Don't Screw The Skyway Pilots, MEH & Joe Kolshak.

[Doug Taylor]

Skyway Management Denies Pilots Severance Package Given to All Other Employees
Decision to exclude pilots from receiving termination benefits is anti-union, discriminatory

Milwaukee, WI—The Skyway pilots union, a unit of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l. (ALPA), is reporting to its pilots that Skyway management has refused to offer Skyway pilots severance packages. Skyway, dba Midwest Connect, announced in January that it will cease its flight operations in April, effectively terminating more than 190 pilot jobs.

“We are bitterly disappointed at management’s mean-spirited and vindictive refusal to give Skyway pilots the same severance pay package it has given to all other Skyway employees,” said Capt. Rendell Schmidt, chairman of the Skyway Master Executive Council (MEC). “As a result, pilots will not receive any severance pay, nor will they receive a COBRA cost-sharing package.”

In addition to excluding pilots from the severance pay package, management has offered very little of value that is not already required by law in exchange for work rule changes that well exceed the value of what they were offering the pilots.

“An already ugly situation at Skyway Airlines has just turned uglier. It is evident that Skyway management is punishing the pilots for having union representation and a collective bargaining contract,” said Capt. John Prater, ALPA president. “ALPA is exploring our legal options. Clearly, by its vindictive targeting of the pilots, Skyway management has behaved in a manner that is discriminatory, anti-union, and anti-ALPA.”

In public statements at the time of the shutdown announcement, Midwest Air Group management indicated that all employees losing their jobs would receive severance pay and other assistance. However, in its response to the MEC regarding the union’s proposal, management refused to extend to its pilots the same severance pay package that it has given all other Skyway employees.

During a February 13 meeting with management representatives, including CEO David Reeve, union leaders asked management to reconsider its position, pointing out that the company is not legally required to offer severance benefits to any employees—union or non-union. Indeed, the recently organized Skyway flight attendants will receive the severance benefits package denied to the pilots. Mr. Reeve replied that the pilots have had the benefit of a collective bargaining agreement for ten years, while the other employees have not.

Capt. Prater pledged ALPA’s continued assistance to Skyway pilots throughout this ordeal. “Through jobs and benefits conferences, ALPA will provide every possible means of assistance for them to move forward with their lives and careers. We will work to make sure that every Skyway pilot is back in the cockpit when Skyway shuts down.”

Capt. Schmidt added, “While we understand that Skyway pilots are outraged over management’s decision, we are confident that they will remain professional through this ordeal and continue to fly passengers to their destinations in a safe and timely manner.”

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest pilot union, representing more than 60,000 pilots at 43 airlines in the U.S. and Canada. Visit the website: www.alpa.org.

# # #

ALPA Contacts: Doug Baj, Barbara Gottshalk, 703/481-4440

[dc3flyer]

I wouldn't remain professional if I were them! This is crazy!

I think these guys should walk out now, it can't hurt them much in their job search or financially since they don't make too much anyway.

[N826AW]

Wow that's pretty slimy.

[Firebird2XC]

I was going to post something about this when I got the ALPA fastread.. but I was beaten to the punch.


Does management have any basis by which they try to rationalize this or are they just out to blatantly screw over the pilots outright?

I mean, really- can they REALLY be this shameless?

[B767Driver]

Originally Posted by Firebird2XC

I mean, really- can they REALLY be this shameless?

That's really nothing...compared to the way they've treated employees in the past. That's all I have to say.

[Airdale]

Airline Management = SUCK! Until someone stands up to management, this will always happen. They have no consequences for their business actions.

[Firebird2XC]

Unfortunately there will only be more of this in the future.

Dark days ahead, for us airplane jockeys.

[surreal1221]

Originally Posted by Airdale

Airline Management = SUCK! Until someone stands up to management, this will always happen. They have no consequences for their business actions.

Well, when there continue to be the naive ones about us it'll never change.

[Minuteman]

So, if the Skyway pilot group decides to strike all subsequent flying, will that mean SkyWest would takeover flying struck work?

That would be an unpleasant little F-U parting gift for management to sort out in lieu of getting the severance straight and proper.

[surreal1221]

Oh. . .how I'd love to see SKW pilots flying struck work.

[Judge]

Sure you would Surreal, fact of the matter is, Skyway has nothing to lose by giving their pilots the finger and a kick in the tail. Who is going to hurt them. There are no company morals and no sense of duty to employees. Sad.

[Kristie]

well, with that attitude, why give Skyway anymore $$ in revenue stream? the pilots could effectively close mgmts doors months early.

i'd feel horrible for the pax that got stuck with tickets tho.

