March 2, 2000 Hotline

  March 2, 2000

–Choose a Site– ALPA Intl ALPA News Aviation Links AWA News Committees Committee Roster Crew Resources KIT System Diagram LEC LEC Minutes LEC Resolutions Local Council Minutes MEC MEC Minutes MEC Resolutions 2000 Hotlines Hotline Archives News_Releases Newspaper_Articles Home

Negotiations

In my statement to the Arizona
Republic this week, I stated that this contract is a “make it or break it”
deal for us. This is not just rhetoric. Last year, America West hired 200 pilots, and over
50 left for other carriers. Since January, that rate of loss has tripled. It costs around
$60,000 to train a new pilot initially on one of our aircraft, so that’s more than
$3,000,000 spent last year that did no one any good. To be successful, this company must
retain the people it invests in.

Last Monday I attended
a mixer our Membership Committee gave for the 24 most recently hired pilots and I know
they are all vitally interested in what kind of compensation and working conditions they
can expect in their futures. Without these new pilots to fly the new airplanes America
West is receiving, the company can’t grow.

For our many veteran
pilots who have given many productive years to this company, the prospect of retiring at
the mandatory age of 60 looms closer. They do not want to see, and will not ratify, a
contract that does not provide a reasonable means for them to retire and be solvent.

So for us, a contract
which is not fully competitive with the rest of the industry will literally
“break” the company’s ability to operate successfully.

Green Pin Backs

I would like to express
my sincere appreciation to our fellow employees who have asked to wear our pin backs in
support of our negotiating efforts. Your support is very much appreciated by this entire
pilot group, and we can only hope that management will see your support as a sign of
continuing unity among this company’s employees. Together, we will help to restore
our pride in not only our jobs, but in America West itself.

MEC and Local
Council Meetings

The next local council
meeting will also be held Tuesday, March 14 at 6pm at the Best Western Grace Inn in
Ahwatukee. The hotel is located on the SW corner of I-10 and Elliott Road in Ahwatukee.
Ample seating and refreshments will be available and we encourage you to attend.

Family Awareness
Event

This event will center
around a “chili cook-off”, however as earlier reported chili will not be the
primary source of food. Hotdogs and Bratwurst will be available for children and adults as
well. We encourage any member or their spouse that have a great chili recipe, to enter the
contest. If you intend to enter the contest, please check the Family Awareness Committee
page on the web site at www.awalpa.org, or contact
Sandi Siniaho at the MEC office, as there are specific rules that must be followed in
order to be eligible.

Anyone planning to
attend the social event must RSVP to Sandi Siniaho at the MEC office by March 6^th.

That’s it for this week. The next
hotline will be Thursday, March 9. Thanks for listening. And remember, wear your ALPA pin
and green badge as a sign of our solidarity.

• Negotiations
• Green Pin Backs
• MEC and Local Council Meetings
• Family Awareness Event

		MEC Hotline
		Good evening, this is MEC Chairman Roger Cox with the MEC Hotline update for Thursday, March 2. Tonight’s topics are: The Negotiating Committee began the second week-long negotiating session with the company this week. I want to compliment our team on its fine preparation and organization, and I want to acknowledge the assistance we’ve received this week from Mr Jack Bavis, our facilitator from the National Mediation Board. The committee will now update its hotline every Friday. I encourage you to call in to the Negotiating Committee hotline tomorrow evening or this weekend as you have time. On last week’s hotline, we encouraged pilots to give their green pin backs to any flight attendant or other employee who wished to show their support for us at the negotiating table. Please do not give away your green pin back. We have ordered an additional 3,000 pins for distribution to other AWA employee groups who would like to wear them. Those groups will receive the pin backs within the next few weeks. An MEC meeting will be held on March 14th at 9am in the MEC office conference room. Seating is limited , but you are welcome to attend. As a reminder, the Family Awareness Committee will hold another social event on Saturday, March 11, from 4pm to 7pm, at the Confederate Air Force Hangar located at Falcon Field in Mesa. This event is for all pilots in good standing and their families members.