USAPAWATCH.COM

Shock waves

2012-02-10T17:22:11Z

It’s election season in USAPA world and the candidates are busy filling our mailboxes with diatribes of blame as to why we haven’t achieved a date-of-hire contract and fulfilled the union’s original intent. On one corner there is founder Stephen Bradford whining about the firing of Lee Seham and on the other side is the paranoid fringe represented by Bill McKee claiming a vast conspiracy between his opposition and the Phoenix candidates.

One theme consistent between virtually all of the candidates is the finger pointing and incessant blame that all of our problems are a result of the former bargaining agent and those who served under its evil grip.

What is abundantly clear is that almost every single candidate running for office has had their chance to create the promised utopia, but failed miserably to do so. Now they seek your vote with absolutely no vision or plan to move the combined pilot group forward.

Looming on the horizon is a possible merger with a much larger pilot group. If the analysts are correct, a merger between US Airways and American Airlines is likely before the end of the year.

American Airlines currently has 1,685 pilots on furlough and recently announced plans to furlough an additional 400. (source: www.airlinepilotcentral.com)

A vote for any of the date-of-hire candidates will place the employment of thousands of US Airways pilots at risk. Pilots who brought jobs to the transaction could be furloughed all in the myopic quest to destroy the careers of the America West pilots.

Incredulously, when this theory is mentioned on the line, the typical response is that an arbitrator will protect those who brought jobs. What they don’t realize is that the USAPA Constitution requires the Merger Committee to pursue a date-of-hire integration regardless of the devastation it could cause the pre-merger pilot group. Further, using USAPA’s own pretext, if the American pilots are unhappy with the arbitrated list they can use their significant majority to circumvent the arbitration and impose their self determined seniority list on the smaller US Airways pilot group.

This possibility should send shock waves down the spine of every US Airways pilot.

Stay tuned for more from TheEye. This election is too important for anyone to sit on the sidelines.

To Dean

2012-01-04T06:07:47Z

Pat, Manny and I all share a military background and we have been schooled in leadership techniques but I don’t recall learning about the methods they are using here. It seems like something more out of the playbook of a South American dictator rather than what should be coming from an ‘officer and a gentleman’.

First Officer Dean Colello

Integrity first

Service before self

Excellence in all we do

An open letter to First Officer and NAC Member Dean Colello:

Dean,

Thank you for your honest and very public statement regarding the recent resignations of Capts' Day and Lopez from the NAC. It must be incredibly frustrating to witness your years of note taking experience flushed down the drain by such reckless and self serving individuals. Rest assured that one day the hard work you selflessly gave our pilot group will bear its fruit when an important contract dispute confronts us. The quality of your product will most assuredly guarantee us success.

The seriousness of purpose conveyed by your letter should give all US Airways pilots pause. Your credibility should never be questioned as few pilots can claim so many years of uninterrupted full time union service. Hold your head high Dean, for you have seen it all. You’ve had a front row seat to the messy sausage making process first at ALPA, then at USAPA, and possibly both at the same time.

It is clear that the tragedy befallen you over four years ago has caused you significant stress. Switching your allegiance in order to preserve the self placed unimaginable demands on your core. In that light, we understand your break with the COC and your direct communication to us rank and file line workers.

Dean, it must be difficult to look back and see the mess you’ve helped create. We would just like to remind you that it is never too late to put honor ahead of self. So pack a lunch, leave the flight case at home, and enjoy the fruits of your labor - separate ops under LOA 93 for ever and ever. Congratulations, you’ve done it!

Sincerely,

TheEye

To a better 2012!

2011-12-29T18:42:29Z

Enemies

2011-12-20T05:46:04Z

“Unfortunately, there is no middle ground being offered by our opposition on any front, so there is simply no question of which side of the battles to be on. We will neither cease nor buckle and our adversaries should clearly understand that our commitment to our collective futures will endure regardless of what is thrown at us.”

USAPA President Mike Cleary 12/19/2011

TheEye is once again shaking our head in bewilderment wondering exactly who ‘our’ adversaries might me in Mr. Cleary’s delusional world? Could he be referring to the west pilot class, US Airways management, another union?

The rapidly dwindling mass of the Cleary regime has declared war on all enemies, both foreign and domestic. Resignation letters continue to collect on the Woodlawn doorstep as our ever despondent and irrational officer corps wrestles amongst themselves for control of the agenda. The march towards total and unconditional victory has been declared despite the ever dwindling fuel and ammunition supply. Total chaos and complete implosion are likely at any moment.

Meanwhile, those of us living in the real world are struggling to provide Christmas cheer for our friends and families. We naively believed that our new union would take advantage of the recovering industry and provide much needed relief to our financial houses. Instead, we have our independent USAPA - A dysfunctional embarrassment incapable of proving us with the most basic of services. The promise of a date-of-hire contract that protects our attrition has been replaced by an eternal sentence of LOA 93.

No amount of bravado printed on a USAPA letterhead can change the fact that our union has failed to bring one benefit to our pilot group. We’ve squandered millions of dollars on legal fees trying to sue our way to success. The very law firm with whom we placed our endearing trust has been ousted, replaced by an outfit with double the rates and none of the charisma Lee brought to the courthouse.

Our lives at work have degenerated into hours of fantastical conversations focused on a phantom merger and the liquidation of the west operation. Even our President alluded to our new fantasy by suggesting the west would be exposed in this hypothetical merger but the east would be protected. Our new hires have also been foolishly convinced that they would be better off supporting the war effort with grandiose promises of rapid advancement and west marginalization.

