Airhoss

IAHB756,

Now that the summer rush is over they are claiming pilot surplus over here. Can you not see how they are trying to use divide and conquer? They are growing you guys and they are shrinking us. If it's not pretty obvious it should be.

Guys hired in 2005 might loose their captains bids? I doubt it, but guys hired in 2000 over here are furloughed and guys like myself who were hired in 1997 were surplussed off the captains seats two to three years ago and are now sitting as bottom reserves on the right seat of the 756 or are on the right seat of the A-320.

The inequities here are astounding and growing by the day.

IAHB756

I would be frustrated as well but the guys hired in 2000 being furloughed is not a result of this merger. In fact, anything negative that happened to the pilots in the service of United Airlines prior to the merger date is a result of bad management decisions that were made by United management over a decade ago. You can't ask Continental pilots to pay for that somehow. We are living under a terrible contract over here as we speak. Throwing a bunch of captain positions at a group of pilots that are abused on reserve is a joke. Wouldn't be surprised if those 737 captain positions don't go all the way to the guys from L-UAL who took the CAL offer of employment. In fact, maybe that should happen but these aircraft were ordered prior to the merger announcement. CAL has been taking new 737's for a decade. We ordered 787's seven years ago. They are finally arriving. The delays were not some master plan to screw the UAL pilots and favor the CAL pilots. If these damn 787's had arrived as planned many of us would have been in the left seat prior to the merger announcement.

I'm just ready for this to all be over. Have not ran into a L-UAL pilot I could not share a cockpit with and I have sat on quite a few jumpseats over the last year.

Wrsofked

I really don't think our mgmt has the foresight to think that far ahead. This bid only reflects aircraft deliveries and retirements that have been scheduled for years now. They are probably in shock that they will actually have to staff the 787.

CAL was growing before the merger and continues to grow ever so slightly as a separate group. They wont hold up their business plan due to pilots..focus needs be on CBA and a fairly integrated seniority list making this all moot.

What ever decisions the inept UAL management made prior to the merger has no bearing on the pilots of Continental Airlines.

Now..let the drama post's continue

Airhoss

IAH,

I'm not PO'ed at "you" guys, the line pilots of LCAL. I'am PO'ed at UCH management. But it is imperative that "you" guys understand what they are doing to "us" guys.

This looks to me like a strike may well be necessary after all. I just hope that we are all on the same page.

benairguitar23

As someone who wants to fly for the new United, and as much as I want to be on property sooner than later, I TOTALLY agree with your last statement! Giving up scope only gives management more power. I fly the EMB-170/175 which is a MAINLINE aircraft much like the DC-9 was back in the day (and still is to a limited degree today). Many of my colleagues and I wish that this aircraft had stayed with mainline which would have allowed us to be with the mainline of our choosing much sooner. Now we can't do anything about what was done in the past but we can fix what happens in the future.

I have wanted to fly since my very first flight (at the ripe old age of 5) on a United 737-200, and I have wanted to fly Internationally since my first International flight on a Continental 767 at the age of 18. Now, at the age of 33 that goal has not waivered, however if scope continues to be released what will be left of the once dominant International airlines? 400 - 500 pilots flying 74's, 77's and 78's for peanuts? We've got to take back this industry! How many of us have stuggled to pay the mortgage while management gets $10 million in bonuses to buy their yachts? We can take this industry back by keeping whats ours, which begins by keeping scope, fighting for better work rules, and getting the concessions back from management that they promised to give back once companies returned to profitability after 9/11 (which hasn't happened yet at ANY legacy carrier).

I fully support you the pilots of the new United in gaining back what is rightfully yours as well as the future pilots of the new United and returning the Legacy back to what it once was!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RJkybJZLUI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6LDrVAONII

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDZAg...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrnwMDbbzt8&feature=colike

jsled

[QUOTE=IAHB756;1254079
You guys are getting our 737-900ER deliveries next year as 757's are parked

[/QUOTE]

We are? Oh I know what "they" say, but why believe ANYTHING they say. I have no doubt the 900s will replace our 757s. As to who will be flying them? We'll have to wait and see.

