Originally Posted by XHooker

Yeah, but...

A) Assuming the company knows its desired staffing, its dream is to have every pilot on reserve flying to FARs. Reason being, the cost of a pilot flight hour is the hourly wage plus all of the fixed costs. Fewer fixed costs (each pilot) leads to lower cost structure. So right away you’re wanting something the company doesn’t want to give you, also known as negotiating. This is not a time we want to be in negotiations. Now, admittedly, the company only has the roughest of ideas what they want for manning right now, so they might be willing to give a little on this since it gives them some flexibility, but I doubt they’d be willing to cancel all the furloughs for anything less than a draconian drop in MPG.

B) Ever seen the movie Bedazzled? Guy makes a deal with the devil but repeatedly gets screwed on technicalities. That’s what’s likely to happen to us. There are so many “what if” scenarios I can think of that can arise when you drop MPG I won’t even try to mention them. We’ve got some sharp people working for us at ALPA, but the company has lots of smart people, too. If I and my little pea brain can come up with a bunch of ways we get screwed by dropping MPG, just imagine how many the smart folks in Willis can come up with. A pay cap is the best solution, but is an absolute non starter for the company. For evidence of that, witness their latest memo to inflight stating basically “reserve or not, you’re gonna fly your rears off, because we’re furloughing to the bone.” Fortunately, the line construction caps in Section Five of the UPA prevent that for us somewhat.

C) This isn’t a function of a bunch of heartless old guys saying “suck it up and die like an aviator” to the potential furloughs. A pretty big chunk of the list from 12-25 years seniority has either been furloughed or directly in the crosshairs, so most of us are very sympathetic, but in that experience we also understand the law of unintended consequences. We’ve got a contract, let the company work within it.

Originally Posted by JUNEBUG82

Is it a concession if it is a trade?

i.e.

1. Pilots agree to work fewer hours
2. Company agrees to not furlough

Originally Posted by Itsajob

He’s not a troll, he just has some ideas that are different than most others. A troll shows up and says something just to stir the pot and get a reaction. Duvie isn’t trying to stir the pot, he is just presenting and defending an unpopular viewpoint. One of the problems with APC is that oftentimes failure to regurgitate the party line gets you labeled as a troll or a management plant, or if it something that shows that you’ve been flying for a long time, the boomer comments start.

Originally Posted by SEDPA

If you think lowering the MPG is a good idea, tell your reps. If you don’t, tell your reps. Want to “save” a furlough, take a long term COLA. The company has just launched a massive effort to “fundamentally transform” the airline, with a specific goal to lower labor costs PERMANENTLY ... Kirby is not Oscar, and he was put in place for a reason. The company will take hostages; there are going to be casualties; now more than ever, we as a union and pilot group HAVE TO BE UNITED; my union speaks for me!

Originally Posted by DashTrash

I do not agree that Kirby is going to use this situation to get permanent relief as his main goal. I truly believe that because we don’t have the revenue, he wants to scale our expenses to the revenue.

Originally Posted by Freight Dawg

Shrink to profitability... where have I heard that before? Doesn’t want to “let a good crisis go to waste”, yeah right. We are still paying for the last time we scaled our operation to fit our revenue.

Originally Posted by dumpcheck

This continued discussion of MPG demonstrates ignorance, and a few keep on talking right over very basic points from fellow pilots. The most fundamental fact is that the G in MPG provides a pay protection, not an hourly average. Relaxing MPG helps no pilot.

ALPA sent out an email advising against this very thread, yet some want to assert their freedom of speech to continue an illogical argument on a forum with the ultimate goal of convincing this same union to make changes on their behalf. Who exactly is being selfish here?

If you cannot demonstrate enough unity and respect to follow the polite guidance of our union leadership, why on earth should the pilot group listen to you?

Originally Posted by DashTrash

Like I said, that has not been his MO during his career. He actually has done the opposite throughout his career. His methods are arguable (his love of RJs). This situation that we’re in is not close to what has happened before. The airline and economy were not poorly managed. This is literally because of a virus that China did not acknowledge correctly, for that matter neither did this Country acknowledge it correctly. There are literally very little passengers. When the public feels safe to travel, they will.