TheEye is here to ring the sobering bell of reality. The reality already told to our waring leadership by our new legal team. The reality that the seniority fight is coming to a rapid close and we would be far better off embracing our west colleagues than promoting their extinction. With the departure of the only lawyer confident of our plan, we need to reevaluate our position going forward. The 1700 west pilots will have virtually no effect on our careers if we unify with them now before the next transaction.

On the other hand, should the 1700 west pilots unite with a much larger majority, our situation could become even more dire. Contrary to popular lore, our COC language is not air tight and will not overcome Judge Silver’s sphere of influence or the negotiating leverage of a larger pilot group.

We can guarantee one thing -

If we maintain our current course, we will be hoisted with our own petard.

Recycle

2011-12-07T18:07:50Z

Although TheEye has been dormant as of late, we certainly have not ceased paying attention. The looming LOA 93 decision coupled with the eventual cementing of the Nicolau Award in Judge Silver’s courtroom have made commentary on the circus called USAPA rather unnecessary.

But the latest hypocrisy spewing from articles published by the website Compass Correction Coalition is too much for us to ignore. While we don’t necessarily disagree with much of what the Coalition writes, it is important to remind the readers of the recent history of its primary authors: Eric Rowe, Dave Ciabattoni, and Doug Mowery.

Let’s start with Capt. Rowe. It is well known that Capt. Rowe was the self-proclaimed protector of the “junior” pilots as Chairman of the PHL local council under ALPA. He led the charge to fire any member of the Merger Committee who wavered from a hard line DOH position. Even after repeated warnings from Arbitrator Nicolau, Capt. Rowe was not going to budge and compromise. After all, as an A330 Captain at the pinnacle of his career, he had little to lose by maintaining a “damn the torpedo’s, full speed ahead” approach. The minute the Nicolau Award was released he parlayed his role as protector into a founding supporter of USAPA and its mission to circumnavigate Nicolau. Few of his admirers ever stopped to question the ineffectiveness of his leadership. In fact, it could be strongly argued that had he ceded true autonomy to our Merger Committee, we would never have had to deal with the Nicolau Award as we know it. Doing so, however, would have surrendered his epic status among his faithful flock.

Next we have Dave Ciabattoni who served with Capt. Rowe as First Officer Representative under ALPA for the PHL domicile. Capt. Ciabattoni supported his chairman’s hard line approach and demanded full DOH allegiance from the Merger Committee. They along with John Brookman and Mark King in Pittsburgh formed a four vote roll-call to block any movement off of strict DOH. Once the Nicolau Decision was released, Capt. Ciabattoni quickly jumped ship to the USAPA cause. One must wonder if he was really surprised by the Nicolau Award given his hardline stance and the warnings from Nicolau. Could it be possible that his position was designed to get the result it did in order to decertify ALPA? We’ll never know. What we do know is that Capt. Ciabattoni took a lead role in the new union and wrote a substantial portion of the USAPA Constitution and By-Laws. The same document that now deprives his clique of absolute power. The irony is uncanny.

Moving on to Doug Mowery: the “nice guy” behind the Rowe and Ciabattoni front. Capt. Mowery was a member of the JNC negotiating a contract that would blend the east and west contracts. He worked hard for the JNC right up to the release of the Nicolau Award and then jumped on the “too shocked” to continue bandwagon. Why he was so shocked is a mystery to us as he was fully briefed and on board with the hard line stance taken by the PHL and PIT representatives. With the new union up and running, Capt. Mowery became the face of USAPA that the old hardliners wanted to advance. His name is continually found on USAPA nominating and election ballots. More recently he has begun signing his name to Compass Correction Coalition articles.

What caught our Eye was the statement they made in their November 30th open letter to the BPR. They wrote, “If USAPA loses the right to negotiate its own seniority system, the repercussions for the profession and our pilot group should be obvious to the Board.” They must understand that no one argues that USAPA doesn't have the right to negotiate its own seniority system. The problem for them is that they helped form a union with the documented goal of purposely disadvantaging the AWA pilots. If USAPA exercises its right to negotiate, the west pilots will most assuredly sue for DFR and win. And if Judge Silver doesn't release US Airways from their obligations as memorialized in the Transition Agreement they will be sued too. Their favorite lawyer either never told them this inconvenient truth or they never listened to opposing viewpoints when they joined Capt. Bradford in the back of the van. Their blind acceptance of the notion that changing bargaining agents would free the east pilots from the Nicolau Award was as dangerous then as it is now. What is further troubling is that these so called “unionists” believe that their failure to destroy the careers of another group of pilots will somehow have negative repercussions for the profession. They must have missed the fact that their actions have allowed US Airways to employ some of the lowest paid pilots in the world for the past decade.

In the coming officer elections, the names above are highly likely to surface on a ballot or nominating form. Yup, the same old-same old is coming to a ballot box near you. We get to choose between the failed hardliners of the past who make us feel good with their ineffective posturing and the current dictatorial regime that has gotten has absolutely nowhere since their ascent to power. Add these two factions together and one could only begin to calculate the damage inflicted on our pilot group. We are all desperately in need of results, yet these names have never produced anything of meaning for our group.

Recycling the past hasn’t worked too well. We need new, brave, and bold leadership.

Injunction

2011-09-28T20:05:59Z

Today, Judge Robert J. Conrad found USAPA guilty of sanctioning an illegal job action.

In recent weeks TheEye has refrained from posting about USAPA as the union has become completely irrelevant. It has demonstrated itself to be a completely ineffective, dysfunctional, and inept labor organization.

We sincerely hope that those participating in the illegal job action take a moment to reflect on the extent of the pain and suffering they have brought to all US Airways employees.

USAPA is damaged goods -

Even a federal judge has memorialized this reality.

A Kasher decision?

