USAirways

[Kristie]

try erasing your cookies and see if that does the trick to correcting the problem!

[roz]

US Airways Loses Loans For 100 Jets
Planes Were Integral To Restructuring Plan
By Keith L. Alexander
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 18, 2004; Page E01

US Airways has lost financing for nearly 100 regional jets that were to be a key component in its restructuring plan.

With the carrier in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, its aircraft manufacturers Bombardier and Embraer decided to terminate their financing contracts on the jets.

US Airways had built part of its transformation plan around the use of the 50- to 70-seat aircraft during its previous restructuring in 2002. The carrier hoped to deploy the jets on many of its shorter or less popular routes and use them to expand service to short-haul destinations.

Meanwhile, UAL Corp.'s United Airlines, which has been operating under Chapter 11 for nearly two years, said yesterday that it would have to cut an additional $500 million in annual costs as part of its effort to emerge from bankruptcy. Additional jobs will be lost, the company said. United has already cut about $5 billion, with about half coming from cuts in employee pay and benefits.

A bankruptcy judge yesterday approved United's bid for a 30-day extension to develop a business plan without the threat of a competing proposal from creditors or private investors.

US Airways' unsecured creditors are scheduled to meet Monday in Arlington to form a creditors committee.

US Airways' loss of its regional plane orders was a major blow to the carrier's restructuring efforts. Besides aiding expansion plans, the smaller planes burn less fuel than jets, a feature that would have helped the carrier reduce its fuel costs.

"This is one of the many reasons we advised our labor leaders that it would be much worse for the company if it had to file Chapter 11," said US Airways spokesman David Castelveter. "We'll have to adjust our plan accordingly, but our ability to grow will be limited."

Merrill Lynch analyst Michael Linenberg said the airline would now be forced to "retool" its fall schedule since the planes were going to be used on several medium-size business routes, such as those from Charlotte to Minneapolis and Dallas and Philadelphia to Minneapolis.

US Airways filed for Chapter 11 protection Sunday after its labor groups rejected $800 million in annual pay and benefit cuts as part of its overall effort to trim $1.5 billion a year in costs.

[roz]

Well, they lost the financing for the regional jets. PSA is furloughing today.

The company sent a proposal to the pilots of the mainline negotiating committee that is substantially worse than anything they rejected in August prior to filing. It includes provisions to furlough out of seniority order. In other words, they intend to divest themselves of the Boeing fleet and want to just get rid of the planes and the pilots. In that way they won't have to incur training costs normally associated with changes in equipment.

Here's the summary of the request:

- 19.5% pay cut
- Ability to furlough pilots, REGARDLESS of seniority, if fleet is reduced.
- Reductions in retirement
- $1.9 billion in savings from its pilots through 2009, well above the company's earlier request of $1.5 billion from that group.

[Kristie]

how nice of him... i wonder what kind of proposal he sent over to the mechanics, f/a's, gate agents & customer service people!?

I think until I see those that I'll assume he's completely blaming the pilots for HIS losing the jets!

Pilots need to stick to their guns because I don't see the CEO helping a whole heck of a lot except on where to assign blame.

[roz]

Kristie, I really think they have no intention of doing anything but filing Chapter 7. First they announce this big expansion out of FLL to the Caribbean and South America. In USA Today, there was an article today about the fact that they have no intention of doing that. So I checked the FAA filings--guess what? They have NEVER filed for those routes. Right now the only airline that filed (and was awarded) routes out of FLL is Spirit. In fact, today Spirit was just awarded the Mexico City route. It's smoke and mirrors. They can blame the 4 pilots and use Senator Santorum (I've never voted for him and I never will) to blame the 4 pilots on the negotiating committee. But if you go on their website and read their 33 page or whatever it is filing for bankruptcy you will see how totally incompetent they are.

When usaviation.com went for pay I dropped out. So I don't know what offers were sent to the other unions. I really don't think it matters. Everyone seems to want to cut their losses!

I care because we have lots of friends there. Charlie spent many years there until, for some reason besides my nagging, in August, 2001 he left. When I heard that they had no plan "B", I went nuts. Had he not done that, he'd be at Home Depot now!

Among mainline, PSA and PDT there are about a bit more than 4,000 pilots, all of whom stand to lose their jobs. I am saddened. I hope they, and all the other employees of U and the wholly owned companies have a plan "B".

[roz]

MEC CODE-A-PHONE UPDATE

September 23, 2004

This is Jack Stephan with a US Airways MEC update for Thursday, September 23rd, with one new item.

US Airways President and CEO Bruce Lakefield announced yesterday that if US Airways and ALPA, the AFA, CWA, IAM and TWU do not immediately reach agreements on interim relief, US Airways will file a motion tomorrow, Friday, September 24, in bankruptcy court, for authority to implement immediate cost reductions, including pay cuts. The text of this message can be found on the pilots only home page under Transformation Plan/Bankruptcy Information.

Under Section 1113(e) of the Bankruptcy Code, a bankruptcy court may grant emergency interim relief from the terms of a labor agreement on an expedited basis without a full negotiating process, if the court finds that the relief is "essential" to the continuation of business or to avoid "irreparable harm" to the bankruptcy estate. ALPA plans to oppose this motion in court if an agreement is not reached before the hearing.

