Union at CommutAir

[commutair]

onionluvr

You have no idea what your talking about Onionluvr. If your here at Commutair you are already at subpar rates, And is the Airline shutdown ? NO. You still work, put up with the same bull$hit flying little 1900D, with no retirement, no contract $1.20 raise a year. We had our chance to get the union in and it was denied. So bend over Onionluvr and take it in the A$$ with the rest of Us. Were gonna get bigger plane and there NOT gonna give us a raise. It's as simple as that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[onionluvr]

No bending over for me

You have no idea what your talking about Onionluvr. If your here at Commutair you are already at subpar rates, And is the Airline shutdown ? NO. You still work, put up with the same bull$hit flying little 1900D, with no retirement, no contract $1.20 raise a year. We had our chance to get the union in and it was denied. So bend over Onionluvr and take it in the A$$ with the rest of Us. Were gonna get bigger plane and there NOT gonna give us a raise. It's as simple as that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All Beech 1900 hundred operators are at subpar rates. There are not very many anymore, but if you compare CommutAir with those that are left we are slightly above average as far as pay goes. Our hourly rate may not be as high as some, but you have to take into account that we have an 82 hour/month guarantee. I'm not saying things are peachy, and I'll be the first to say that what has been taken away from us over the past couple of years has been far too much. But our QOL and pay still holds up relatively well against the few 1900 operators that are left. Management will point to that fact everytime you question them on any of our benenfits.

That being the case, it stands to reason that they should look at the benefits of the operators of whatever airplane we end up getting. We should be at above average rates of whatever that airplane will be.....using management's own argument. If that is not the case then it is a slap in the face of those who have stayed at CommutAir and stuck it out through all the crap. If that happens I will be out of here and there are many others who will be leaving, including many of the so called lifers.

There will be no union at CommutAir because if management doesn't come through on this one, there won't be anyone who will bother to stay and fight. There are other opportunities out there. It simply isn't worth the hassle.

Commutair, if you decide to stay and take it up the a$$ that is your business. I will be saving my lube for another day at another company.

 

[Bringupthebird]

I will be saving my lube for another day at another company.

Don't bother, D'Angelo always has some to borrow. :laugh:

 

[LaxPilot]

ChimneyFish,

Here is a little history about Commutair and Union's. About five years ago, (when CLE just started) the pilots tried to get a union and was unsuccessfull. ALPA was contacted and they spent alot of time, effort, and money to help the pilot group. Mgt of course found out about this, and the war was on. Long story short... Mgt won, they messed with some pilots when they went to upgrade, flight schedules ect. The majority of the pilots are no longer there, but those who may remainare flying low under the radar. During the organization effort when ALPA held there meetings, only 5 to 8 pilots showed up at each meeting (and these folks were the pilots who were organizing the union.) There were big dicussions about the 1.25% union dues. THe old farts stated "...why should it be that much, ALPA sucks..." while the younger ones stated "...thats alot out of paycheck, I can't do it..." This went back and forth all the time. But the bottom line is that most of the pilot group there does not understand unions because they never delt with them before, in or out of the airlines. ALPA is not the answer to all the problems, but it is a good tool box to get things swinging in the pilots direction. Good luck with it.

LAXPILOR

 

[commutair]

I can guarentee that WE ARE THE LOSWEST PAID 1900 pilots. I have a friend who is at colgan and he makes more than us. I have a friend at gulfstream and he makes more than us. Bottom line is this. THere are too many lifeers here. These guys only live today. They think this company actually treats them well, When in turn there is no retirement for them. No more profit sharing or bonuses. THERE gonna charge us 1 a week for CASS. That's the thanks we get for busting our A$$. Wake UP and smell the roses.
There wasting there time. and so aren't you. Go to chautaqua onionluvr YOU WONT REGRET IT

 

[D'Angelo]

Pilots should actually be charged for part of CASS. After all they are the ones screaming for it. If they can make the choice to commute surely they can open the wallet to help pay for the cost. If they don't wanna open the wallet then its simple. DONT COMMUTE!!! Commuting is all about opening the wallet. Hotel, crashpads, etc. etc. Commuting is expensive. CASS is an expense that should be passed on to commuters

 

[aussiefly]

OH MY GOD! Can someone say D ouche ??????