2011-08-06T01:02:26Z

“As we updated you in our June 7th briefing, USAPA Paralegal Cathy McHale contacted Arbitrator Kasher seeking his availability for the scheduling of future arbitrations. Arbitrator Kasher reported that he was recovering from major surgery, that he was "back in business," and that he would try to complete his work within the next couple of months. As you are aware, he currently has two decisions pending before him: the Hotel Selection grievance and the Letter of Agreement 93 grievance.”

-August 3, 2011, The Iron Compass

TheEye has received confirmation from numerous sources that Arbitrator Kasher issued his decision in the Hotel Selection grievance more than a week ago. From our understanding USAPA lost the grievance and is purposely withholding the decision from the membership.

Considering USAPA and First Officer Parrella’s pattern of deception and lies, how can we be sure that a decision in the LOA 93 case hasn’t been issued?

We would like to know why USAPA has held this information from us and why they continue to mislead the membership?

Yes, these are rhetorical questions.

Defiance

2011-08-04T21:07:45Z

"In short US Airways is in federal court not because of any actions of its pilots but in a blatant attempt to muzzle your union from bringing its legitimate concerns regarding the safe operation of US Airways airplanes to the attention of the passenger public. We have retained counsel and experts to maintain a comprehensive and vigorous defense and will apprise you of the developments in this case as they unfold."

-August 3, 2011 USAPA Legal Update

The hundreds of pages of evidence submitted by US Airways in their request for injunctive relief from USAPA's illegal job action is overwhelming. As we've been writing for some time, this isn't a campaign about safety or protecting the general public. This campaign is about quasi date-of-hire and nothing else. Since 2005 the east pilots of US Airways have been promised quasi date-of-hire and they will stop at nothing, including the liquidation of the airline, to achieve their goal. Unfortunately for all of us, it took Mr. Parker the better part of six years to figure this out.

The latest lawsuit was filed by the Company almost one week ago. Since that time USAPA has continued to poke the bear in the eye with defiant updates from the national office, as well as the Philadelphia and Charlotte domiciles.

Although there have been off the record conference calls among the east BPR members and officers, there have been no publicly announced meetings called by the President to discuss legal strategy. USAPA is facing the greatest threat to its existence since its formation and there has not been one official meeting or conference call. Remember, this is the same leadership that couldn't even sign an office lease without holding numerous BPR meetings. Yet a lawsuit with the potential for crushing monetary implications is met with internal silence?

Not likely.

Through many sources, TheEye believes that the BPR has been holding unofficial phone conferences regarding the Company's lawsuit and its illegal safety campaign. It is our belief that these clandestine meetings predate the latest lawsuit.

Not only is conducting official union business under this veil of secrecy against the USAPA C&BL's, but it's a violation of federal labor law to exclude certain elected representatives.

But then again, most east pilots remain silent as this is all being done in the name

of quasi date-of-hire.

It is ironic that we still complain about the back room deals made in smokey rooms at the Key Bridge Marriott by our former bargaining agent, but we condone our current union's secrecy when it involves the destruction of another pilot group.

Hypocrites we are!

On a final note, have you noticed that the stench created by our BPR's "Safety

First" campaign was even too much for Mr. Seham to stomach? We never thought we would see the day where his lust for billable hours was overcome by the recklessness and stupidy of his client.

Chicken

2011-07-20T05:05:17Z

“In or about April, 2011, USAPA distributed to its members lanyards that bear the legend “Safety First, I’m on board”

-Amended Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief filed by USAPA.

We’re confused! Until this latest court filing, USAPA has denied any and all involvement in the “Safety First, I’m on board” illegal job action. Now the Union is taking full ownership of this out of control and ill advised campaign.

Not only is USAPA taking ownership, but in a letter to US Airways COO Robert Isom, USAPA President Mike Cleary proclaimed “We consider the new policy to be simply a component of a policy of intimidation, undermining union activities, and subordinating safe operations to corporate profit. We are therefore advising our members to continue to visibly demonstrate their support for their bargaining representative through union-approved lanyards, pins and badge-backers.”

We have no doubt that Mr. Cleary has placed his red "Union Pilot" badge backer and yellow "Safety First, I'm on board" lanyard in the top drawer of his conference room office desk* in compliance with the new Company directive. After all, he completed his Distance Learning module on-time in direct conflict with phone calls and text messages made by his most loyal supporters.

Now that the bet has been wagered in this high stakes game of chicken, will the Company or USAPA blink first?

Considering US Airways management has done nothing but condone and encourage USAPA’s behavior over the past three years, our money is on the Company.

Are you willing to take the risk or will you join USAPA's leadership and comply with the directive?

As you head to work on August 1st, the choice is yours.

* TheEye has confirmed that Mr. Cleary refuses to occupy the office allocated for the President at USAPA’s new headquarters as he considers it to be inadequate.

Watch what they do, not what they say

2011-07-08T03:22:17Z

Earlier this week, Vice President of Flight Operations Lyle Hogg issued a letter to all US Airways pilots announcing the termination of pilots for their failure to complete required Distance Learning training. In his letter, Captain Hogg quoted from his prior letter:

“In recent weeks many of you have been contacted via phone, sent messages, or have seen flyers and stickers encouraging pilots to be “On Board” by delaying the completion of your Distance Learning Training. A concerted action such as this, intended to disrupt our operation, is considered to be an illegal job action and will not be tolerated.”

He went on to state:

“Therefore, I regret having to announce that you will hear of a few pilot terminations in the coming days. This is unfortunate, but we cannot allow intentional acts such as these to affect the service our passengers have come to expect from US Airways.”