Sled

mccurtool

First Time post here.... Having been on the sidelines for the last 4 years (furloughed) the most frustrating argument I have read (on several thread topics) has been when someone alludes to UAL's parking of the 737 fleet (20% of the fleet) and subsequent furloughs as having nothing to do with this merger.

I started at Continental Express in 1998 and commuted for 9 years on a lot of CAL jump seats. To say that the culture at UAL and CAL are different is a huge understatement.

The planning for and execution of the Merger that was announced in May 2010 had begun years prior. The earliest UAL/CAL merger discussions on record (WSJ) were in late 2006. The discussions did not get serious until the DAL/NWA discussions began. Consider the following sequence of events with regards to UAL furloughs:

1/15/2008 - Delta in simultaneous merger talks with NWA/UAL (USA Today)
2/15/2008 - UAL/CAL in advanced merger talks (NY Times)
4/14/2008 - DAL/NWA merger announced
4/26/2008 - CAL decides not to merger w/UAL
6/4/2008 - UAL to park 94 737's (Roughly 20% of the fleet)
6/19/2008 - CAL to join Star Alliance (Multiple sources)
8/19/2008 - CAL to furlough 137 pilots
7/16/2009 - Larry Kellner to step down (USA Today)
10/27/2009 - Last UAL 737 flight
5/3/2010 - UAL/CAL merger announced

Maybe I am naive, but I do not believe these events happened independent of each other. I feel there was a strategic plan in place long before May 2010.

EWR73FO

So which is it? Divide and conquer or all of us on the same page? We see it exactly the same as you. It sucks on both sides. Yet you continue to bash CAL pilots because of the growth here but when growth is aimed at UAL, you bemoan us for taking away your precious 757. So which way do we go here? We want to be on the same page with you but you seem to be shooting yourself in the foot. What exactly do you want the CAL pilots to do that we are not already doing? Walk off the job? Refuse the aircraft orders and the CA seats? Acquiesce to a staple job? Sacrifice our first born?

We get it. You're not happy with the 737. Get over it. UAL is getting how many of them now? You seem to want to cut off your nose to spite your face just so you don't have to fly it. If we had not merged, what would UAL have replaced the 757 with? More 757's? You parked your 737's and got a whole fleet of RJ's. That's better? Would you turn your nose up at an E170/E190 CA seat on UAL property, with UAL pay and benefits?

Yes, the inequality we have here is growing by the day but this was thought out long before we got to this day. I agree, it sucks. And I'll also recognize UAL is getting the short end of the stick, for now. Again, what can the CAL pilots do about it? We picket, you picket. You vote, we vote. We protest, you protest. You suffer, we suffer. You strike and the CAL pilots will strike right along with you, side by side. What else do you want us to do?

Dicecal

I agree with you that parking the UAL 737 fleet and furloughing 1437 UAL pilots helped facilitate the merger. No one on the L-CAL list will see it that way. By the way, here are some of the 737 vacancies for L-CAL:

DEN 737 CA - 34 78 78 44 Vacancies
DEN 737 FO - 39 77 77 38 Vacancies
LAX 737 CA 3 72 82 82 10 Vacancies
LAX 737 FO - 72 83 83 11 Vacancies
ORD 737 CA - 34 73 73 39 Vacancies
ORD 737 FO - 36 72 72 36 Vacancies

I think management would prefer us to be the next USAir, bump/furlough pilots from the L-UAL list, and send them to the L-CAL list if they still want a job. The longer they can operate this way, more money in their pockets.

Lerxst

You conveniently left out the two failed merger attempts with USair, the second of which died on May 30, 2008 - a mere 5 days before Tilton announced parking the 6 747's and 94 737's.