land would be mouthing off about how they made the wrong choice and they had to live with it.
Do you know this D-bag has already said he hopes any current 121 furloughees go to the bottom of the interview stack at Purple and behind people that “really wanted to work there in the first place?” The term slam click has this idiots name next to it in the dictionary. Your third wife must be very proud of you.
Do you know this D-bag has already said he hopes any current 121 furloughees go to the bottom of the interview stack at Purple and behind people that “really wanted to work there in the first place?” The term slam click has this idiots name next to it in the dictionary. Your third wife must be very proud of you.
#286
First, the purpose of United airlines is to make money for the shareholders, not to build a pad to support employees. We are just a line on an expense report. Second, this company and others viewed 9/11 as the possible worst case scenario. They were financially prepared for that. Like you said, no airline was prepared for this.
#287
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2018
Posts: 1,085
Honest question: since many are displacing into a full qualification course regardless, what’s to stop a furlough of say 4000, 5000, 6000 etc on Oct 1 (and if demand returns then just 100-200 per month recall back to TK for training into available vacancies)? The ones who are above the furlough and who fit into the post-furlough plan would be trained immediately. I mean what does it really take to bring someone back after 3 months or more? Yes there is landings class and maybe a recurrent depending on how long it goes if it’s not a full qualification.
I don’t want to sound negative but I could very easily see a case to let a bunch of people go Oct 1 and then pick up the pieces once the dust settles, but with everyone off the payroll. I am hoping otherwise of course.
I don’t want to sound negative but I could very easily see a case to let a bunch of people go Oct 1 and then pick up the pieces once the dust settles, but with everyone off the payroll. I am hoping otherwise of course.
#288
Banned
Joined APC: Mar 2018
Posts: 1,358
There are other stakeholders, but United is just a business, and is here only to make money for those parties. We are just employees and here only because we are necessary for this place to profit. If the business shrinks, so does our necessity. I’ll agree that the stock buybacks were not the way to have spent money, especially now with the benefit of hindsight. The company however, has no obligation to support us during downturns other than to preserve their profitability. If during a downturn it makes financial sense to keep people employed, they will. If it makes financial sense to furlough workers to align cost to revenue, then they will follow that path. It’s not personal or vindictive, it’s just business.
#290
Line Holder
Joined APC: Oct 2014
Position: 756
Posts: 79
Delta ALPA is doing a much better job describing why an early out program is more beneficial than displacements/furloughs. More ammunition we can take to our union leaders about why an early out will be beneficial.
Early-Out Program to Mitigate Displacements - #1
On February 14, a record Profit Sharing payout made possible by record-setting corporate revenue was celebrated with fanfare by Delta management. Costs were not a problem for Delta on that day. At the same time, a virus, a thousandth of the width of a human hair, was silently spreading across America, ultimately becoming a pandemic and triggering an economic downturn. Presently, Delta's challenge is the instant evaporation of revenue, which is forecasted to be down 90% for this quarter and has spurred management to store over half of its jets. In early March, your MEC engaged with the Company and provided cost-saving solutions contained in LOA 20-01 via the April bid package re-do and SILs. Shortly after agreeing to LOA20-01, your Negotiating Committee approached Delta to discuss an additional cost-savings measure – a voluntary pilot early-out program. The Company declined even to meet and hear the proposal. This program would have provided limited pay and benefits to pilots if they took a voluntary buyout package and retired early. By offering pilot early-outs in categories that the Company intends to reduce the size of, downline displacements are curtailed, providing substantial savings – savings impactful enough that United and American offered similar programs to their pilots months ago.
Early-Outs: They Save Real Money
Before discussing potential voluntary pilot early-outs, displacements and furloughs need to be addressed. These options hinge upon the fleet plan Delta is formulating for summer 2021, and the network plan that will reflect the needs of the fleet plan. All pandemics have a lifecycle. This one, and the recession that has come in its wake, will end. Notwithstanding, both are currently making planning a difficult task for the Company. At its core, Delta has publicly indicated that it will be a smaller airline than it was earlier this year and that it will seek flexibility to scale up in the eventual recovery. With a fleet plan in hand, Crew Resources can derive the manning requirements needed to staff the trimmed down airline in the short and medium time frame. Through ALPA's analysis, we have concluded that there are three primary methods to most efficiently reduce the staffing required for the smaller airline.
Looking ahead, from May 1 to the end of 2024, 3,369 pilots will reach age 65. That represents nearly 23% of today's seniority list. The retirement numbers will most likely be higher as pilots decide to retire early or leave with a medical issue. When distilling fleet specific retirements just to the end of 2022, over half of the B777 and nearly half of the A350 captains will retire. This is not an insignificant number of pilots that can be incentivized to retire early that would otherwise be subject to displacement and the source of waterfall training events.
Displacements High Price Tag: The Financial and Personnel Costs The cost of initial qualification, not including a pilot's salary, is $40-50,000 per pilot. This number varies by the length of training, whether it is off-site, and who is instructing. Further adding to the costs are:
Displacements, and the disruption that comes with them, can also bring high personal costs to pilots and their dependents. Budgets are reworked as income is reduced, and families suffer when pilots find themselves forced to commute across the country to new domiciles causing them to spend significant time away from their homes. Even if a pilot and his or her family can move, it still represents an erosion of quality of life to uproot and relocate.
What About Training Capacity?
Logistically, some severe constraints would make mass displacements difficult for Delta. Currently, maximum simulator capacity allows for the training of 288 pilots a month. Once a pilot has been retrained, the question of OE and TOE becomes an issue.
