Air Line strike

[6rugrats]

How are they related to cruising?

 

Most of this thread, which was obviously moved to this forum from another one, has nothing to do with cruise air.

[fbgd]

Most of this thread, which was obviously moved to this forum from another one, has nothing to do with cruise air.

 

But it had the word "Air" in the title!

...and mentioned Choice Air! :D

[ducklite]

I heard on the news this morning that SEIU employees at Laguardia who clean the airplanes are on strike because of lack of training and equipment to deal with the ebola virus.

 

Not on strike, just picketing.

[greatam]

As a very loyal AA (and OneWorld) flier, the only times I remember in the last 20 years when there was truly a strike was the short lived one in 1998. More flights have been cancelled due to STUPID FAA regs than any strike. Who could forget the zip ties that were 1/4" out of place but had more zip ties than were required? That was just plain DUMB for the FAA to shut all those planes down when WN was flying around with cracked fusilages and nothing was much done about that.

 

Are there bad feelings between some of the unions and the employees who belong to those unions? YES And a lot of it is holdover from the AmWest merger with US (thank you Dougie, who took a perfectly good airline and essentially ruined it with the merger). The West Coast union employees (other than the pilots) got royally screwed over. And some of that is still in effect today. Baggage handlers is the biggie-East Coast employees got a LOT more than those merging from AmWest. And they are still battling out the contracts.

 

But to say that AA is on strike "all the time" is just so untrue, it baffles my mind where you came up with that "fact"

 

Flights get cancelled for a variety of reasons-mechanicals, weather, crew time outs and recently, the fire in Chicago. But strikes? I remember flying into LA quite a while ago and seeing all these AA pilots picketing. IF I am not mistaken, it was because one union (or maybe it was a union that wanted to represent the pilots) wanted to hold AA's feet to the fire (which very well could have meant loss of jobs) while the other union was willing to take the pay cuts to keep the airline flying, keep their jobs with promises of pay increases and bonuses as the airline recovered. And AA DID NOT file bankruptcy until very, very recently. The ONLY airline that did not file in the turbulent environment of the late 90's/early 2000's.

 

I remember speaking to one of the pilots who had his sign leaning against the wall. He really didn't want to be out picketing-he wanted to be flying. But the promise from the one union encouraged a lot of pilots to think they were getting ripped by AA. So then the picket signs went up. Didn't last very long.

 

As for Eagle Drivers, people have to start someplace. And maybe the salary isn't the best. But just like my truck drivers, I sure don't trust them for the first few months to take a mixed load of frozen and chilled in the same trailer (very special handling) and make 10-15 stops. They take either a load of frozen or a load of chilled with maybe 3-4 stops. IF they do a good job and I have an opening for one of the trucks that makes more money, they get moved up when I figure they can handle the job. I sure wouldn't want to be on a plane where an Eagle driver just finished large plane training and was made a Captain. Just like any job, you pay your dues at the lower level and move up the ladder.

 

Such a bunch of BS from Capt Dave

 

And for the OP with the Choice Air ticket-if the strike affects you, unless you have read the ENTIRE fare rules (which you generally can't on the cheapest of the Choice Air tickets), you have NO IDEA what Choice Air can or cannot do for you. There are some REAL downsides to purchasing Choice Air tickets and you don't know the downsides until you are actually STUCK without a flight or a missed connection.

 

Of course, Celebrity is going to tell you everything is A-OK. They truly have NO IDEA. And they sure aren't going to tell you upfront you could be royally screwed. They don't run the airline. And the "help" you are given can be anything from bending over backwards to help you to basically telling you that you are on your own and to deal with the airline. Don't be taken in by the glorified marketing hype. In the fine print, it states "will WORK WITH" and FEASIBLE. Lawyer weasel words to CYA. Good luck but BE PREPARED to possibly purchase a high dollar, walk up ticket to get to your cruise on time. Depending on those PRECIOUS FARE RULES which govern your ticket (and you can't read generally), you may be restricted to flying the ORIGINAL airline on the ORIGINAL routing even if the only seats available are two days in advance.

 

Have a nice cruise.

Edited October 11, 2014 by greatam

[lido deck larry]

I never put any stock in a guys opinion of an entire company, large group of people, etc when it's based on the opinion of one friend. "My buddy says his company sucks, so it must be true." Come on now. Two people on the same cruise will have two different opinions of the cruise, and likewise, two pilots from the same company will as well. I don't fly AA, but if I did nothing Captdave said would sway my decision. Also, AA is not "always on strike". What a stupid statement.

Edited October 11, 2014 by lido deck larry

[TruckerDave]

Said American goes on strike, and it does.

 

Everyone got a big pay and benefits cut, you know it.

 

I flew for Texaco on the 2 corporate G-IV's. Chevron bought out Texaco back in 2000-2001 period. Our Texaco CEO became the head guy at United. And he's the guy who did all the big 50% benefits cuts. I actually liked this guy and his wife. He didn't cut my pay.

 

CaptDave

 

 

You really are just making stuff up at this point aren't you? The CEO of United (and the CEO of Continental before the merger) is Jeff Smisek. He joined Continental in 1995 as Senior Vice President and General Counsel. So how was he Texaco CEO in 2000-2001 as well??

[FlyerTalker]

You really are just making stuff up at this point aren't you? The CEO of United (and the CEO of Continental before the merger) is Jeff Smisek. He joined Continental in 1995 as Senior Vice President and General Counsel. So how was he Texaco CEO in 2000-2001 as well??

I think he may be referring to Glenn Tilton, who was with Texaco and Texaco Chevron prior to joining UA in 2002. Tilton was replaced as UA's CEO by Smisek at the end of 2012.

[TruckerDave]

I think he may be referring to Glenn Tilton, who was with Texaco and Texaco Chevron prior to joining UA in 2002. Tilton was replaced as UA's CEO by Smisek at the end of 2012.

 

He has already been torn to shreds by out resident Delta pilot so I'm still going with he doesn't really know of what he speaks. :D