TheEye has confirmed that none of the pilots facing termination are USAPA officers, BPR members, or Committee Chairmen. That’s correct; the same Mike Cleary whom so smugly suggested to a Crew News audience a few years ago that “we should watch what they do, not what they say” when judging the actions of management didn’t even have the courage to follow the advice given by his Union’s whisper campaign. He along with the rest of the USAPA leadership completed their required training prior to the deadline.

That’s right, the USAPA leadership stepped aside prior to the cliff and allowed their blind followers to fall into the abyss without a peep from Mr. Theuer's propaganda machine.

Captain Hogg’s letter is dated July 5, 2011. As of today, July 7, there have been no comments from USAPA about the fate of their blind followers.

Instead, USAPA has been busy fabricating this week’s Safety Gem describing a boarding dispute between a gate agent, a mechanic fixing aircraft Door 1L, and a west Captain. USAPA is obviously frustrated that their call for the immediate termination of the Vice President of Safety and Regulatory Compliance has fallen on deaf ears. Somehow Mr. Clearly believes that a concocted story involving a west crew will somehow cause Mr. Parker to reconsider Captain Morell’s termination.

In 3 1/2 years USAPA has produced absolutely nothing.

Now their hopeless quasi-date of hire mission is causing sheepish followers to lose their jobs.

You may want to think twice before donning your silly yellow lanyard.

Perched above

2011-06-16T20:37:00Z

Over the past month TheEye decided to take a step back and observe USAPA’s latest movements. What we’ve witnessed was nothing short of breathtaking. Whether you are an east or west pilot, support the Nic or believe it is the greatest miscarriage of justice in the history of commercial aviation, every US Airways pilot should be concerned with the autocratic and destructive behavior of Mr. Cleary.

Prior to Judge Silver’s ruling denying USAPA’s motion to dismiss, Mr. Cleary filed a lawsuit in Federal Court against the Company alleging status-quo violations. Although legal proceeding have become the norm for our dysfunctional union, this one was especially eyebrow raising in that the preparations and actual filing were done without the knowledge or approval of the BPR. Mr. Cleary used our dues money to secretly meet with and hire a New York law firm and then he unilaterally authorized the filing of a lawsuit. After the suit was filed and made public to the membership, there was no outrage, just silence. In fact, it seems the membership has reached a point of complete allegiance to USAPA’s ultimate quasi-DOH mission that the misdeeds of the officers, BPR, and committee members is implicitly endorsed. Mr. Cleary has carte-blanche authority to spend our money and do as he pleases because quasi-DOH rises above all else.

Did we mention that there is no money in the budget for this latest lawsuit?

It is worth noting that had Mr. Cleary not taken this unilateral action, it is possible that USAPA’s motion to dismiss in the Declaratory Judgment case would have prevailed. By filing the suit ahead of Judge Silver’s decision, USAPA indirectly gave Judge Silver the green light to proceed with the case. But again, since USAPA’s sole mission is quasi-DOH, the east pilots seem content or oblivious to this destructive course of action.

There is no question, the decision from Judge Silver was a knockout blow to USAPA and its quasi-DOH mission. In typical spin, as if we are too stupid to decipher, the USAPA spin machine buried the motion to dismiss denial below the expected dismissal of the Leonidas cross-claim.

With no place to go, the clock is ticking on the doomed to fail USAPA legal strategy. In his latest filing, Mr. Seham practically begs the Court to grant management complete immunity should it accept its quasi-DOH list. Due to the 9th's ripeness ruling, it is almost guaranteed that Judge Silver will not opine on a future event that has yet to occur. Remember all the legal updates boasting that USAPA would win at the 9th because the Addington case wasn't ripe? Seems Judge Silver will agree with them. Not to mention, she will probably also rule the record from DFR I as admissible.

Also buried in USAPA's Legal Update announcing their loss was the brash claim that 2/3's of the possible outcomes in the Company's lawsuit are favorable to the Association. Having consulted many legal experts, USAPA's claim is complete and total fantasy. Based on the law, the likelihood that management will be forced to use the unmodified Nicolau Award or be subject to a hybrid claim is the most probable outcome.

Just today, USAPA Legal issued a highly misleading Q&A regarding the lawsuit. In a response to their own question regarding the timeline of the case they wrote:

“It should not because now it is clear that the union and the Company agree on a key point of law, that merely signing a contract that does not include the Nicolau proposal does not expose the Company to any legal liability. That means that it is possible that a trial can be avoided.”

Did we read that right? Even those who blindly support USAPA must recognize this outright lie. If the Company agreed with USAPA regarding their liability and obligations under the Transition Agreement there would be no lawsuit.

Of course, while Mr. Cleary spends every last dues dollar on frivolous legal proceedings, the pilots have been convinced that burning the airline to the ground is the best way to procure negotiating leverage. Although no leverage has been gained at the table, it appears that the "safety first" crowd has now assumed the power position due to Mr. Parker's refusal to deal with the malcontents.

On a final note, we have confirmed that Pat "the general" Day has been tapped to join the NAC. Just what we need; another Cleary loyalist with zero negotiating experience and a documented hatred for a sizable portion of our pilot group.

The actions of our highly dysfunctional union sure look bizarre from high atop our perch.

Schizophrenic

2011-05-25T07:19:28Z

By now you have probably seen one of the yellow lanyards worn by some east pilots screaming "Safety First" to anyone who will listen. As we've previously discussed we believe these lanyards to be component of a larger job action orchestrated by USAPA.

Tomorrow, USAPA plans a so called “solidarity march” at the Philadelphia Airport as part of their greater strategy of frightening the general public using manufactured safety concerns. They naively believe that disrupting the operation and encouraging people to book away from our airline will somehow compel Mr. Parker to open his wallet and offer an industry standard contract. The last time we checked, the highest paid airline pilots in the world fly for the most financially stable companies. Illegally harming the airline and jeopardizing the livelihoods of all US Airways employees is not only reckless but a recipe destined for disaster.