[zmiller4]

Originally Posted by surreal1221

Oh. . .how I'd love to see SKW pilots flying struck work.

What on earth would possess you to say that?

[B767Driver]

Originally Posted by Judge

There are no company morals and no sense of duty to employees. Sad.

In a way, I understand management's decision here. The company and the pilots are bound to each other by way of a contract. If the two sides abide by the agreements set forth in the contract, neither side should expect anything more or anything less.

That's pretty much how contracts work. It would be a nice gift of management to provide a severance...but I don't see that it's out of bounds for them not to provide it given their contractual arrangment.

[B767Driver]

Originally Posted by Kristie

well, with that attitude, why give Skyway anymore $$ in revenue stream? the pilots could effectively close mgmts doors months early.

i'd feel horrible for the pax that got stuck with tickets tho.

I believe the pilots have an ethical obligation to abide by their working agreement, albeit, a very difficult situation.

[deadstick]

Originally Posted by Kristie

i'd feel horrible for the pax that got stuck with tickets tho.

Midwest is still selling tickets in December to destinations that won't be served after 5 April. The paying pax are going to get hosed no matter what. The question is how soon.

Midwest is setting things up so they can spin everything in their favor.
--Skyway had a staffing issue in 2007, but you never read in the paper that a big part of the problem was that Midwest did not LET Skyway hire pilots for a very long time.
--They announce very early that they are closing up the airline. They know people will leave and look for other work because seniority is everything in this business. Now Midwest can say that they gave them time to find jobs, but everybody left and they had to shut down the operation early.

This ALSO gets Midwest out of the EAS contract (or so they thought) - "Sorry we cannot fly the routes, we do not have the staffing. It's not our fault." Somehow they overlooked the $25k/day and /city fines. Oops. NWA just announced they will start flying to 2 of the EAS cities on June 5. For 60 days and those 2 cities, that's a $3 MILLION mistake.

[surreal1221]

Originally Posted by Judge

Sure you would Surreal, fact of the matter is, Skyway has nothing to lose by giving their pilots the finger and a kick in the tail. Who is going to hurt them. There are no company morals and no sense of duty to employees. Sad.

It is sad, and I just hope some of the anti-union guys and gals at SKW keep to themselves in regards to this flying. It is not their decision though, but with them (collectively) showing a lack of solidarity with the rest of the professional pilot group (Unions) I'm sure a number (the majority) will not stop for a second and think "Hey - maybe we shouldn't fly this. . ."

Then again, this is all hypothetical opinion. It is dependent on the Skyway pilot's striking through the rest of their subsequent flying. Which I have no supportive evidence to indicate that that will happen.

Originally Posted by zmiller4

What on earth would possess you to say that?

I'm sure there are some SKW pilots out there who would easily fly struck work without thinking for a second about their fellow professional pilots.

The birth of a scab begins.

It should also be noted that these comments are primarily directed towards the 66% at SKW.

[Cruise]

Originally Posted by zmiller4

What on earth would possess you to say that?

I'm certainly not speaking for Surreal....but my guess would be that it would prove to the SKW pilots they should've voted ALPA in. Because now, they have no say in the matter and will fly struck work if mgmt tells them to do so. The irony would be overwhelming.

[zmiller4]

Originally Posted by Cruise

I'm certainly not speaking for Surreal....but my guess would be that it would prove to the SKW pilots they should've voted ALPA in. Because now, they have no say in the matter and will fly struck work if mgmt tells them to do so. The irony would be overwhelming.

I don't mean to be harsh on you or surreal, but saying stuff like this shows how little you guys know about the Skywest pilot group. There's a HUGE difference between not voting in ALPA and being willing to scab.

I don't think that there's any way management would try to force us to fly struck work. There may be a couple here and there who would do it (as with any other airline), but the MKE pilots I've talked to would not do it, period. I had similar conversations with SLC folks when ASA was in contract negociations, and the consensus was that if ASA walked management would be smarter than to try and take over struck flying because they know no one would do it.

I think 99% of the pilots would lose their job before scabbing. I hope I'm not wrong.

[Minuteman]

Originally Posted by B767Driver

In a way, I understand management's decision here. The company and the pilots are bound to each other by way of a contract. If the two sides abide by the agreements set forth in the contract, neither side should expect anything more or anything less.

That's pretty much how contracts work. It would be a nice gift of management to provide a severance...but I don't see that it's out of bounds for them not to provide it given their contractual arrangment.

