DCA Instructors to Unionize Now!!

[steward]

To all DCA employees recent moves by magangement have made us all question our security. The time to organize is now. We must protect ourselves and work together for a better safer work enviorment. Are you aware....

- As a wage employee when you do required work and are not compensated that it violates state and federal labor laws

- That competitive flight schools in Florida offer pay 50% higher on average then DCA. In addition there are benifits packages to include vacation and medical.

- That in the past month 6 flight instructors have been suspended or recomended for termination.

- Why DCA boasts record emrollments and expansion it has "let go" two of its most respected management personnel with no notice.

- Cost of living expenses have increased 36% in central florida in just 5yrs, even though additional costs have been billed to students no compensation has been given to the instructors

- Just one week after telling the maintence team they were not going to recieve their yearly pay increase, the president arrives in a $125,000 mercedes. Somebody got there bonus!

- Our VP of operations has been suspected of falsifying aircraft registration

- The school operates with one DPE who is in constant violation of federal regulations and over flies his availible monthly hours sometimes in two weeks thanks to our scheduling dept.

- Just recently to due demands of aircraft it was suggested at a meeting by management that if an airplane has equipment not working including coms/navs and we don't need it just go anyway. A clear violation of the FAR's

The list is mounting and overwhelming for employees working in this enviorment, Instructors are you tired of....

- trying to put a "positive spin" on the shortfalls of the company so that customers don't have a negative image

- Having a management team that is invisible and incompetant when it comes to meeting the logistical demands of the company. Aircraft shortage and equipment condition has plagued the company for years.

- Not understanding why one wrong for somebody is a termination and the same wrong by someone else is a suspension

- Taking orders or directives from people who lack integrity, respect and have been rejected from other areas of the industry who now make there home at DCA

- Seeing other flight schools advance there programs, update there equipment, reward there employees, and provide a work enviorment which is satisfactory to both customers and employees alike.

- Flying at night in an aircraft with inadequate or no interior lighting at all

- Having senior instructors with 1000+ hours making the same wage as the 200hr new hire?

- Skipping meals, doctor check-ups, car/house/loan payments due to lack of income, when you spend 50+ hrs a week at work.

We can no longer afford to look the other way or just deal with it, we must work together for change. The time has come to demonstrate that no one is stronger than the team! Our safety our well being and our resources will no longer be put in jepordy or abused. Organize today, spread the word, post on websites, please discuss on forums, forming a union is our right as workers and our employement CANNOT be jepordized as a result of it. Pilots organized in the airlines to protect themselves from similar abuses we must now do the same.
The time to act is now.

[Joepilot]

Out of curiosity who were the two "respected" mangement personel that were let go? I also know one of those instructors who was suspended. He has it so bad, he is going back to New York and fly helicopters and get a Lear type rating. Sometimes people are better off not working for that place. I know I am.

[rausda27]

I can see it now..late night emergency session to take care of the latest JC situation...



Althought there will never be a perfect place to work as a flight instructor, any place that insisits that you break regs or put yourself in a dangerous situation should be shut down or reorganized in order to be legitimate..

What kind of example are they setting for future Delta Connection pilots..

[TomServo]

What's this? It will all be worth it when you are flying an RJ with a wee 1000 hours! Cheer up!

[planediveguy]

[ QUOTE ]
I can see it now..late night emergency session to take care of the latest JC situation...



Althought there will never be a perfect place to work as a flight instructor, any place that insisits that you break regs or put yourself in a dangerous situation should be shut down or reorganized in order to be legitimate..

What kind of example are they setting for future Delta Connection pilots..

[/ QUOTE ]

If there is one thing that long post has that is completely out of line is to mention that we are required to break regs. If there is one quick way to get fired at DCA is doing exctly that. From thorough preflights to an obsession with the FARS that permeate our everyday there, that is simply not true. I was at that "managers"meeting when it was mentioned that the fleet was stretched thin and what was implied is that we didn't need an IFR certified airplane if the flight was going VFR, or if the ADF was placarded inop (sometimes done before the plane is sent to maintenance to get it fixed) AND the flight lesson did not require an NDB approach or intercepting and tracking that we should accept the airplane.[ CFAR 91.213 (d)]

No one is stupid enough to break regs after investing so much on their certificates....

[foztofly]

[ QUOTE ]
To all DCA employees recent moves by magangement have made us all question our security. The time to organize is now. We must protect ourselves and work together for a better safer work enviorment. Are you aware....

[/ QUOTE ]
That you signed a contract.

