It's me. Part of my "social media" hiatus.
No furloughs at Pinnacle?
- Thread starter Seggy
- Start date
It's me. Part of my "social media" hiatus.
jynxyjoe
Queso King
You could just watch scrubs for a few weeks straight. Certainly there is a life lesson in there for you.
TUCKnTRUCK
That guy
Quitting Facebook is the new running away from home. We all know it's for attention, and you'll be back.
bronco21016
I know H.T.M.L. (How To Meet Ladies)
I feel like the MBA diversifies the pointless Bachelor's in Aviation I already have, I already have half of the MBA done, and it looks good when applying to airlines that want someone who has something more to them than just being able to operate an autopilot while accumulating thousands of mostly mindless flight hours.
The plan would be to find 135 type work or CFIing while doing the MBA (classes are a joke) if the schedule can be manipulated that way.
Just putting words to what's bouncing around in my head. Obviously I'd like someone to tell me with certainty if I would be better off bailing on Pinnacle all together. I just don't see how someone with my times is going to find a job that pays the bills. Also, for some reason I have a hang up about moving even though I really have no ties that should keep me from moving. I just like Michigan.
jtrain609
Antisocial Monster
Have you ever lived outside of the state?
If not, I'd recommend it. You'll still probably come back, but it'll give you a whole heck of a lot of perspective. There is a whole lot out there beyond the I-94 corridor
If I were you, and I'm not, I'd apply to Skywest and move to SLC as soon as I could hold it, and go bum it up in Park City for a year or two. You won't be disappointed.
bronco21016
I know H.T.M.L. (How To Meet Ladies)
That's a huge factor in my decision. I need to do more research about what is junior etc etc.
jtrain609
Antisocial Monster
I think Houston and Minnie on the jet, and FAT is also junior on the Bro.
Or you could come to XJT and not sell your soul. I mean basically your choices are hookers and blow or Newark.
Choose wisely.
CFIT99
because of the implication...
I will. I've just realized that now I have a lot more time to put into JC and other stuff without narcissistically checking over and over again for comments about my chili dog photo.
I've got a lot of people freaked the hell out! I've done this once a quarter for the last few years.
cactusjuba
Well-Known Member
Im a new hire at SkyWest..got MSP in training but SLC before I finished IOE. People here have great expectations for PHX to open up too.
bronco21016
I know H.T.M.L. (How To Meet Ladies)
Would be pretty tempting in the winter...
ClarkGriswold
Non Nutritive Cereal Varnish Engineer
Have you ever lived outside of the state?
If not, I'd recommend it. You'll still probably come back, but it'll give you a whole heck of a lot of perspective. There is a whole lot out there beyond the I-94 corridor
If I were you, and I'm not, I'd apply to Skywest and move to SLC as soon as I could hold it, and go bum it up in Park City for a year or two. You won't be disappointed.
I highly recommend this, somedays really wish I still lived there. Was out in PC the past 2 days actually
jtrain609
Antisocial Monster
Sorry to hear that, it's been a horrible year, but at least the mountain biking and climbing seasons should get started a little earlier than normal.
I'd personally wait to be furloughed and just maybe have a shot a coming back in case of a recall. 135 might not be all that great. Plenty of guys punch out of 135 to go where you are right now. Although if another degree or job training is what you seek i would suggest a UPS or Fedex feeder job over anything else. Workdays are crazy easy with plenty of time off to do it all.bronco21016 said:
Now why in the world do you want to go further into debt getting an MBA? Is there an expected return on this investment of higher education Mr. Business man? What kinda time are you up to? Let me know.
Boris Badenov
Fortis Leader
I must say I'm enjoying this new, angrier dbrault, stockpiling weapons and making fun of MBAs. I knew you'd come around!
TristarJS30
Well-Known Member
The latest from old misty eye himself... Blame the pilot group then cut their pay and rules.
As you know, we arrived at the decision to file for bankruptcy after
months of discussions with our mainline business partners, potential
investors/lenders and organized labor groups, which we had hoped would
allow us to address our financial and operational challenges and reduce
our costs without resorting to a legal process.
