November 18, 1999 Hotline

  Nov. 18, 1999


This is MEC Chairman Roger Cox with the MEC Hotline update for Thursday,
November 18. Tonight’s topics are:

Vacation Cancellations

Sadly, there have been some calls by Crew Scheduling supervisors to
individual pilots in no particular order, and they have said things like, “the
company plans to cancel vacations, would you care to agree to cancel your vacation
now?” More sadly, a small number of Airbus pilots have fallen for this ruse. The good
news is, almost everyone called said no. They knew enough to read their contract or to
call the MEC office and ask what’s going on. They knew that if there were a real
cancellation they would have heard so publicly.

America West pilots fly more hours per month than any other major
airline’s pilots. We do more night flying than any other passenger airline. I’m sure we
hold the world’s record for number of day-night flip-flops and circadian switches. We’re
commonly away from home 350 or more hours per month. Right now, we have 73 pilots on the
medically disabled list. That is an exceptionally high percentage. You may think you’re
bulletproof, sport, but so did they.

You know you’re contractually entitled to take vacation, but maybe you
haven’t made any plans. Scheduling calls and offers you a deal. Here’s a suggestion: For
the next seven days, get up every morning and walk or jog three miles. Do some sit-ups.
Take your wife to dinner every night. Read a book. Sleep a lot. Be normal. You’ll start to
feel human again.

Figuring out how to staff the airline is not your problem. Maybe
America West will figure it out someday.

PBS Training

Hotline Messages

Holiday Office Hours

ALPA Pins

That’s it for tonight. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Due to
teh holiday office schedule, the next hotline update will be on Wednesday, November 24th.
Thanks for listening.

  • Vacation Cancellations
  • PBS Training
  • Hotline Messages
  • Holiday Office Hours
  • ALPA Pins
  MEC Hotline


Section 7.C.3. of our contract says “in the event a vacation is cancelled, the
company shall notify the MEC and the affected pilot.” Ladies and gentlemen, the
company has not notified the MEC of any such cancellation. The contract goes on to say
“such notification shall be made at least one bid period prior to the bid period of
the cancellation unless the cancellation is necessitated by circumstances not reasonably
foreseen and beyond the control of the company.” This brings to mind the old adage,
“poor planning on your part does not necessarily constitute an emergency on my
part.” The contract goes on to say, “cancellations shall first be offered in
seniority order….etc.” This has not been done. Any statement or implication that a
legal and proper vacation cancellation has taken place is false.


PBS training continues with overwhelmingly good feedback from the pilots who have attended
the class. The training has been extended a week and four evening classes have been added:
November 30th, December 1st, 7th, and 8th. All pilots must now complete the PBS class by
December 9th.

If you intend to use the low line system to change a pairing which falls on a holiday,
there’s something you need to know. Follow the prompts on this KIT system to the
Scheduling Committee hotline message. Please check the Negotiating Committee and Central
Air Safety hotlines as well.

The MEC office will observe the following holiday office hours next week: On Wednesday,
November 24th, the office will close at 1pm. The office will be closed for the
Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, November 25th and Friday, November 26th.

It’s easy to lose your ALPA pin. It’s also easy to replace. Just call the MEC office. We
will be glad to send you a pin, or you can just drop by the officec to pick one up. It’s
also easy to forget to wear it, until somebody says go home and get it before you fly.
After that, you won’t forget. Just a thought.