Spirit MEC shenanigans

I'm out on medical right now, so I suppose I don't have as much to say on this as someone who's actively dealing with it. That being said there is no way I would help the company out of the situation they created, esp by voluntarily breaking the contract to help them out. Edit: I would certainly not help them out without added compensation, if they want help at least do what XJT did red flag/200%
 
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I have no dog in this fight.
It's a tough call. I'm sure there are pilots and other workers with mortgages, car payments, kids... Do you just say burn the you know what down, or bite the bullet and help the company? Sometimes leadership means doing what is right and needed versus what you personally want to do.
Not my call this time.
 
Seggy said:
From an ALPA Urgent Read or whatever they call it there.




Discuss...
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You reap what you sow. They voted out the old guys and elected new ones and MEC Chair was the result, this same one who just suspended basically the largest important sections in a CBA.

Spirit's problem is they are trying to run a 72-ish airplane airline like they still have 35 planes. It just ain't gonna work. You either build a proper infrastructure to support that growth or you watch it crumble at the slightest hint of IROPs. It's all management's doing. They have turned millions in profit but at the expense of employees and the company's infrastructure. Contract workers were basically given the middle finger and fired (in Myrtle beach I think and Atlantic City?). They had 4 people at the check in for 400+ passengers at one time in LAS. 3 crew skeds working during IROPs. Who knows how many dispatchers? During the last few days, if a fed had been there at HQs seeing how little crew skeds and dispatchers were available and working to cover the flights assigned to them, he'd probably shut down Spirit for losing operational control. Earlier this year jetBlue made the tough decision to operationally stop their flights everywhere except the west coast flights just to regain their operation. Spirit had a disastrous meltdown and they basically did nothing, except....

Come to the pilot leadership (MEC Chair) and ask for relief on the contract. And having to make a decision by himself, he approved it and then notified the LEC. It's a huge shot in the foot. The contract is amendable this Summer and negotiations due. This wasn't the time to cave for just 5 days. What would be Spirit's worst case scenario? They shut down for 24-48 hrs for losing operational control? They collect themselves up, hire and properly staff, improve their infrastructure, and start flying again in just 48 hours. jetBlue did it for 24 hrs and they still turned a profit for that quarter. Spirit would have lost a little bit of money but they would have gone on just fine. The comments of "there won't be a Spirit left" is the biggest fear grenade tossed this year. Just a bunch of management intimation tactics. Spirit isn't going anywhere. They are printing money. They just don't have the will to improve their infrastructure. They are all about the highest profits at all costs.

And their solution? Come to pilots for a 5-day CBA concession to get their operation back on track. Good luck with that. Every single Spirit employee should be offended. It's very surprising the new MEC Chair decided to cave this quickly. The email is full of fluff and sprinkles that "they won't forget what we have done for them." This kind of thing just shows the inexperience of the leadership at helm. The new MEC does seem to be a little in over his head.

Their goes any leverage you had for the upcoming negotiations. They now know the new MEC will cave in. Even if Spirit lost a couple million a day, you let them fix it by fixing the internal infrastructure and make it run like they have 72 planes. It's like a guy who's been shot and bleeding profusely. You can give up provisions of the CBA and that's basically like pumping in more blood to the patient via transfusion. More blood helps the guy, but it still doesn't stop the fact that there is a massive hole in his body and he's still leaking tons of blood.

Going forward it will probably be more of the same. Why invest in infrastructure when the employees will surrender their employment contract and be good worker bees? Give it a few years. If it's bad now with 72 planes, I can't imagine what Spirit will be like at 143 planes.
 
My DH (dear husband of 36 years as of Wednesday) flew 3 legs a day for the past 3 days per his original schedule.

The first day they took off on leg one 1/2 hour late because they pulled a FA to fly another trip and called a local reserve. They made up the time.

The second day the inbound plane arrived 1/2 hour late from LAS. They made up the time and we had a lovely dinner celebrating our anniversary one day late.

Today he flew PHL-ORD-IAH and arrived on time all the time.

He says it's bad weather and bean counters cutting and scheduling for optimal performance, forgetting about irops. Today it seems to be good, so no need to shut down like JetBlue had to do. We'll see what tomorrow brings as Houston is still challenged.
 
Cherokee_Cruiser said:
Their goes any leverage you had for the upcoming negotiations. They now know the new MEC will cave in. Even if Spirit lost a couple million a day, you let them fix it by fixing the internal infrastructure and make it run like they have 72 planes.

Going forward it will probably be more of the same. Why invest in infrastructure when the employees will surrender their employment contract and be good worker bees? Give it a few years. If it's bad now with 72 planes, I can't imagine what Spirit will be like at 143 planes.
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This is what really worries me! Along with all the guys thinking they would be out of their job if the airline shut down.
 
MikeD said:
Like ATA? Open one day, shut the next?
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I guess it also doesn't help when our own MEC thinks like that....

" This current level of delays and cancellations is unsustainable and, if left to continue, will be unrecoverable. My fellow pilots, make no mistake—if that happens, there will not be a sustainable future here at Spirit."
 
My DH (Dear Husband) is on his way home after landing early with a day that began in IAH. It was an uneventful, on time all the time four day.
 
Eagle421flyer said:
I guess it also doesn't help when our own MEC thinks like that....

" This current level of delays and cancellations is unsustainable and, if left to continue, will be unrecoverable. My fellow pilots, make no mistake—if that happens, there will not be a sustainable future here at Spirit."
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He brought the Mesa mentality to Spirit.
 
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