In the months leading up to our filing, I communicated the challenges we
were facing and the steps we would need to take to resolve them. I
explained that we were burdened by a number of separate issues that were
stacking on top of one another, resulting in a rapidly deteriorating
situation. Those issues fell into two categories; unprofitable partner
contracts and escalating expenses.
Unprofitable partner contracts:
Ours is a contract business. In simplified terms, we sign contracts with
mainline partners to operate flights on their behalf, and those contracts
set the fees we receive per flight. Properly negotiated, those fees should
pay for the cost of operating the flights plus some level of profit.
However, for a number of reasons including maintenance costs and pilot
productivity that weren’t correctly factored and (in the case of our
pro-rate contracts) rising fuel costs, our United/Continental Q400 and
Delta/9E CRJ-900 contracts signed in 2007 weren’t providing adequate fees
to cover our costs.
Escalating expenses:
At the same time, we were experiencing a substantial rise in expenses.
There were a number of drivers that included:
· Delays in integrating our three airlines, which ultimately delayed our
ability to attain cost synergies
· Not right-sizing our management and professional organization quickly
enough
· Complications with the implementation of our integrated seniority list
that cost millions of unforeseen dollars in crew productivity and training
expenses
· A new pilot contract that added millions of payroll dollars to our
day-to-day operating expenses but weren’t scheduled to be reimbursed for
more than a year after the new contract went into place
· Costs associated with the relocation of our headquarters
Taken together, the unprofitable contracts and escalating expenses made
our liquidity situation very tenuous. To solve these problems and reorient
Pinnacle toward success and profitability, the company sought the mutual
cooperation of our organized labor groups and our two primary mainline
partners (Delta and United) – the “legs” of a three-legged stool that
could not stand without support from all three.
Despite frequent and constructive conversations with our airline partners
and union leadership beginning late last year, the elements of a
consensual restructuring plan did not ultimately fall into place. In early
January, Delta notified us that they would not participate in our
restructuring outside of bankruptcy. Even though this was a setback, an
alternative plan was developed. In order to buy time to implement this
plan, we negotiated interim agreements with EDC and United Airlines to
provide liquidity relief in the deferral of principal and interest
payments on owned aircraft, and increased rates on Q400 and Saab flying
performed on behalf of United Airlines.
The alternative plan also needed permanent wage concessions from all our
employees, work rule relief from our pilots, renegotiation of the Q400
contract with United and agreement on an orderly wind down of our Saab
pro-rate flying with United. We also continued discussions with current
lenders and other external parties to raise liquidity to operate our
business during our restructuring phase. In order to reach a long-term
financially feasible Q400 contract and obtain financial funding, we had to
have permanent pay concessions and work rule relief.
The importance of the additional liquidity was to operate our business as
we worked through certain contractual obligations with Delta Air Lines,
including the pilot pay and integration reimbursement, agreement on new
pilot rates going forward and the non-pilot rate reset on our CRJ-200 and
Mesaba CRJ-900 contracts in 2013.
After numerous discussions with our organized labor groups, it was
determined we couldn’t agree on long-term cost-saving measures. This was
the response even after we walked through the bleak realities of our
business challenges, and explained clearly that the bankruptcy
alternative, which we are now living through, would be much more severe.
This includes flying reductions, furloughs, benefits and work rule changes
and more significant long-term pay concessions.
Now that we are in bankruptcy, our next major milestone will be to once
again engage in negotiations with our organized labor groups to amend our
existing collective bargaining agreements to create a viable company.
While changes to these agreements will inevitably affect the lives of our
dedicated and valued employees, we hope to lessen the impact of these
changes on our workforce as much as possible, and to reach agreements with
our unions that are reasonable and fair under the difficult circumstances
we are now facing. We also hope to achieve our objectives without the
added expense and distraction of having to ask the court to intervene by
rejecting our collective bargaining agreements under Section 1113 of the
Bankruptcy Code – as virtually all other airlines have done before (and as
American Airlines is currently seeking to do).
