|
Yesterday, AMR
Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection. This filing included American,
American Eagle, and Executive Airlines.
This, unfortunately,
is a process with which we are all too
familiar. Our company, as you know, spent 13
months in bankruptcy. It was a painful
process that we will not soon forget.
Hundreds of our pilots were furloughed and
many remain so today. Hundreds more were
displaced and/or downgraded, and ended up
taking significant pay cuts as a result.
The day Mesa filed for
bankruptcy, your MEC received numerous phone
calls from our National officers and pilot
leaders at other ALPA-represented carriers.
The message was clear: Mesa pilots were not
alone; we had the full support of ALPA and
the pilots it represents. A team of experts
was on call – ALPA attorneys, outside legal
counsel, financial analysts, and other
professionals – and we spoke with ALPA
pilots who had gone through the process
before us to learn their experiences and see
how we could incorporate their successes
into our strategy. We also worked to secure
preferential hiring/interviews for our
furloughed pilots at several ALPA carriers,
including American Eagle. We may be out of
bankruptcy, but we remain engaged at all
levels within ALPA.
Now it’s our turn to
help. As ALPA pilots, we are not defined by
the carriers for which we fly. Instead, we
are able to work across company lines to
promote and protect the piloting profession.
With that in mind, we have been in contact
with the EGL MEC and have committed to
support them in any way possible. Please
reiterate this commitment to any EGL ALPA
pilot you may run into on the line. We Are
ALPA!
Fly safe.
Back to top |
