> There are the many pessimists that shout to the rooftops that > Microsoft > would immediately gut Yahoo, but that doesn't happen in the real > world... There's usually a transition period and generally the idea > is > to maximize profits by minimizing losses (obvious tautology I know, > but > one that seems easy to forget) and you don't money by taking the > entity > you just bought and telling some its most valuable assets to go home > and > shutting down what pathways it has in place to generate money.
> --Max Battcher-- Perhaps in the IT universe, but not in my profession... I was an ATA (American Trans Airways) Flight Attendant and recently lost my job because of the shutdown of our airline. 13 years in seniority down the drain. It was an incredibly exciting job, but now it's over... I'm still in shock. http://www.ata.com/index.html Forgive me if I ramble... ATA flew for over 35 years and prior to 9/11 we were the nation's tenth largest domestic carrier and largest charter airline, with over 40 flights a day out of IND and over 15 gates in MDW. We were bought out by corporate raiders (Global Aero Logistics) who added North American and World Airways to their holdings. I was hoping that GAL would have us all merge into one charter and keep our seniority, but this way GAL was able to cut their payroll and can now hire more people at the bottom of the pay scale. It was probably the plan all alone. I actually thought they would keep ATA and dump World Airways, because they are Teamsters... http://www.globalaerologistics.com/ We were the primary carrier for military charter operations transporting troops and their families throughout the world. Many of us received civilian medals for flying into combat zones. On one occasion I landed in Kuwait when a scud missile was launched and we all had to don emergency equipment and seal the plane. I've worked prisoner flights to Pakistan, and from Hawaii and Guam. Refugee flights in Africa, Cyprus, and Lebanon. Peace keeping missions for the UN in Timor, Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Sudan. My first war was the Vietnamese baby lift, my most dangerous was the 1979 Civil War in Tchad. During the Iraqi invasion I flew into XXX missions somewhere near Afghanistan and in Jordan, only the pilots knew for sure. Military charter contracts are awarded to "teams" of airlines with one airline operating as the primary vendor and then sub-contracting the actual flying to the rest of the team. ATA was part of the FED Ex team until FED Ex abruptly notified ATA that we would no longer be a part of their team. No reason was provided. FED Ex admitted that they were not severing our association due to any concern over service provided. ATA management struggled to obtain financing and craft a business plan that would allow us to continue operations. As a direct result of FED Ex's arbitrary action we were ultimately shut down. The result was the loss of over 2000 jobs and the stranding of thousands of active duty troops throughout the world. This has raised serious questions about the way the government contracts for commercial troop movement, allowing FED Ex to interrupt scheduled troop movements. ATA had a contract with the government, so it seems to me that the government should determine what carriers are allowed to carry the troops. What will be the expense now to the government to train and develop a system with other carriers to provide what ATA had mastered over two decades of military airlift? At the moment my union is asking our Congress to investigate why FED Ex removed ATA from its "team" and how the interests of the United States of America can be so crippled by the predatory business actions of one company. For me the airline industry began a slow slide when Reagan deregulated it, and the first airline I worked for, Overseas National Airways (ONA) in 1976, went bankrupt. Fares were higher then, but planes were better monitored and maintained. Salaries were higher and the industry was stable. Since then, airline mergers, predatory pricing (calculated to destroy competition) the rise in fuel prices, and the aftermath of 9/11 have affected many airlines, but for ATA, losing the military was the final nail in the coffin... My union, AFA, is attempting to merge our seniority with World Airways (also owned by Global Aero Logistics). If we fail, as is likely, we'll never get our jobs back. We have to prove World is doing our flying. We have good evidence they are, and are combining our efforts with ALPA (the pilots union) to try and make a case. Management isn't willing to accept a settlement, of course. If the Arbitrator decides in our favor, there will be a problems implementing the merger and flight attendant seniority when there are openings It is also possible World Airways will be turned exclusively into a cargo carrier. Jon _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