[ QUOTE ]
- As a wage employee when you do required work and are not compensated that it violates state and federal labor laws

[/ QUOTE ]
Paperwork is included in our contract.

[ QUOTE ]
- That competitive flight schools in Florida offer pay 50% higher on average then DCA. In addition there are benifits packages to include vacation and medical.

[/ QUOTE ]
Then go to another flight school in FL. I will be happy to take your students. BTW, DCA offers vacation and 401(k) benefits, with company matching. Let me know when you find another school that will match what DCA will on retirement benefits.

[ QUOTE ]
- That in the past month 6 flight instructors have been suspended or recomended for termination.

[/ QUOTE ]
Feel free to expand on why...

[ QUOTE ]
- Why DCA boasts record emrollments and expansion it has "let go" two of its most respected management personnel with no notice.

[/ QUOTE ] Not sure how you think they are boosting numbers, but I have seen and have been involved with some of the new students. No lies on the numbers of new enrollment students.

[ QUOTE ]
- Cost of living expenses have increased 36% in central florida in just 5yrs, even though additional costs have been billed to students no compensation has been given to the instructors

[/ QUOTE ]
Pay has been increased in the past 5 years. BTW, if you have been instructing the past 5 years trying to get to the airlines, work harder and you might not have to worry about it.

[ QUOTE ]
- Just one week after telling the maintence team they were not going to recieve their yearly pay increase, the president arrives in a $125,000 mercedes. Somebody got there bonus!

[/ QUOTE ]
hummmm... I remeber seeing that car almost a year ago. ASA, ACA, Skyway and now American Eagle are all airlines that are regularly hiring from our instructor pool. She is not a part of that????

[ QUOTE ]
- Our VP of operations has been suspected of falsifying aircraft registration

[/ QUOTE ]
Whattttt?? (In my best Lil Jon voice)

[ QUOTE ]
- The school operates with one DPE who is in constant violation of federal regulations and over flies his availible monthly hours sometimes in two weeks thanks to our scheduling dept.

[/ QUOTE ] Check the schedule. Yes, there is one DPE who does most of the rides, but I see more than that just on tomorrow's schedule. As far as our scheduling department, they do an awesome job based on the little info they have. Not once have I witnessed them deliberately violating duty times, which happens to be part of our ARF's. Do you fill it out???

[ QUOTE ]
- Just recently to due demands of aircraft it was suggested at a meeting by management that if an airplane has equipment not working including coms/navs and we don't need it just go anyway. A clear violation of the FAR's

[/ QUOTE ]
I have been at every monthly 141 meeting as well as every weekly dept meeting and not once has anyone even remotely suggested this. Review 91.205 and 91.409-412 and let me know when you find a "can" that hasn't complied with any of these requirements. I have never seen one. Props to Al and our maintanence dept.

[quote]The list is mounting and overwhelming for employees working in this enviorment, Instructors are you tired of....

- trying to put a "positive spin" on the shortfalls of the company so that customers don't have a negative image

[/ QUOTE ]
Find me any company that doesn't have a "con" side to it. Deal with it. Never once has anyone asked me or anyone I know to lie about the school. You accepted the position, if you don't want it, leave.

[ QUOTE ]
- Having a management team that is invisible and incompetant when it comes to meeting the logistical demands of the company. Aircraft shortage and equipment condition has plagued the company for years.

[/ QUOTE ]
Invisible??? apparently you don't show up for your 6am flights and walk with Pat Murphy along the flight line. Yes recently availability has been an issue, but ask how many planes have been bought or leased in the past month or in the upcoming month to meet these demands.

[ QUOTE ]
- Not understanding why one wrong for somebody is a termination and the same wrong by someone else is a suspension

[/ QUOTE ]
Does this other person have previous suspenions????? hummm

[ QUOTE ]
- Taking orders or directives from people who lack integrity, respect and have been rejected from other areas of the industry who now make there home at DCA

[/ QUOTE ]
Please, feel free to elaborate? You think someone here doesn't deserve to be?? Have your sent a comment card with specific reasons why, or is it just that you for some reason don't like this person??

[ QUOTE ]
- Seeing other flight schools advance there programs, update there equipment, reward there employees, and provide a work enviorment which is satisfactory to both customers and employees alike.

[/ QUOTE ]
why haven't your left to go to one of these supposed schools you speak of??