Like you, we were baffled by the following statement in USAPA's plea for participation in their planned Philadelphia march:

"As we get closer to the end game at the negotiating table, it's the perfect time for this public display of solidarity."

Did we miss something? We've combed the most recent NAC updates and can find absolutely no evidence that progress is being made at the negotiating table. In fact, most of the recent updates by the NAC complain about their inability to make any forward movement on even the most trivial of issues. The tone conveyed by First Officer D'Iorio is best described as one of resignation as his committee is continually outmaneuvered by a far superior management negotiating team. Far from an end game, it seems we are moving ever so closer to the parking lot. Progress by The NAC is measured by the size of the concessions given to appease the mediator, not gains achieved.

Many believe that USAPA isn't interested in achieving a contract. The theory is that the junior segment of the east seniority list is driving a plan to delay negotiations as much as possible in order to "upgrade" via attrition once age 65 retirements start. They ignore the financial foolishness of this plan as their separate operations career expectation would only afford a small minority of this subset a move from the right seat of a narrow body to the right seat of a wide body. Our industry peers flying narrow body aircraft already out earn every single east wide body pilot. The notion that there will be enough captain and narrow body FO seats available for the majority of the junior first officers is wishful thinking on behalf of this group. It's unfortunate that USAPA is concealing the reality that our retirement numbers are not stove pipe and the financial cost of this strategy is staggering.

There is also a faction of east pilots who believe USAPA's propaganda that the seniority dispute was resolved by the 9th Circuit. They subscribe to the notion that walking in circles in Philadelphia will translate into progress at the negotiating table. They also believe in the fantasy that USAPA is capable of completing a contract. They completely dismiss or know little about the Company's lawsuit filed in Federal Court against both USAPA and the west pilots. They ignore the reality that the Company is legally bound to the terms of the Transition Agreement and will never bargain away from the Nicolau list unless given complete immunity from the courts. The likelihood of court ordered immunity is just south of zero.

If you plan on attending USAPA's march tomorrow, we suggest you take a moment to assess the current situation and ascertain exactly what you expect from your time commitment. Do you side with the separate ops forever crowd or do you believe that walking in circles will somehow compel Mr. Parker to drop his lawsuit, accept a DOH list, and toss a bunch of cash on the table? Remember, the majority of those with whom you walk tomorrow will be compensated for their time through USAPA's overly generous flight pay loss program.

Knowing where you stand and what you expect is very important because we firmly believe that not only is USAPA incapable of reaching a TA, but it is firmly committed to delaying any progress as much as possible under the delusion that east attrition alone will advance their core constituency.

Our sources have confirmed that USAPA has been told by numerous advisors that the Nicolau award cannot be avoided. Eventually it will be the combined seniority list if the majority chooses to ratify a contract. USAPA is also keenly aware that mid-seniority range captains are fatigued and losing their patience with the separate ops crowd. USAPA has reduced its entire existence to pandering to competing segments of the east pilot group in order to maintain its quickly evaporating sphere of influence.

This multiple personality disorder is commonly referred to as schizophrenia. This type of mental illness exhibited by our union cannot be cured; possibly controlled, but never cured.

Unfortunately for all US Airways employees, Mr. Parker seems perfectly content with USAPA's reckless behavior. Thus far, he has refused to intervene as USAPA attempts to destroy our trust with the traveling public for its own selfish gain.

We often wonder, just who is in charge of our airline?

Mr. Cleary or Mr. Parker?

Wink wink

2011-05-01T04:20:00Z

There is no question that the pilots of US Airways are frustrated with USAPA. After three years of going backwards, we are drifting further and further from obtaining a joint contract. It is now widely accepted that due to its systemic design flaws, USAPA will never be able to move the US Airways pilots off bankruptcy era wages and work rules.

Sadly, this reality has not been accepted by Mr. Cleary and his enabling BPR. In a pathetic attempt at creating negotiating leverage, Mr. Cleary has transformed his vocal criticism of US Airways’ safety culture into an organized and illegal job action complete with ID lanyards and a phone tree. We’ve received numerous reports from pilots whom have received anonymous phone calls and text messages cryptically calling for an organized work action. They must believe that by illegally sabotaging the operation and jeopardizing the financial health of our airline that Mr. Parker will cede to USAPA’s demands for an industry standard contract and DOH.

It is our sincere hope that the pilots of US Airways will recognize this as an act of desperation on the part of Mr. Cleary and ignore this dangerous call to arms.

As we have previously blogged, the line between politics and safety should never be blurred. A cornerstone of our former bargaining agent was placing safety above all else. Issues involving safety were always sacrosanct and never used for political gain. This contrasts with USAPA that lists safety as its fifth objective.

The reality is, illegal job actions do not work. Our objective should be to negotiate with a healthy company and use the threat of a legal strike to obtain fair advancements at the negotiating table. Unfortunately, with the continued alienation of the west pilots, achieving the necessary unity to stage a legal job action will never be possible under USAPA.

TheEye believes that it is time for US Airways management to once and for all stand up to Mr. Cleary and quash his mission to destroy our airline. We’ve worked too hard and have given up too much to ensure the success of US Airways. The so called “neutral” card played by Mr. Parker’s management team is enabling USAPA and jeopardizing the the future of our airline.

Mr. Parker, the ball is in your court.

Wasted

2011-04-18T18:09:00Z

Three years ago today the USAPA experiment was certified. Since then the US Airways pilots still lag their industry peers in almost every contractual metric.

There is no end in sight.

USAPA is a total failure and hasn’t delivered on one single campaign promise.