The importance of my letter today is to prepare the organization for the
coming concessions we will be asking of our entire workforce. To reach the
objectives required under our Delta DIP agreement and long-term business
requirements, we need to achieve significant cost savings. In order to
obtain the cost savings required, we have had to look beyond the wages and
work rules we were focused on prior to our bankruptcy filing. The concessions that we will be seeking now include wages, work rules, and modifications to our health and 401(k) plans. For the unionized workforce,
we will be meeting with your leadership teams on Tuesday, May 8th to
deliver our proposals. And for all employees, we will be communicating the
required concessions in a message on the same day.
Despite the challenges we are facing today, we remain dedicated to our
core mission: to safely, efficiently and economically connect mainline
passengers between hubs and smaller cities through a well-maintained and
profitable route network. Yes, we ultimately plan to be a smaller and
leaner network. However, while minimizing our operational expenses is
integral to achieving these objectives, we recognize the importance of
safe and skillful execution in all aspects of our business.
As we move forward we will keep you informed of important developments as
our labor negotiations get underway. In the meantime, we are grateful for
your ongoing dedication, and hope you will continue to bring the same
focus and determination to your work through the duration of this process.
All the best,
Sean
P.S. There’s an article in the New York Times that does a nice job
explaining the challenges facing the regional airline industry and how we
got to this point. If you’re interested in better understanding the
factors shaping our business and what it’s going to take to successfully
emerge from our reorganization process, I strongly encourage you to read
this.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/b...flight-cutbacks-and-higher-fares.html?_r=2&hp
As you know, we arrived at the decision to file for bankruptcy after
months of discussions with our mainline business partners, potential
investors/lenders and organized labor groups, which we had hoped would
allow us to address our financial and operational challenges and reduce
our costs without resorting to a legal process.
In the months leading up to our filing, I communicated the challenges we
were facing and the steps we would need to take to resolve them. I
explained that we were burdened by a number of separate issues that were
stacking on top of one another, resulting in a rapidly deteriorating
situation. Those issues fell into two categories; unprofitable partner
contracts and escalating expenses.
Unprofitable partner contracts:
Ours is a contract business. In simplified terms, we sign contracts with
mainline partners to operate flights on their behalf, and those contracts
set the fees we receive per flight. Properly negotiated, those fees should
pay for the cost of operating the flights plus some level of profit.
However, for a number of reasons including maintenance costs and pilot
productivity that weren’t correctly factored and (in the case of our
pro-rate contracts) rising fuel costs, our United/Continental Q400 and
Delta/9E CRJ-900 contracts signed in 2007 weren’t providing adequate fees
to cover our costs.
Escalating expenses:
At the same time, we were experiencing a substantial rise in expenses.
There were a number of drivers that included:
· Delays in integrating our three airlines, which ultimately delayed our
ability to attain cost synergies
· Not right-sizing our management and professional organization quickly
enough
· Complications with the implementation of our integrated seniority list
that cost millions of unforeseen dollars in crew productivity and training
expenses
· A new pilot contract that added millions of payroll dollars to our
day-to-day operating expenses but weren’t scheduled to be reimbursed for
more than a year after the new contract went into place
· Costs associated with the relocation of our headquarters
Taken together, the unprofitable contracts and escalating expenses made
our liquidity situation very tenuous. To solve these problems and reorient
Pinnacle toward success and profitability, the company sought the mutual
cooperation of our organized labor groups and our two primary mainline
partners (Delta and United) – the “legs” of a three-legged stool that
could not stand without support from all three.
Despite frequent and constructive conversations with our airline partners
and union leadership beginning late last year, the elements of a
consensual restructuring plan did not ultimately fall into place. In early
January, Delta notified us that they would not participate in our
restructuring outside of bankruptcy. Even though this was a setback, an
alternative plan was developed. In order to buy time to implement this
plan, we negotiated interim agreements with EDC and United Airlines to
provide liquidity relief in the deferral of principal and interest
payments on owned aircraft, and increased rates on Q400 and Saab flying
performed on behalf of United Airlines.
