Pilots reach tentative agreement

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FlyChicaga

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ExpressJet Pilots Reach Tentative Agreement
Wednesday October 6, 5:41 pm ET


HOUSTON, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- After more than two years of intense negotiations with management, ExpressJet (dba Continental Express) pilot representatives, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l (ALPA), announced today that they have reached a Tentative Agreement on Contract 2002.
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"It's taken more than two years to reach this point, but our pilot negotiators secured substantial improvements to the current contract in the areas of compensation, job protection, work rules, and scope," said Capt. Mark Leneski, chairman of the XJT Master Executive Council, a unit of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l. "The determination and sacrifices of our pilots and their families made this Tentative Agreement possible."

Pilot representatives unanimously and firmly endorsed the Tentative Agreement, and recommended that the pilots vote "yes" on the upcoming ballot of the membership.

Contract negotiations between the pilots union and ExpressJet management have been ongoing since July 2002. Pilot representatives and negotiators will conduct roadshows for the ExpressJet pilots this week in all three hubs.

During contract talks with management, ExpressJet pilots and employees garnered ExpressJet the award of Airline of the Year in 2003.

ExpressJet pilots safely transport more than 50,000 passengers to more than 130 destinations daily on a growing fleet of state-of-the-art Embraer jets. These destinations range from St. Johns, Newfoundland, to Acapulco, Mexico, including the Caribbean. ExpressJet Airlines is the sole provider of small jet service for Continental Airlines in that company's hubs in Newark, Cleveland and Houston, and is the largest small jet operator in the world.

ALPA is the world's oldest and largest pilot union, representing 64,000 airline pilots at 43 airlines in the U.S. and Canada. http://www.alpa.org.




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Source: Air Line Pilots Association, International
 
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After more than two years of intense negotiations with management

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I guess my idea of a two year long intense negotiation is a little different. Anyhow its good that they finally got things ironed out.
 
Note: This release has specifics...

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XJT MEC Special Update



October 6, 2004







Dear Fellow Pilot:



We are pleased to announce that your ExpressJet Negotiating Committee [NC] reached a Tentative Agreement [TA] with XJT management earlier today. This afternoon, after careful review of the final sections and language, the XJT MEC firmly and unanimously endorsed this TA.



The TA is the result of two years and three months of intense bargaining and extremely hard work by our NC. Backed by the resolve of this pilot group, we persevered despite numerous setbacks to our work lives and the industry, including the terror attacks of September 11, industry revenue that has fallen $15 billion dollars since 2000 - despite passenger levels that are as high as they were in 2000 - and oil prices that closed yesterday at more than $50 a barrel.



In this environment, we've made substantial improvements in the four 'cornerstone' areas of the contract. If ratified, the new contract will:



make landmark improvements to scope by binding the holding companies to our job security provisions;



enhance scheduling/work rules, including long call/short call reserves, more guaranteed days off each bid period for all pilots, and vastly improved trip trading opportunities;



gain much better benefit provisions that result in shorter waiting periods for health coverage and Company contributions for retirement without pilot contributions; and



provide superior W-2 compensation [including leg-by-leg pay], which, when measured objectively by Wilson Center polling, meets the objectives of the majority of XJT pilots.



In response to the key goals voiced by XJT pilots, full retroactive pay for all pilots at industry leading rates and worth $30 million has been achieved. In addition to retro, pay rates and



miscellaneous increases in the contract's first year alone are worth another $30 million. The term of the contract was limited to four years despite Company proposals for a duration of five years. And, just as important, we refused repeated management demands for modification of our vacation system and training on days off.



While we would have liked to have reached higher levels of compensation early in this Agreement rather than later on, our decision to recommend the TA to you is based on our belief that the agreement, when considered as a whole, establishes the XJT pilots as leaders for 50-seat aircraft W-2 compensation, work rules and benefits.



The decision is also underpinned by our concern that we will not achieve the right to strike over the near term, and that the improvements that have been bargained, especially the full and industry-leading retro pay, are perishable if airline industry economics continue to deteriorate.



