Andy

That's great, but you're going about this in the wrong manner. Most of us pilots are aware that the mechanics have been in negotiations and have recently voted down a TA but we don't know the details. After all, this is a pilot forum.

I don't understand why you didn't start a new thread to educate us on the plight of the mechanics. Instead, you seem to have taken the approach that the pilots are celebrating in the streets while the rest of the company is getting screwed. I doubt many here know what the details are of the mechanics' negotiations.

Try a different approach - start a new thread where the topic is what's going on with the mechanics. I think you'll find a good reception if you take that approach. But jumping into the middle of an unrelated thread and attempting to make it all about the mechanics is a course of action that's likely to fail.

gettinbumped

Curious about the following:

The tenor of contract talks between United (UAL - Get Report) and its flight attendants, which have gone nowhere for five years, improved suddenly thanks to the involvement of CEO Oscar Munoz.

"Oscar has an actual vision for the airline: It's a night and day change," said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, which represents United's 24,000 flight attendants. "I have worked with a lot of managements. I have never seen a CEO this engaged and this committed to the success of the company."

Nelson said she expects that a deal can be negotiated in the next several months. United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said, "We are meeting with the AFA regularly and we are fully committed to reaching an agreement."

The turnabout follows the five-year tenure of Jeff Smisek as United CEO and comes at a critical time for the airline, which is resisting a bid by two hedge funds to add six members to its 15 member board.

Nelson, who met with Munoz and other United labor leaders on Monday, said she expects a flight attendant contract will be signed in the next several months.

"You see how screwed up United was under Smisek, but finally we have a turn of events here," she said. Recounting details of a Feb. 4 meeting with Munoz, Nelson said, "He said every decision that needs to be made needs to be run through a filter of 'the human factor.' That was absent with Smisek. He was aloof and not engaged."

Munoz "is a guy who understands that the airline business is about people," Nelson said. "He made more changes in {his first} six weeks than we had seen in five years. That first day we met, it was clear that United management finally was interested in getting a deal."

Two hedge funds, Altimeter Capital and PAR Capital, which hold 7.1% of United shares, said last week that they will run a slate of six nominees for the board, which is up to 15 members after United added three this month. A shareholder vote is expected to occur at United's 2016 annual meeting, which hasn't yet been scheduled.

Most union leaders including Nelson have publicly declared their strong support for Munoz, who has signed a contract extension with pilots and opened negotiations on a contract extension with the International Association of Machinists, which represents agents and fleet service. However, talks with the Teamsters union, which represents the mechanics, have not gone so well, and the Teamsters have said they are considering whether to back the hedge funds.

"The hedge funds are a distraction at exactly the wrong time," Nelson said. "The timing is suspect. And they would not protect shareholder value for the long term."



This was in the news this morning. Are you hearing from your leadership at the Teamsters that they are actually considering supporting the hedge funds takeover move? What is their rationale for this? I'm not asking to be a turd. I genuinely am curious what you are hearing from your union as this to me seems like a wildly inadvisable plan.

UAL T38 Phlyer

And I'll say this for the mechs, whom I admire greatly:

Mechs go through a grinder to get this job. Unless they came from the military, I'm pretty sure it is a two-year FAA school just to be a journeyman or apprentice; more to become A&P or Avionics.

Then, according to a retired UA mechanic neighbor: if hired, you supply your OWN tools! A good set could run several thousand dollars.

And finally, the payoff.....working for a Major......except, compare this professional, whose work is critical for safe flying operations, to the dirtbag high-school-dropout, who would never pass a drug test, that is making twice as much as a car mechanic at the local car dealership.

And that is wrong.

I too believe that OM would be the guy who would recognize that, and make it right....or at least make it better.

Dave Fitzgerald

Thanks for picketing, and supporting the other groups. I've picketed every chance I get.

Yes, the BOD threat is a distraction, hopefully it won't interfere with the contract talks, though I fear it will. Unfortunately, once in a while, when we get ours, some in this group turn into, as you say, happy employees and forget others situations. Happy employee is one thing, trying to singlehandedly save the company, (Company yes man,) is not appreciated or appropriate when it comes to safety.

Also, thanks for your work. I understand exactly how hard it is to keep motivated when other groups are getting raises.

jtriple7

I havent heard anything more about it from the union but im just going to guess that the union leaders may think that the takeover guys might be just as bad or worse than what were currently dealing with as far as getting a contract.

The IBT union is going to stay neutral on it for the time being looks like.

jtriple7

Thanks the mechanics appreciate getting thanked by the pilots. As far as the company negotiations goes the mechanics patience is gone.

jtriple7

The cost nowdays for a 2 year A&P course at a private school is on average $37,000.

Flytolive

Do you think the F/As and the mechanics stand a better chance of getting the contracts they deserve if Henry Meyer and Oscar Munoz win the proxy fight or if Par and Altimeter do?

SpecialTracking

I think the broader question would be does the money stay within the company or leave the company? The answer to that question should answer yours.

AllenAllert

This should be a question for all employee groups of United. This bigger questions becomes, how far will OM go to protect himself and the board? He's basically aligned with Frank Lorenzo as part of his "poison pill" to protect themselves.

I don't know legally how close Lorenzo can get to an airline considering rulings from his last attempt at airline ownership but he owns/controls a substantial amount of United stock.

Before you say OM hasn't entered an agreement with Lorenzo, OM DIDN'T REFUTE IT WHEN FRANK ANNOUNCED THAT OM WAS HIS BOY. It only poses the question of what OM had to promise Frankie for his support.