Our Careers Could Hang in the Balance

jskibo said:
Does it know where the Jack in the Boxes are?
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jskibo said:
We've moved on to Jack in the Box, try to keep up aye? :)
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I'm going to set up a payroll deduction to the ALPA PAC... they legally cannot use our dues for the PAC funding, so we have to contribute separately. If anyone wants the form I'd be glad to upload it.

I know this has been cooking for a while, and I pray to GOD that this doesn't happen...

If you want a big shining example, just take one look at the US Cruise Ship Industry... want to travel on a cruise ship flagged in Merica, impossible. They all fly foreign flags like Indonesia and Greece etc with super cheap labor.

The one thing that we have going for us is that I don't think that the american public or the congress would allow this to happen... it would put half a million of us out of jobs overnight, and one only needs to look at Asiana to see the quality of pilots you'd be getting from the Phillipines. I honestly don't think it'll happen, but it is always a possibility.
 
mikecweb said:
What are YOU going to do?
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Haven't you heard? I'm too busy dragging down the industry because I accepted an offer of employment from a regional.

I'll investigate this further when I can and then determine what to do.

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jwp_145 said:
I'm going to set up a payroll deduction to the ALPA PAC... they legally cannot use our dues for the PAC funding, so we have to contribute separately. If anyone wants the form I'd be glad to upload it.

I know this has been cooking for a while, and I pray to GOD that this doesn't happen...

If you want a big shining example, just take one look at the US Cruise Ship Industry... want to travel on a cruise ship flagged in Merica, impossible. They all fly foreign flags like Indonesia and Greece etc with super cheap labor.

The one thing that we have going for us is that I don't think that the american public or the congress would allow this to happen... it would put half a million of us out of jobs overnight, and one only needs to look at Asiana to see the quality of pilots you'd be getting from the Phillipines. I honestly don't think it'll happen, but it is always a possibility.
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If it saves them $20 on a round trip to Destin twice a year, they'll let it happen.
 
I just emailed ALL of my senators and the congressman in my district here in Oklahoma, and I STRONGLY suggest that you do the same.
 
desertdog71 said:
Haven't you heard? I'm too busy dragging down the industry because I accepted an offer of employment from a regional.

I'll investigate this further when I can and then determine what to do.

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Hey you're lucky by doing that you'll get a chance to join ALPA and make a difference.
 
jwp_145 said:
This is the email I just got from ALPA... I don't think the legislation will go through, but we would all be good and ed if it happened...


Images are not displayed. Display images below - Always display images from govtaffair@alpa.org​


U.S. and European Union (EU) negotiators have officially begun work towards crafting the world’s largest free trade agreement. The EU is asking the U.S. to dismantle our foreign ownership & control and cabotage laws. Such changes could ultimately decimate the U.S. airline industry and severely stunt thousands of pilots’ careers. ALPA and ALPA-PAC are committed to preventing this fundamental threat, but we need your help to win.
Most concerning about these negotiations is the EU’s push to eliminate our cabotage restrictions for its airlines. This change would adversely affect every ALPA member, putting downward pressure on wages and dramatically reducing the number of flight segments our companies fly. If this change goes through, the U.S. airline industry as we know it will disappear.
Currently, non-U.S. citizens are limited to owning no more than 25% of the voting stock of an American-flagged carrier, and actual control of the airline must be in American hands. Preserving our current laws is essential not only for our job security, but our national defense. U.S. carriers are capable of providing 90% of the troop-carrying capacity and 100% of the aeromedical evacuation capacity for our military when fully activated through the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF). Even in peacetime, the Department of Defense relies heavily on U.S. air carriers for regular troop transport and supply lifts around the world. Allowing U.S. carriers to be controlled by foreign airlines (and nations that own their airlines) could endanger our military preparedness, and is a strategic threat to our national security and national defense.
Beyond the ill effects a loosening of our foreign control laws would have on our military, such changes could be disastrous for pilots’ careers. We need only look to Australia to see how an unregulated international market can work out for pilots. Qantas, formerly the largest airline in the southern hemisphere, recently engaged in a partnership with Emirates Air that has devastated the Qantas pilots’ long-haul flying. Today, out of 98 routes governed by the partnership, Qantas pilots are only flying 14. If foreign control of U.S. airlines becomes legal in the U.S., we can expect to see our international routes drastically reduced in a similar fashion as lucrative routes could easily be transferred to foreign owners/partners.
Our foreign ownership & control and cabotage laws protect our careers, our industry, and our national defense. We cannot suffer the loss of any of these vital rules. At ALPA’s urging, 157 bipartisan Members of Congressrecently sent a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative demanding air traffic rights and related services be excluded from these negotiations. But if we are to win this fight for our careers, this powerful letter must only be the first step. Your support will be essential to our success.
ALPA-PAC is educating Members of Congress on this issue and building support for our position. Our opponents have spent millions of dollars building goodwill in Congress, hoping for an opportunity to break these laws. Our PAC must grow to effectively fight back. I hope you’ll consider joining the PAC today in order to secure the future of the U.S. airline industry.

Sincerely,
Michael Robbins
Director of Government Affairs, ALPA
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Told ya so!
 
desertdog71 said:
Speaking of NAFTA and Trucking. I'm currently sitting in the US/Mex border in Calexico, CA. Its 108 degrees and the tree hugging morons won't let me idle my truck and stay cooled off while I wait for Jose to bring my loaded trailer across the border (probably missing lights and a few other items.) :rolleyes:
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The Mexican trucks did have a mileage restriction into the U.S., which I believe has been rescinded in recent years. That, and I don't believe they necessarily have to comply with the same safety standards. I'm not certain if Commercial Enforcement officers of various law enforcement agencies are able to apply the same statutes to these vehicles as they're required to to American trucks.
 
Seems like if this goes through and they place some restrictions, the inch given will turn into miles.


Question. Lets say this cabotage goes through, if we re-regulated airlines, wouldn't that end up being a better thing for us? We could remain competive on the global scale and wages could be set at a good rate.
 
mikecweb said:
Probably single biggest issue facing our career (those of us that do this as a profession) and we're talking about GPS units in trucks.

Sounds about right.
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Mike - serious question and I'm dense right now - how does this affect your career, you're corporate aren't you? Is it that foreign pilots would take biz away from American carriers...leaving a large pool of unemployed pilots and negative wage pressure?
 
Why wouldn't U.S. carriers be able to move into European routes, which could benefit U.S. majors and their pilots?

The pay and benefit packages at Air France, Lufthansa, British Airways, etc are equal or higher than their U.S. counterparts.

We need only look to Australia to see how an unregulated international market can work out for pilots. Qantas, formerly the largest airline in the southern hemisphere, recently engaged in a partnership with Emirates Air that has devastated the Qantas pilots’ long-haul flying. Today, out of 98 routes governed by the partnership, Qantas pilots are only flying 14.
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That statement is just wrong. The partnership just started a few months ago. Qantas has spent the last 6-7 years transferring their international flying to Jetstar*. Their management spent so much time and effort diluting the brand that the international division started losing money, even though they had a virtual monopoly on Oz-USA routes. The Emirates partnership puts Qantas code on all of the European cities, Africa as well. The overwhelming majority to places Qantas never served before. I just flew to Accra with a Qantas code attached. That's one of those 84 routes that Qantas pilots lost, huh :rolleyes:


Typhoonpilot
 
WacoFan said:
Mike - serious question and I'm dense right now - how does this affect your career, you're corporate aren't you? Is it that foreign pilots would take biz away from American carriers...leaving a large pool of unemployed pilots and negative wage pressure?
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That's how I see it.
 
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