Closing
ALPA has identified an undeniably elegant way management could selectively target top-of-the-category and seniority list reductions that vastly eliminate cascading displacements. Curtailing displacements lessens unneeded disruption to pilots and their families' lives and will help moderate any future furloughs and the high costs they entail.
For the early-outs to be fully effective, and to capture the most considerable savings, they should be implemented before displacements. The window for seizing this dynamic logistical and cost saving opportunity is fleeting. Swift action by management will ensure that the Company can avail itself of the savings and the flexibility that our direct competitors - United, JetBlue and American Airlines – have already secured.
The next piece in this series will examine the different early-out programs at JetBlue and American.
Early-Out Program to Mitigate Displacements - #1
On February 14, a record Profit Sharing payout made possible by record-setting corporate revenue was celebrated with fanfare by Delta management. Costs were not a problem for Delta on that day. At the same time, a virus, a thousandth of the width of a human hair, was silently spreading across America, ultimately becoming a pandemic and triggering an economic downturn. Presently, Delta's challenge is the instant evaporation of revenue, which is forecasted to be down 90% for this quarter and has spurred management to store over half of its jets. In early March, your MEC engaged with the Company and provided cost-saving solutions contained in LOA 20-01 via the April bid package re-do and SILs. Shortly after agreeing to LOA20-01, your Negotiating Committee approached Delta to discuss an additional cost-savings measure – a voluntary pilot early-out program. The Company declined even to meet and hear the proposal. This program would have provided limited pay and benefits to pilots if they took a voluntary buyout package and retired early. By offering pilot early-outs in categories that the Company intends to reduce the size of, downline displacements are curtailed, providing substantial savings – savings impactful enough that United and American offered similar programs to their pilots months ago.
Early-Outs: They Save Real Money
Before discussing potential voluntary pilot early-outs, displacements and furloughs need to be addressed. These options hinge upon the fleet plan Delta is formulating for summer 2021, and the network plan that will reflect the needs of the fleet plan. All pandemics have a lifecycle. This one, and the recession that has come in its wake, will end. Notwithstanding, both are currently making planning a difficult task for the Company. At its core, Delta has publicly indicated that it will be a smaller airline than it was earlier this year and that it will seek flexibility to scale up in the eventual recovery. With a fleet plan in hand, Crew Resources can derive the manning requirements needed to staff the trimmed down airline in the short and medium time frame. Through ALPA's analysis, we have concluded that there are three primary methods to most efficiently reduce the staffing required for the smaller airline.
- Voluntary Early-outs
- Displacements
- Furloughs, if necessary
Looking ahead, from May 1 to the end of 2024, 3,369 pilots will reach age 65. That represents nearly 23% of today's seniority list. The retirement numbers will most likely be higher as pilots decide to retire early or leave with a medical issue. When distilling fleet specific retirements just to the end of 2022, over half of the B777 and nearly half of the A350 captains will retire. This is not an insignificant number of pilots that can be incentivized to retire early that would otherwise be subject to displacement and the source of waterfall training events.
Displacements High Price Tag: The Financial and Personnel Costs The cost of initial qualification, not including a pilot's salary, is $40-50,000 per pilot. This number varies by the length of training, whether it is off-site, and who is instructing. Further adding to the costs are:
- There is no seat lock for displaced pilots; they can bid in the first available AE, thus negating some of the previous displacements.
- Mandatory displacements carry moving expenses to include lease cancellations, packing, motor vehicle transportation and insurance costs if pilots elect to relocate to a Delta base.
- Displacements from senior categories can cause a waterfall of training events.
- The A350 Captain displaces to the A330 A seat.
- An A330 Captain gets displaced to the B7ER A seat.
- A B7ER Captain gets displaced to the B73N A seat.
- A B73N Captain gets displaced to the A220 A seat.
- An A220 Captain gets displaced to the A330 B seat.
- An A330 F/O gets displaced to the B7ER B seat.
- A B7ER F/O gets displaced to the B73N B seat.
- A B73N F/O gets displaced to the A220 B seat.
Displacements, and the disruption that comes with them, can also bring high personal costs to pilots and their dependents. Budgets are reworked as income is reduced, and families suffer when pilots find themselves forced to commute across the country to new domiciles causing them to spend significant time away from their homes. Even if a pilot and his or her family can move, it still represents an erosion of quality of life to uproot and relocate.
What About Training Capacity?
Logistically, some severe constraints would make mass displacements difficult for Delta. Currently, maximum simulator capacity allows for the training of 288 pilots a month. Once a pilot has been retrained, the question of OE and TOE becomes an issue.
- First, Line Check Pilots (LCPs) are not immune to displacements, which will leave their ranks depleted. Replacing a displaced LCP takes time as it involves simulator training and line experience.
- Second, with reduced flying, the opportunities to get OE and TOE become scarce, which will lead to pilots sitting idle while getting paid. During the 9/11 displacements, it was not uncommon for pilots to sit unqualified for months waiting for training between displacements.
Closing
ALPA has identified an undeniably elegant way management could selectively target top-of-the-category and seniority list reductions that vastly eliminate cascading displacements. Curtailing displacements lessens unneeded disruption to pilots and their families' lives and will help moderate any future furloughs and the high costs they entail.
For the early-outs to be fully effective, and to capture the most considerable savings, they should be implemented before displacements. The window for seizing this dynamic logistical and cost saving opportunity is fleeting. Swift action by management will ensure that the Company can avail itself of the savings and the flexibility that our direct competitors - United, JetBlue and American Airlines – have already secured.
The next piece in this series will examine the different early-out programs at JetBlue and American.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post