If US Airways files an 1113(e) motion with the court tomorrow, a hearing date must be scheduled. No changes to the contract will be made until after a hearing. Mr. Lakefield has stated that management will continue to seek agreements with each union prior to that hearing. If the court grants the 1113(e) motion, during the time that the short-term cost reductions are in effect, US Airways and ALPA can continue their Transformation Plan negotiations on longer-term relief. ALPA does not expect to enter into negotiations with management on its 1113(e) proposal for interim relief before the Company files its 1113(e) motion tomorrow. If interim relief is imposed by the court, the terms imposed do not dictate the terms of a long-term agreement with the Company.

The full details of the Company's 1113(e) proposal are available on the pilots only website under "Transformation Plan/Bankruptcy Information." It is imperative that all pilots read this information. This interim relief proposal includes pay cuts, pilot DC plan reductions, relief from minimum aircraft requirements, and pay cap changes.

The Company has previously indicated that it would seek 1113 relief if no consensual agreement was reached. Your MEC Officers are disappointed that an agreement was not reached with management outside of bankruptcy; however, the MEC yesterday passed a resolution that authorized the Negotiating Committee to proceed, unrestricted, with talks in a renewed effort to reach a TA. It is ALPA's goal to have the Negotiating Committee negotiate a comprehensive, consensual agreement that covers short-term and long-term relief without the need for 1113(e) interim relief or long-term 1113 relief.

The Negotiating Committee is currently meeting internally, and negotiations with management are expected to resume this weekend.

If a TA is reached, the MEC will review it, but any agreement will be subject to ratification by the US Airways pilots before it becomes effective.

Please remember we have 1,879 pilots on furlough.

Thank you for listening.

[roz]

http://www.alpa.org/aaa/DesktopDefault.aspx

Ok, they voted to send the TA to the pilots for ratification. If ratified, this means, US Airways will be able to shed the Boeing aircraft AND the pilots with it. But they lost the court battle to outsource maintenance of the Airbus, so they are in big trouble. The 330's are due for heavy maintenance. They lost the financing for the RJ's. I fear for our friends. In Philly, the airport just cut their gates and, rumor has it, the gates are going to Southwest.

What it means is a temporary paycut and reduction in benefits along with increased productivity. But it's only temporary. Bankruptcy is a crappy thing. The judge could impose more severe restrictions after a certain point in time.

If (and many say, when) they fail, 3200 mainline pilots plus all the PSA, PDT and MDA pilots are out of work. Plus the ripple effect to
the contract carriers....It's a scary thing.

Ladies, if you don't think the management at your husband's carrier is not looking at this, think again. After all, US Airways paved the way to eliminate the pension plans and turn them over to the government. We will all pay for that as more and more companies do what the legislators never intended! United has already made it clear that it intends to follow along and rumor has it Delta will also.

[roz]

This was not unexpected. It's sad though--years of mismanagement:

Associated Press
Union: US Airways Seeks 1982 Pay Levels
Thursday October 14, 10:30 pm ET
By Matthew Barakat, AP Business Writer
Union Analyst Says US Airways Wants to Cut Flight Attendant Pay to 1982 Level

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) -- US Airways' request in bankruptcy court to impose 23 percent pay cuts on its union workers would reduce flight attendants' pay scales to 1982 levels, a union analyst said.
Daniel W. Akins, an economist working for the Association of Flight Attendants, testified Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court that the pay cuts sought by bankrupt US Airways are so severe that the airline's pay scales would be 22 percent lower than the average salary scale of the nation's low-cost air carriers.

The airline is seeking the pay cuts on a temporary basis from nearly all of its union workers, saying that the company's cash reserves are so low that the airline may be forced to liquidate as soon as mid-February unless the relief is granted.

US Airways Chief Financial Officer David Davis said Thursday that the company's cash projections are even worse than they were a week ago because of rising fuel costs. Any delay in obtaining the pay cuts could require even steeper cuts to compensate, he said.

The airline had hoped that U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stephen Mitchell would rule Thursday, but the hearing did not conclude and will resume Friday to complete closing arguments.

Because US Airways has furloughed so many workers since the Sept. 11 attacks, nearly all of its union workers earn top scale. In contrast, the low-cost carriers like JetBlue Airways Corp. have newer employees with less seniority who are near the bottom of the scale.

As a result, even if US Airways' pay scales match those at the low-cost carriers, its labor costs will still be higher.

The airline says that the 23 percent pay cuts would reduce the average flight attendant's salary from $36,975 to $27,701 -- an average pay slightly higher than those at low-cost carriers.

The airline is seeking $950 million a year in cost cuts from its unions as part of a plan to transform itself from a traditional hub-and-spoke carrier into a low-cost, low-fare carrier like JetBlue or America West.

A lawyer for the Communications Workers of America, which represents 6,000 passenger service employees at the airline, said Thursday that the cuts are so steep that they "might force people to resign, to find other jobs so they can keep their homes and cars and put food on the table."

US Airways Group Inc. employs 34,000 workers. About 84 percent are represented by unions, according to the company's annual report.

[Kristie]

unbelievable!

[MQAAord]

1982?!

And I thought the 1993 levels that AA was pushed back to was bad!