[ QUOTE ]
- Flying at night in an aircraft with inadequate or no interior lighting at all

[/ QUOTE ]
I am in the commercial group and have 2 students at the beginning of the course. If you know anything about the TCO, then you know I have done a night local flight and a night x-c with each student. Also, each student has completed their 3 night solo's. Not once has the lights been an issue.

[ QUOTE ]
- Having senior instructors with 1000+ hours making the same wage as the 200hr new hire?

[/ QUOTE ]
Senior being someone under contract?? If so, you are wrong. Senior as in more hours, then yes, they are the same. Same contract. Don't sign it if you aren't willing.

[ QUOTE ]
- Skipping meals, doctor check-ups, car/house/loan payments due to lack of income, when you spend 50+ hrs a week at work.

[/ QUOTE ]
There is a refig. in the back room for you to store food in. Also, there is a cafeteria for you to eat at. Not to mention about 10 fast food places within 5 minutes that you can go to. If you don't schedule your ARF accordingly, then your fault. Scheduling has never not provided me a break in the day if I asked for it. Nor have I been required to work on my 2 days off so that I can go to the DR, get my haircut, clean up the apt, etc.


[ QUOTE ]
We can no longer afford to look the other way or just deal with it, we must work together for change. The time has come to demonstrate that no one is stronger than the team! Our safety our well being and our resources will no longer be put in jepordy or abused. Organize today, spread the word, post on websites, please discuss on forums, forming a union is our right as workers and our employement CANNOT be jepordized as a result of it. Pilots organized in the airlines to protect themselves from similar abuses we must now do the same.
The time to act is now.

[/ QUOTE ]
Would be glad to give you my mailbox number at school, just make sure you put yours on the sheet so I now where to return it.

[mtsu_av8er]

Hit a sore spot, foztofly??



I've heard about the lights in the aircraft...but the rest is kind of surprising. Why would anyone complain, though, with that guaranteed interview??

[H46Bubba]

Whoa Whoa Whoa, this came way out of left field! Friday's events took me for a loop too. I know both of the individuals released and it sucks to see them leave. To the individual wanting to organize a union, Good Luck Buddy! I don't see it happening. There is just no basis to go in that direction. i am a student and I also work in maintenance. We work our tails off to get those aircraft ready to meet the schedule demands. Yeah stuff gets placarded due to not having the required parts on hand, but are fixed as soon as they are received. Dispatch is really awesome at trying to get the aircraft properly equipped for the required flight. You as the PIC make the final determination whether the aircraft is airworthy. No one can force you to fly an unairworthy aircraft. If they do, report them to the FAA!

Now on the other hand I am concerned about the future of Flying Services, since I am in the Flex program. At this current time, if F/S were to be closed and the Flex program abandoned there is now way I could start the full program again. I would have to go to an FBO to finish my ratings, probably one in the Jet Connect program, so I could return to DCA. Hopefully things work out and life can go on.

[DE727UPS]

Sounds like some weird crapola is hitting the fan at DCA. Good luck to you 46...you're one of the level heads over there.

I laughed when the ERAU CFI's decided to unionize, but then it happened. Not sure what it got them, really. Hourly rates are better than DCA and maybe they have some job protections. One thing is for sure, you can only push people so far and then a line is crossed that can cause the whole house of cards to come tumbling down. Next thing you know....you got a union the the property. At least it teaches these academy CFI's what it's like at a REAL airline. Nothin' wrong with that.....since they have the connections and all that....

[foztofly]

Yeh it did... I have worked my tail off to be where I am. I read the ads, read the contract before I signed it, and know exactly where I stand as an instuctor because I ask. I think I proved my point with the previous post I left. Any more questions? Mtsu, you prove my point... you say you have "heard"... but do you know?? Not one bit.

[mtsu_av8er]

[ QUOTE ]
Mtsu, you prove my point... you say you have "heard"... but do you know?? Not one bit.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ahhh, so if you don't have first hand knowledge, you can't have an opinion?

That really doesn't make sense....newspapers and news broadcasts are invalid sources, then - right?

[dpewing]

[ QUOTE ]


Ahhh, so if you don't have first hand knowledge, you can't have an opinion?

That really doesn't make sense....newspapers and news broadcasts are invalid sources, then - right?

[/ QUOTE ]

Give him the Gay Sex Argument, It was priceless!!!

LOL

[mtsu_av8er]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


Ahhh, so if you don't have first hand knowledge, you can't have an opinion?

That really doesn't make sense....newspapers and news broadcasts are invalid sources, then - right?

[/ QUOTE ]

Give him the Gay Sex Argument, It was priceless!!!