Your determination and support for the negotiations process have enabled us to achieve this result. You will have plenty of time to review the language of this Agreement and discuss with reps and the NC the thinking and strategy that leads us to this point. There will be time to ask questions and get answers. You have the final word at the end of the contract ratification process.



We will post a schedule for the first round of road shows immediately. If you aren't able to attend those scheduled next week, please look for additional road shows scheduled later in the month.



Hard copies of the TA will be mailed to all pilots at their addresses of record and PDF copies will be e-mailed to those pilots on our blastmail list. Please make sure that your contact



information is up-to-date with ALPA by contacting the XJT ALPA office at 281-987-3636, or by logging on to the website at www.calalpa.org.







Capt. Mark Leneski



XJT MEC Chairman
 
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provide superior W-2 compensation [including leg-by-leg pay], which, when measured objectively by Wilson Center polling, meets the objectives of the majority of XJT pilots.

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So does this mean XJT pilots will be paid "per trip" ala SWA instead of per flight hour?
 
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provide superior W-2 compensation [including leg-by-leg pay], which, when measured objectively by Wilson Center polling, meets the objectives of the majority of XJT pilots.

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So does this mean XJT pilots will be paid "per trip" ala SWA instead of per flight hour?

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Don't quote me, but what I believe this entails is block or better per leg, not just per trip. So if your trip was blocked at 19:00, and you flew 19:10, you'd get paid for 10 minutes extra. Now, that's done per leg. So if you go over per leg on time, you get paid extra for it, rather than lumping it all into the pairing.
 
So does each leg pay differently? I know the way SWA does it is xx amount of miles = trip (something like HOU-DAL is one trip or thereabouts). So if you flew like MCO-LAS, it'd be three or four "trips" as far as pay goes. Kinda screwed up and hard to figure out......
 
Hey FlyChicaga, you guys did good work on the new contract...way to go!

Congrats!
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the new TA can be seen here in the crew room www.expressjetpilots.com you have to register, but its free.

I hope this TA gets voted down, some areas have some decent improvements, but the pay still stinks. What happened to raising the bar X-Jet?
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This TA sucks. It is going to get voted down. These pay rates are terrible. The pilots came out with a 50% pay increase proposition, and the company came out with 9%. Two years later they meet in the middle at 11%? Right.

I should point out that there have been some really significant changes in the rest of the contract which is good. It just needs much more work on payrates. Until it's Comair + 1% I don't see it going through.
 
I've said it before and I'll say it again ... this one won't settle without a strike. I know what the XJT pilots are willing to take (and in talking to many of them, Comair PLUS is a BARE MINIMUM) and I have a pretty good idea of what the company is probably willing to pay ... and let's just say it's more likely that John Kerry and George Bush can have a meeting of the minds on tax cuts for the rich.

I'm with Szluka ... this one gets voted down, probably by a 3-1 margin.

P.S.: You guys don't have per-leg block-or-better? We do. Our pay rates aren't the best in the industry (though not bad) but we have it pretty good on work rules. (Can you say NO JUNIOR MANNING???) Now if only we could get trip and duty rigs ...
 
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This TA sucks. It is going to get voted down. These pay rates are terrible. The pilots came out with a 50% pay increase proposition, and the company came out with 9%. Two years later they meet in the middle at 11%? Right.

I should point out that there have been some really significant changes in the rest of the contract which is good. It just needs much more work on payrates. Until it's Comair + 1% I don't see it going through.

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Matt,

When is this TA going to get voted on for the final pass?
 
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Are you sleeping in that Avatar? hahahahaha
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Haha yeah, pretending!
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Oh, and voting opens Oct 29th, and closes Nov. 18th.
 
Nope. Every person I fly with is like, "So what do you think about the TA?" And my answer is, "well since I can't vote I just kinda keep my opinion to myself, but I will say that I'll make $10 more here per hour as a second year FO than I did at my last job."

Talk about "let's put the FNG FO on the spot"....
 
"I'd rather not answer. Some guys will hate you for voting yes. Other guys will hate you for voting no. So, in the interest of peace and harmony, I'll keep my thoughts to myself. Besides, I'd rather talk about women or sports or where to eat on the layover anyway."
 
No doubt.

Nothing says "I haven't a life!" more than talking shop on a layover.
 
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