 

[chimichanga]

Pilots should actually be charged for part of CASS. After all they are the ones screaming for it. If they can make the choice to commute surely they can open the wallet to help pay for the cost. If they don't wanna open the wallet then its simple. DONT COMMUTE!!! Commuting is all about opening the wallet. Hotel, crashpads, etc. etc. Commuting is expensive. CASS is an expense that should be passed on to commuters

Oh, bite me, D'Angelo. This airline has closed crew bases in Boston, Elmira, White Plains, Portland, Providence, Dulles, Hartford, Syracuse, Rochester, Worcester, Newark, and probably more cities that I can't recall. The company forces commuting on its pilots because of domicile closures and reductions. Are you seriously expecting our pilots to move every time these people decide to try another city for a few months?

 

[chimichanga]

I'm so sick of hearing, "get your time and get out," that it's a "stepping stone," and so on. So what? Why should we be content with getting screwed at every turn, just because we think we'll get out in just a couple of years? I see a lot of the guys I fly with who have been here many years, trying to get out.

The majors aren't hiring like they used to, and you're going to be here a number of years unless you want to just hop to yet another regional. (We had a few bail to Colgan Air a few months ago, that's how bad it has gotten.) If everybody has the attitude that it's not worth the effort to fight for improvements in our pay and work rules, then of course things won't improve!

They're not going to shut down just because we unionize. Paying us adequately is not going to bankrupt the company. The most profitable airline in the country is also the one that pays its people very well, remember? They reap the rewards of treating their people like an asset instead of an expense. I hear this place used to be like that; I wonder what changed?

And those of you who bitch about how useless ALPA is, you have work rules and benefits that we can only dream of, and you have them because of your union contract. Remember that. Your situation would be a lot worse without your contract.

No, we're not at the top-end of 1900 operators anymore. We haven't been at the top of the heap in years. Yes, we used to be the top-end operator of these airplanes -- you could make over $60,000 flying a 1900 for us in the early 90's. Those days will never return, and we all know it.

Yes, the 82.5-hour guarantee is higher than other airlines, but nearly everything else is worse. And don't forget that we have no assurance of keeping that monthly guarantee! It could drop down to the typical 75 hours, or even be eliminated. So could our daily minimum of 3 hours. So could the 2-hour reserve callout, or any of our other arbitrary work rules.

We have no power to stop these things without a binding contract! Just like we had no power to stop the elimination of our paid health insurance, or the on-time bonus I keep hearing about, or the profit sharing I've heard about, etc., etc. Don't say they wouldn't do that -- they did it. Who's to say they won't do it again?

I knew the pay when I got here, but I never realized just how bad it could be, living in expensive New England on a salary that's only adequate for Plattsburgh. It's great for the 20 people based up there, but the other 80% of the company is struggling to make ends meet. The annual "raise" doesn't come close to offsetting the rising cost of living, and demanding even more money for the mediocre medical insurance was just too much. And now that they're finally thinking about CASS, they want to charge us for it? Good lord, where does it end?

I wish I had been here for the last union vote -- I'd be working under a contract by now. I wouldn't be paying $1350 a year for a medical plan that used to be part of our package. Indeed, even subtracting out 1.95% for ALPA dues (about $350/year), that still leaves me $1000 ahead, even without the pay improvements that I'm sure we'd have been able to negotate.


I hear rumors of a new campaign starting up; I sure hope it's true. Maybe it'll light a fire under our management and owners to wake up and look at what the rest of the industry is paying its pilots. This is a very big reason why you're having trouble finding qualified applicants.

If the Saab/Dash/Whatever pay is as bad as our Beech pay, I think we're going to see another mass exodus, and training whatever replacements we can find must be very expensive. Wouldn't it be cheaper to pay people enough to stay?

I don't want to job hunt again, but I seriously can't afford to live on what CommutAir pays.

 

[AutoBus]

I'm so sick of hearing, "get your time and get out," that it's a "stepping stone," and so on. So what? Why should we be content with getting screwed at every turn, just because we think we'll get out in just a couple of years? I see a lot of the guys I fly with who have been here many years, trying to get out..

But it is a stepping stone, most pilots have had stepping stone jobs, CFI, 135 charter, small commuters (Commutair) etc... stop trying to make it what it isn't, a career. Go out get your time, have a few beers, bitch about the company and move on.

Commutair is one baby step from being a CFI. or charter pilot.

I was at commutair a long, long time ago. before the hangar was built (the first one) and it was then what it is now. No one was thinking of commutair as a career, we were riding the gravy train until it ran out.

They talked about unions back then, unions are great, but no one sticks around commutair long enough to make it work, who would your LEC or MEC be (this month)? who would be your commitee members (this week)? would it be YOU? or are you too busy with your career building?

would you trust your union to the Kool-aid drinkers lifers that are still there?