LOL



[/ QUOTE ]

I'm sure he read it...

[dpewing]

mtsu_av8er,

A little off topic, but were you in the Marines?

[foztofly]

My point was that this person spoke about the lights, and I, through first-hand knowledge, showed that the statement was inaccurate. In addition to my flights as well as my student's flights this week, my roommate had to spend the night in GNV because of a nav light that was burned out. Would he have stayed there, on the couch, without sleeping if the school promoted busting regs and flying without operable lights?? It isn't that comfortable of a couch. But you're right. If you want to bash the school based on heresay of innacurate facts, then I shouldn't try to defend it. BTW, great picture last week on the cover of The Globe about how Oprah got skinny. I didn't stop in the checkout line at the grocery store to read the article, how was it?

[TomServo]

Well I have flown many of the Delta Connection aircraft and will verify that indeed they have no interior lights. I've even backseated crosscountry flights at night where I sat in the back and held a flashlight up on the instrument panel so the individual that was flying could see to fly an instrument approach. I would say that on average 8 out of 10 do not have interior lighting. I have only encountered one aircraft where everything worked. I thought about refusing to fly it and sending it to maintenance so they could "fix" it so it would match the rest of the fleet. I didn't know how to fly at night with operable lights. Maybe thats part of the airline environment that we pay so much for.

[JAM]

I have called MX out a couple of times to replace a burned out instrument bulb before a night flight, a nav light, or a landing light. But, that was always met with a quick, easy replacement. Most of the time, the lights were working just fine. Have things changed that much in the last year?

[mtsu_av8er]

[ QUOTE ]
BTW, great picture last week on the cover of The Globe about how Oprah got skinny. I didn't stop in the checkout line at the grocery store to read the article, how was it?

[/ QUOTE ]

Huh??

[mtsu_av8er]

[ QUOTE ]
mtsu_av8er,

A little off topic, but were you in the Marines?

[/ QUOTE ]

Indeed.

[dpewing]

Me too, 1984-88 0311.

Semper Fi

[mtsu_av8er]

[ QUOTE ]
Me too, 1984-88 0311.

Semper Fi

[/ QUOTE ]

Ooh-Rah!

1993-2001

0311,0331,6123

Step it out!!!

[planediveguy]

Foz...

Good job on your answers...

But this forum is like discussing religion... or politics...

[foztofly]

No JAM they haven't changed much, other than new Standz manuals for the complex a/c and some new checklists. As far as the lights, like you said, if there is a prob mx is out there within minutes. They even ask that when you call dispatch that you explain what the prob is so that mx can come out prepared and get you in the air asap. I will say that some of the lights are horrible, but I personally have yet to see a 172 without either an overhead light, post lights, background lighting in the instruments or a combo of them. Also, if on the pre-flight you determine the lights are working properly and still decide that it is not adequate, dispatch will do what they can to switch planes for you. Just my experience though.

[steward]

That you signed a contract.


Quote:
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- As a wage employee when you do required work and are not compensated that it violates state and federal labor laws


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Paperwork is included in our contract.


The information presented in this section is limited to the requirements of the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) with regards to hours worked. Generally, an employee, or a union on behalf of an employee, MAY NOT waive his or her rights under the FLSA by agreement or CONTRACT, including what hours must be counted as hours worked. If your employment is, or if your employees are, subject to a contract which you believe conflicts with the provisions of the FLSA, please review this Advisor prior to contacting the nearest Wage and Hour District Office.
U.S. Department of Labor
Frances Perkins Building
200 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20210

Our rights, your rights as an employee are being violated. The law is being broken and its time to say no more. This is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.

[steward]

Quote:
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- That competitive flight schools in Florida offer pay 50% higher on average then DCA. In addition there are benifits packages to include vacation and medical.


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Then go to another flight school in FL. I will be happy to take your students. BTW, DCA offers vacation and 401(k) benefits, with company matching. Let me know when you find another school that will match what DCA will on retirement benefits.


By organizing for our rights, we can increase our compensation, and begin pension funds which will be transferable to our future careers in the airlines. I've been with DCA for one year this Oct. and have not had one paid vacation day yet and my 401k is non existant as well (was told only true full time employees can participate). When pilots at all airlines nationwide realized they can no longer afford to operate without protection, they didn't say go to another airline, they said stand up make our airline better, make our airline great. If you future is in this industry its important to realize by organizing you will be supporting your future and the better benefit of the team, you will have to do it in the airlines, and should do it for your future.