It’s a failed organization that has evolved to be nothing more than a gang of thugs wasting millions of dollars chasing imagined conspiracies. At the top sits a delusional officer corps enabled by an incompetent and revengeful governing body.

Those who dissent face swift charges and onerous legal consequences.

During this time US Airways management purportedly took a laissez-faire approach as the civl war created by USAPA afforded a significant labor cost advantage. But after years of enabling, management now finds itself in the crosshairs. USAPA is now engaged in a campaign to frighten the traveling public. They’ve trumped up bogus safety concerns and even warned would be passengers that it’s unsafe to use a credit card to buy a ticket on our airline.

Since USAPA hasn’t accomplished anything since its inception, it now believes that we are better off standing in the unemployment line than flying for a viable airline.

Maybe now that management finds itself on the receiving end, it will finally end its “aw-shucks” neutral stance and stand up to the bully?

We the US Airways pilots deserve a better union.

It’s time to work together and find a new way forward.

Wag the dog

2011-04-13T20:24:00Z

We get it! There has been an alleged data breach by US Airways management. To this date, there has been no evidence that any of the breached data has been used for nefarious reasons. We do agree that identity theft is a huge issue and one can never be too vigilant. Recovering from a stolen identity is a time consuming and arduous task that often times takes years to rectify. But again, there has been no evidence to suggest that even one US Airways pilot has been victimized by the Company’s alleged breach.

Why then is USAPA so singularly focused on this one issue?

Easy answer!

With its third anniversary quickly approaching, Mr. Cleary cannot name one single positive accomplishment of USAPA. Our Union is a model of failure that has done more harm to the collective US Airways pilots than any other single entity.

It is abundantly clear that Mr. Cleary is using the alleged data breach as a distraction. The letter penned by US Airways Executive VP Steve Johnson gave Mr. Cleary and the BPR the perfect vehicle to divert the attention of a tired and hungry membership. We have talked to a USAPA insider and have confirmed that the Cleary strategy is to milk every last ounce he can from this issue. The problem for Mr. Cleary and the BPR is that they have run out of time.

The third anniversary of this failed experiment is a fast approaching juggernaut that cannot be ignored. USAPA’s new role as the identity theft police of the US Airways pilots does nothing to move our group forward.

The patience of our pilot group has run its course. We must now question USAPA’s future on our property.

When we voted to leave ALPA three years ago, it seemed plausible that we could break the seniority impasse and bring economic gains to all US Airways pilots. Mr. Seham and Mr. Bradford made it sound so easy and logical that casting a vote for USAPA was a no-brainer. Little could we predict that three years later an all out war with our west brothers and sisters would be raging out of control and progress at the negotiating table would be non-existent.

Looking back, voting out ALPA was an emotional knee jerk reaction to a seniority list that most of us perceived to be grossly unfair. It was the straw that broke the proverbial “camels back” after years of out of control concessions.

It was a decision many of us most definitely regret.

TheEye believes that we will all need to make a choice regarding our representational structure in the very near future. Do we return to the worlds largest pilot union, a truckers union with an airline division or stay the course with a failed USAPA?

Unless we take control of our destiny, it appears that Mr. Cleary and the BPR will merge USAPA with the Teamsters. Except for admitting once and for all that USAPA is a total failure, this may not be the best direction for our pilots. Many regard ALPA as the only solution to our situation. There is also a minority of staunch USAPA supporters who have the singular goal of keeping the Nicolau Award on the shelf regardless of cost.

TheEye believes that it is no longer possible to reform USAPA from within. The Constitution and By Laws were explicitly written to suppress the minority and provide unlimited powers to those at the top. No one, and we mean no one, is safe from the USAPA hammer. Did you know that the CLT representatives recently called for charges against founders Steve Bradford and Mark King for publicly criticizing the current leadership?

If USAPA seems out of control, it is.

We the pilots have the power to take back control of our destiny. A signed card and an NMB vote may just be the solution we’ve all been looking for.

Noise

2011-03-29T06:13:00Z

In response to last week’s letter to Doug Parker from USAPA President Mike Cleary, US Airways management purchased one year subscriptions to the LifeLock identify theft prevention service for those of us on the east. Although we appreciate the gesture, we must acknowledge that this latest crisis was manufactured by Mr. Cleary in order to distract the membership from the rapidly approaching anniversary marking three years of total failure.

Recently, TheEye poured over hundreds of official USAPA communications dating back to 2008 and has yet to identify one substantial accomplishment. In other words, except for delaying the implementation of the Nicolau seniority list USAPA has done zilch for the pilots of US Airways. The hundreds of checks written with excessive machismo over the past three years are as worthless today as they were then. US Airways management still employs the lowest compensated pilots among all the majors and many regionals. With the projected billions of dollars ceded to US Airways by the ineptitude of USAPA we should be gracious that the Company has reinvested our concessions in the LifeLock corporation.

As Mr. Cleary embarks on his next legal campaign against our west brothers and sisters, it needs to be revealed that our union is facing a serious budget shortfall. While Mr. Seham enjoys a substantial surplus and can indulge in the latest German automotive marvel, USAPA will have trouble making the payments on its two leased Ford sedans. The prospect of a new legal front must bring tears of joy to the partners of Seham, Seham, Meltz & Petersen.

This latest hysteria initiated by Mr. Cleary and his propaganda machine is a pathetic attempt to distract the membership from the reality that USAPA is a failed experiment with no future on our property. Most east pilots are starting to acknowledge that other than delaying the implementation of the Nicolau list, USAPA is completely incapable of providing even the most basic of union services.

As you finish reading the mailing that would probably have gone in the trash absent the meltdown by Mr. Cleary, we need start a dialog on how best to move forward.

Hint: USAPA in its current form is not the answer.