The alternative plan also needed permanent wage concessions from all our
employees, work rule relief from our pilots, renegotiation of the Q400
contract with United and agreement on an orderly wind down of our Saab
pro-rate flying with United. We also continued discussions with current
lenders and other external parties to raise liquidity to operate our
business during our restructuring phase. In order to reach a long-term
financially feasible Q400 contract and obtain financial funding, we had to
have permanent pay concessions and work rule relief.
The importance of the additional liquidity was to operate our business as
we worked through certain contractual obligations with Delta Air Lines,
including the pilot pay and integration reimbursement, agreement on new
pilot rates going forward and the non-pilot rate reset on our CRJ-200 and
Mesaba CRJ-900 contracts in 2013.
After numerous discussions with our organized labor groups, it was
determined we couldn’t agree on long-term cost-saving measures. This was
the response even after we walked through the bleak realities of our
business challenges, and explained clearly that the bankruptcy
alternative, which we are now living through, would be much more severe.
This includes flying reductions, furloughs, benefits and work rule changes
and more significant long-term pay concessions.
Now that we are in bankruptcy, our next major milestone will be to once
again engage in negotiations with our organized labor groups to amend our
existing collective bargaining agreements to create a viable company.
While changes to these agreements will inevitably affect the lives of our
dedicated and valued employees, we hope to lessen the impact of these
changes on our workforce as much as possible, and to reach agreements with
our unions that are reasonable and fair under the difficult circumstances
we are now facing. We also hope to achieve our objectives without the
added expense and distraction of having to ask the court to intervene by
rejecting our collective bargaining agreements under Section 1113 of the
Bankruptcy Code – as virtually all other airlines have done before (and as
American Airlines is currently seeking to do).
The importance of my letter today is to prepare the organization for the
coming concessions we will be asking of our entire workforce. To reach the
objectives required under our Delta DIP agreement and long-term business
requirements, we need to achieve significant cost savings. In order to
obtain the cost savings required, we have had to look beyond the wages and
work rules we were focused on prior to our bankruptcy filing. The concessions that we will be seeking now include wages, work rules, and modifications to our health and 401(k) plans. For the unionized workforce,
we will be meeting with your leadership teams on Tuesday, May 8th to
deliver our proposals. And for all employees, we will be communicating the
required concessions in a message on the same day.
Despite the challenges we are facing today, we remain dedicated to our
core mission: to safely, efficiently and economically connect mainline
passengers between hubs and smaller cities through a well-maintained and
profitable route network. Yes, we ultimately plan to be a smaller and
leaner network. However, while minimizing our operational expenses is
integral to achieving these objectives, we recognize the importance of
safe and skillful execution in all aspects of our business.
As we move forward we will keep you informed of important developments as
our labor negotiations get underway. In the meantime, we are grateful for
your ongoing dedication, and hope you will continue to bring the same
focus and determination to your work through the duration of this process.
All the best,
Sean
P.S. There’s an article in the New York Times that does a nice job
explaining the challenges facing the regional airline industry and how we
got to this point. If you’re interested in better understanding the
factors shaping our business and what it’s going to take to successfully
emerge from our reorganization process, I strongly encourage you to read
this.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/b...flight-cutbacks-and-higher-fares.html?_r=2&hp
ctab5060X
Well-Known Member
SM said:
If Delta did not want to participate outside of bankrupcy, then don't blame the pilot group (or other employee groups) for not taking PERMANENT wage wage and work rule concessions. We would have given up the 5 or 7 or whatever percent months ago and still be looking at further cuts in bankrupcy. Yet in the midst of all this, you take a pay raise...
Where would we be if management had not been so eager to realign everybody at once with 11-09??
SM said:
Great! Everything 9E pilots fought for since 2004 will be going away...
Can we just have the 1999 agreement back? Getting screwed won't hurt as much that way.
I hope we can show that any increase in health care combined with a reduction in wages will net pilots making less money than they were under a CBA signed ~13 years ago.
Screaming_Emu
Well-Known Member
I don't even work there and that letter makes me want to punch that douchebag in the face. Here's hoping that bankruptcy court tells them to pound sand. You guys deserve better.