Originally Posted by B767Driver

I believe the pilots have an ethical obligation to abide by their working agreement, albeit, a very difficult situation.

That's a valid point. I guess there was no explicit agreement broken, so it would be difficult to point at something and say, "this is how we justify walking off, we upheld our end of the agreement and they are not."

That said, it has to be really tough to have any job satisfaction at Skyway right now.

[Soul Brotha']

Originally Posted by zmiller4

I don't mean to be harsh on you or surreal, but saying stuff like this shows how little you guys know about the Skywest pilot group. There's a HUGE difference between not voting in ALPA and being willing to scab.

I don't think that there's any way management would try to force us to fly struck work. There may be a couple here and there who would do it (as with any other airline), but the MKE pilots I've talked to would not do it, period. I had similar conversations with SLC folks when ASA was in contract negociations, and the consensus was that if ASA walked management would be smarter than to try and take over struck flying because they know no one would do it.

I think 99% of the pilots would lose their job before scabbing. I hope I'm not wrong.

But what can you guys do if they tell you to fly it? You thinking that management wouldn't force you to fly it and them actually telling you to fly those routes are different. What type of protection do you guys have if you refuse to fly the routes?

[Cruise]

Originally Posted by zmiller4

I don't mean to be harsh on you or surreal, but saying stuff like this shows how little you guys know about the Skywest pilot group. There's a HUGE difference between not voting in ALPA and being willing to scab.

I don't think that there's any way management would try to force us to fly struck work. There may be a couple here and there who would do it (as with any other airline), but the MKE pilots I've talked to would not do it, period. I had similar conversations with SLC folks when ASA was in contract negociations, and the consensus was that if ASA walked management would be smarter than to try and take over struck flying because they know no one would do it.

I think 99% of the pilots would lose their job before scabbing. I hope I'm not wrong.

That's great to hear you think you pilot group wouldn't fly struck work and your management wouldn't force you to do so either. But really, what protection do you have to prevent it? Like I said before, I wasn't speaking for surreal.....just speculating as to why he made the comment he made. If your management saw money bleeding out of the company and has the means to stop the bleeding......do you truly believe they're not going to take action to save the beast? I hope you're right.

Originally Posted by Soul Brotha'

But what can you guys do if they tell you to fly it? You thinking that management wouldn't force you to fly it and them actually telling you to fly those routes are different. What type of protection do you guys have if you refuse to fly the routes?

[stuckingfk]

Originally Posted by Cruise

That's great to hear you think you pilot group wouldn't fly struck work and your management wouldn't force you to do so either. But really, what protection do you have to prevent it? Like I said before, I wasn't speaking for surreal.....just speculating as to why he made the comment he made. If your management saw money bleeding out of the company and has the means to stop the bleeding......do you truly believe they're not going to take action to save the beast? I hope you're right.

I seem to miss the part where SkyWest would be flying struck work?

I think some of you noobs on this board need to realize that regional flying is CONTRACT work. Many of these contracts have performance clauses and other built in items that allow the company footing the bill to get what they want; CHEAPER flying. I'm sorry, but this is how every industry is. If you can't keep costs under control while providing a good product, you're out of business.

A big problem I see with the industry is pilots started making regional airline flying a career. It wasn't ever this way and was never intended too. Add in the crappy major pay (first few years, depending on airline), why would someone making 85K+ leave? The majors need to step up their pay as an incentive for pilots to leave. I'm not going to get into the math with out but let's just say it's at least a decade before you break even. Then you have furlough? Seems to me more majors are prone to furloughs. Throw in that and you'll never break even.

One more thing, you signed up for this so get off your high horses, quit complaining, do your job, and go home.

[EatSleepFly]

Originally Posted by stuckingfk

One more thing, you signed up for this so get off your high horses, quit complaining, do your job, and go home.

You think Surreal is on a high horse now?? Wait till he gets out of the right seat of his 172 and actually gets a regional job! Bow down!

[Lee D]

I hope ALPA gets them that severance.

Gotta agree with Zmiller on this. Though many of the pilots here did not vote for ALPA, I think most understand the issue and would NOT be chomping at the bit to fly those routes. (Assuming it actually was struck work.) I think most would want to avoid it like the plague.
How they would avoid it is another issue however. They could voice their opinions to SAPA. How effective that would be. . . . I don't know. (BTW YES I know there is no contract that ultimately offers us ALPA-esque protection from doing such things, but that doesn't mean they can't make thier voice heard. They would have to stand together to make it work. If they did, I believe it could work.)