Deplorable

2011-03-09T23:26:00Z

Schedule with Safety

Most of us have heard the above motto repeated many times throughout our careers. Every time we report for work we strive to provide the safest and most comfortable product to our passengers. We double check the weather radar, examine the log book with a fine tooth comb, recompute the fuel slip for accuracy, and give the ship a once over just in case. For most of us, our pride and dedication to the profession is inherent. Union politics are left at the jetway door when we step aboard because at that very moment, the lives in our hands take precedence over all else.

Unfortunately for the pilots of US Airways, the sacred wall separating union politics and safety came crashing down three years ago.

Most recognize that USAPA has no negotiating leverage. Beyond the glowing reality that it has disenfranchised over 1/3 of the pilots, the remaining majority is splintered into numerous competing factions. Without national oversight, the BPR and its committee chairmen are free to conduct business as they see fit. The C&BL’s and the will of the pilots are guidelines, not absolutes.

In a gutless attempt to manufacture negotiating leverage, USAPA made a conscious decision to intertwine safety and politics. It started three summers ago with the purchase of a misleading advertisement in the USA Today with the false charge that management forces us to fly with unsafe fuel loads. Other than scaring the general public into booking away from our airline during a time when business was already faltering, the ad campaign was quickly exposed for what it was by a skeptical press corps.

In a continuation of this strategy, the USAPA Safety Committee along with the BPR authorized the expenditure of significant dues money to study safety practices at US Airways. A contract was signed with Dr. Terry L. Von Thaden, PhD of the for profit Illumia Corporation. Under the auspices of Dr. Von Thaden all USAPA members in good standing were invited to participate in the on-line survey. Overall participation was light with nearly half of all respondents coming from pilots based in Charlotte. DCA and PHX had the lowest participation.

As pointed out by the Company’s response to the study, the survey was designed to elicit responses to pilot emotions regarding contract negotiations and the ongoing seniority dispute. Vice President Safety and Regulatory Compliance Captain Paul Morell dissected the 12 deficient safety areas revealed by the survey and succinctly refuted each claim as nothing more than political posturing.

To add insult to injury, the Company’s response rubbed salt in USAPA’s wounds with the following statement about the obvious lack of unity within the union. “Although West pilots comprise 34% of the overall crewforce, only 14% of the participants were pilots from the West where ties to and allegiance with USAPA are weak.”

There you have it. The Company lecturing the union on its lack of unity! It’s no wonder USAPA has done nothing for the pilots over the past three years.

Schedule with Safety is more than a motto for most professional airline pilots. We understand the crucial link between customer trust and our ability to bring food home to our families.

USAPA’s co-mingling of safety and politics is an act of desperation that will bring harm to all US Airways pilots.

Today we all received a small profit sharing check. Don’t let it be our last.

Unsustainable

2011-03-02T15:56:00Z

If someone told you two years ago that the people of Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Yemen would band together to topple their oppressive and dictatorial regimes to force democratic reforms you would probably ask that person just what drug they were smoking. It is positively breathtaking to witness the oppressed transform their craving for freedom into action.

Concurrently, we watch the embattled dictators of these troubled nations proclaim with psychotic certainty the demise of the so called rebels and the infallibility of their regimes. In times reminiscent of Baghdad Bob, Muammar al-Qaddafi recently boasted to the press that his approval numbers have never been higher and his regime was winning the war.

In the grand scheme of our existence, the birth of democracy in the Middle East should never share the same papyrus as our struggles living under the USAPA regime. TheEye, however, feels it’s imperative to understand that human beings have an inherent yearning for freedom and upward mobility.

The recent mudslinging by the east domicile representatives is indicative of a regime teetering on the edge of collapse. The founders of USAPA along with the PHL and DCA reps are firing salvos at the current president and CLT reps. In turn, the CLT reps and president are firing back with absurd claims that they are launching their final attacks on the enemy and victory is around the corner.

The frustration level has reached its maximum because in three years USAPA has done absolutely nothing for the US Airways pilots. Quasi date-of-hire is no where close to being achieved nor is an industry standard contract.

In the latest distended rant by the CLT representatives they proclaim “We will not bring you a contract without back pay and parity provisions for our last 5 years of equal work for unequal pay. Management needs to know that the clock is ticking, and every day they delay, our new contract will cost them more money.”

Unbeknownst to the CLT reps, every day USAPA delays negotiating in earnest with the Company the US Airways pilots are losing millions in lost wages and benefits, not Doug Parker.

USAPA cannot and will not bring a contract with 5 years of back pay. But then again, this delusional proclamation by the CLT reps is indicative of their overall ignorance. Their rant started with a lecture that the cost of oil is not the problem of the US Airways pilots. Evidently McKee, Crimi, and Ingram didn’t miss their profit sharing checks in 2009 and 2010 when US Airways lost billions due to the rapid rise in the cost of oil. To them, the cost of oil is Doug Parker’s problem, not the pilots. Tell that to the hundreds of pilots who were sent packing during the worst recession in recent memory.

Eventually, the US Airways pilots on both coasts will need to find a better way to move forward. The divide and conquer strategy of USAPA is not sustainable.

USAPA was damaged goods from the first day of its existence. Unions are meant to bring workers together for the greater good. USAPA on the other hand was specifically designed as a bully to overpower a helpless minority.

Just like in the Middle East, this strategy cannot and will not succeed. Human nature dictates that the minority will never stop fighting their oppressors.

For as long as the oppressor attempts to stay in power, chaos and disfunction will rule the day.

Dreadful

2011-02-21T02:23:00Z

Recently, former USAPA President Steve Bradford and his coconspirator Mark King wrote a campaign email endorsing two candidates in the PHL domicile election. They titled their commentary The State of our Union? In short it is dreadful!

We agree, but we have to ask - how could Mr. Cleary and Mr. Mowrey possibly be the problem? Weren’t they elected by a democratic majority vote? In fact, they are only symptoms of the real problem. If Mr. Cleary and Mr. Mowrey are free to disregard the constitution at will, then the problem is the constitution, not the office holders. If the majority was “mistaken” by electing these two individuals, then USAPA’s structure is responsible for the high bar it requires to remove them. Did it ever occur to the authors that their C&BL’s are completely unenforceable and subject to abuse by the BPR and President with no accountability? The reality is Mr. King and Mr. Bradford had a singular focus when they formed USAPA and gave little forethought into the operational realities of a real union.

USAPA’s problems are systemic and indicative of the inherent design flaws of its core objective. Forming a union that was designed to function as the antipathy of a collective unit was a recipe for disaster from day one.

Steve Bradford and Mark King are directly responsible for the unavoidable dysfunction that characterizes USAPA. Their new found idealism is void of any credibility and is clearly a product of circumstance, not virtue. They hired Mr. Theuer as their communications chairman and were pleased with his performance when they controlled the message. Now that he’s loyal to Mr. Cleary’s propaganda, they fein outrage.

We were especially perplexed by their statement regarding the west pilots; “Using idiotic words like traitor and painting any West pilot as the enemy is just plain stupid and shows a basic lack of understanding of the entire concept of a union..In fact, the mere act of not working with the West BPR members as equal members threatens our very charter.”

Wow is all we can exclaim! Remember the RICO suit that was maliciously filed against 24 west pilots in order to intimidate all current and future dissenters? Apparently they suffer from amnesia as the suit was designed and prosecuted by the two of them. Now they want to conceal their sordid past and make us believe they support the interests of the west?

It is fact that Messrs. Bradford and King are no better than their successors. They cast blame on the former bargaining agent for all their ills because they cannot accept the reality that they created a failed entity with no capacity for long term functionality.

The mantra of all USAPA supporters is to blame ALPA for all of their misfortunes. Ironically, the only ones mentioning ALPA on a consistent basis are USAPA’s most ardent supporters.

If we have learned anything over the past three years, USAPA thrives on failure and dysfunction. All but the truly delusional USAPA supporters must admit that this experiment in self rule isn’t working.

Three years ago, the US Airways pilots followed Mr. Bradford and Mr. King on mission impossible. All the founders were warned by numerous law firms and industry advisors that USAPA could never be a success. Their latest statement is an admission that the experiment is failing miserably.

One must wonder why they believe the US Airways pilots would ever follow their lead again?

Divided we stand

2011-02-11T03:20:00Z

Last week a joint CLT/DCA/PHL Domicile Update addressed to all US Airways pilots was released. To our knowledge only east pilots received the update and the west pilot representatives were not asked to participate.

Before we get into the specifics of their joint communiqué, we would like to take you back to 1985 and introduce to you Captain Rick Dubinsky. The following except is from Thomas Petzinger, Jr’s industry best seller Hard Landing.

“The pilot leaders at United appointed a longtime 737 pilot named Frederick “Rick” Dubinsky as the strike chairman...Dubinsky and his assistants recruited fully 1,000 pilots as volunteers on the strike committee. Soon they were putting in 10,000 hours a week preparing to strike against b-scales...And everyone received indoctrination in the need for unity...When ALPA put the matter to a vote, 96% of the United pilots authorized a strike. Word came from the ALPA offices in Washington that the United pilots should not worry about financing the strike: the national union would provide all the strike funds necessary, to the point of mortgaging the eight-story ALPA headquarters building on Massachusetts Avenue.

The union’s massive unity campaign reached its peak on Sunday, May 5, 1985, in a satellite production involving dozens of technicians and weeks of planning - a rally broadcast live to pilot domiciles in Los Angeles, Denver, San Francisco, Seattle, Cleveland, Miami, New York and Washington from Odeum Expo Center in Chicago. Strike Chairman Dubinsky, his gargantuan image projected on a huge screen over the podium, was like an oracle announcing the end of the earth...”

The 1985 pilot strike prevented long term b-scales at United and put the pilots in the driver seat for years to come. Having 96% support enabled the United pilots to pull off one of the most successful legal work stoppages in airline history.

Now let’s fast forward 26 years to the release of the joint CLT/DCA/PHL update. In their lame statement the founding reps noted that the US Airways pilots “heroically” chose a new path for their future. When most rational people think of heroic acts, voting in a union that was specifically designed to harm over 1/3 of its membership does not even come close to making the list. Labeling the election of USAPA a heroic act is insulting to the true heros of our world.

Evidently, these propagandists are not students of history. Captain Dubinsky knew that he needed overwhelming and airtight support to accomplish the United pilot’s goals. He understood coast-to-coast unity was essential for success.

In their joint update, the five remaining founding representatives vowed to stand together to achieve their stated goal of reaching an industry standard contract and destroying the careers of their west coworkers. Their word choice was peculiar considering USAPA has no intention of reaching a deal with management. Those of us that attended last week’s CLT domicile meeting witnessed our leadership state with straight faces that west participation isn’t needed. In fact, it was insinuated that we would be better off without west involvement!

We can only assume that these statements were made with a ‘wink wink and a nod’ so the official record would not reflect USAPA’s intent to accept LOA 93 for eternity as payment for permanent separate operations.

Captain Dubinsky and the true unionists who poured their souls into improving our profession must wince at the mere mention of USAPA.

Frank Lorenzo must be proud of Messrs Cleary and Seham. They’ve handed Doug Parker a dream come true.

Pretzinger Jr, Thomas. Hard Landing. New York: Times Books, 1995.