PilotsUnited.com

That Was Then...

Just a place for me to keep some of the news of the past.

Off-line Jumpseat Update

Jumpseat Test Officially Approved

The TSA has officially approved a six month "pilot program" that will re-institute offline jumpseat access for pilots. This test program will be known as the Cockpit Security Access System, or CASS. The formal approval of CASS by TSA removes all of the regulatory restrictions that had been placed on offline jumpseat after the September 11, 2001 tragedy.

Before the program is again up and running there are some other steps that must be accomplished. For example, a contract with ARINC to run the proxy server for the CASS must be finalized. This should take no more than two weeks. Once this is accomplished each airline will be required to make some in-house adjustments to their computer reservations system in order to make it compatible with the requirements of the CASS. The length of time to accomplish these changes will vary from airline to airline.

Once each airline has met these requirements and made their system CASS compliant they will then have to "end to end" test their system with the other airlines participating in the CASS. This should be a relatively straightforward hardware/software issue. Once these tests are completed each airline entering the CASS will be required to adopt their respective Ops Specs to accommodate the requirements of the CASS. This should only require a written change to the Ops Specs documentation. The final approval for the system will be through each respective carrier's PSI, which the TSA has stated will occur provided all of the above requirements are met.

Once the system is up and running (probably mid-September for the carriers whose systems are ready) the following procedure will apply to pilots desiring to utilize an offline jumpseat. The pilot will present him or herself at the offline carrier's gate, provide the agent with his or her valid airline ID, a valid US passport and a PIN number issued by his or her respective airline. The gate agent will enter this information into the computer and send a verification of identification query to the pilot's airline through the ARINC proxy server. Once the response is received, the gate agent will verify that all of the identification credentials presented by the pilot matches the information returned by the airline, and the pilot will be allowed access to the cockpit jumpseat.

More information about this program will be provided as it is received, and pilots should contact their respective MEC Jumpseat Coordinators for information specific to their individual airlines.

UAL Back in the Pac

United Airlines said it will restore all trans-Pacific flights next month, including those from Hong Kong, as it attempts to recover from the sharp downturn in air travel caused by SARS. Meanwhile, United's chief executive, Glenn Tilton, who begins a two-day visit to Beijing on Wednesday, said he will discuss cooperation plans with mainland Chinese airlines to help United expand into the booming mainland Chinese aviation market. United, the world's No. 2 carrier after American Airlines, slashed 75% of its flights in and out of Hong Kong at the peak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak, said Mark Schwab, a United vice president.

The Chicago-based airline, which earns 17% of its revenue from trans-Pacific routes, has been gradually restoring its services since SARS fears eased in June, Mr. Schwab said Tuesday.

The airline will also resume daily flights between Hong Kong and Singapore on Oct. 26, he said. SARS first surfaced in mainland China late last year and killed 299 people in Hong Kong. The virus prompted travel warnings across Asia and devastated Hong Kong's tourism industry.

United Senior Vice President Graham Atkinson said the airline is "seeing a significant upturn in terms of business travelers' pent-up demand," but a full recovery is only expected by the end of this year or early next year.

Mr. Tilton said he will discuss with mainland Chinese carriers possible cooperation such as code-sharing, frequent-flyer programs and facility sharing. The code-sharing agreement would allow United to put its UA flight numbers on its mainland partner's services and sell seats as if they were on United flights. Mr. Tilton declined to name a partner, but hinted that it might be Air China. "In the event that a code-share with Air China would happen, that would be a good thing, and would benefit passenger connectivity," Mr. Tilton said. He said the possible tie-up was one of the "worst-kept secrets" in the airline industry.

Mr. Tilton said the Asia-Pacific market, with its potentially huge economic growth, presents the "most significant" international opportunity for United. "We are more committed than ever to the region, to China, to Hong Kong," he said. Mr. Tilton said he hopes the Chinese partners will eventually become a member of Star Alliance, a network comprising 16 carriers, which includes United, Air Canada, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Singapore Airlines.

Selina Chow, chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, said despite a strong rebound in the short-haul market, the number of visitors from the U.S. in July was still down 42% compared with the same month last year. "This is understandable because it always takes a bit more time to rebuild confidence in the long-haul market and convert interest into actual travel," Ms. Chow said. American travelers are the fourth largest-group of visitors to Hong Kong, with more than one million arriving here last year, according to Ms. Chow. original story

United studying all-cargo service

Airline would lease jets for international routes

By David Kesmodel
Rocky Mountain News
August 22, 2003

Bankrupt United Airlines is exploring launching an all-cargo service
on international routes by leasing wide-body jets from ailing Atlas
Air, sources said.

United, which today carries freight only in the bowels of its passenger planes, is studying the move as a way to boost revenues onits robust route network.

The airline has talked with Purchase, N.Y.-based Atlas about "wet
leasing" Boeing 747 jets for a service that initially would focus on
U.S.-Asia routes, sources said.

Under a wet lease, Atlas, the largest shipper of freight for other
carriers, would provide planes, crews, insurance and maintenance.
United would market the service and load and unload freight.

United spokeswoman Chris Nardella said the airline is exploring re- entering the all- freighter market, which it abandoned in 2000. But
she would not say whether United has talked with Atlas Air.

Chicago-based United had plans to enter the market before September, when the cargo season swings into high gear, she said, but "we haven't found a viable option." Atlas Air spokesman Thomas Becher declined to comment.

Atlas Air, whose clients include British Airways, was based in
Golden until 1999. The company said last month that it might file
for bankruptcy to complete a debt restructuring.

Leaders of United's pilots union are opposed to a cargo operation in
which United wet-leases planes, Scottie Clark, a union spokeswoman, said. "We'd like it to be flown with United pilots," which would be a dry lease, Clark said. United and the union continue to discuss the issue, Clark and Nardella said.

Cargo today accounts for 5 percent of revenues at United, the second- biggest U.S. carrier and Denver's dominant airline. United's powerful route network in Asia provides a good opportunity to haul more freight and boost sales, analysts said.

"It's a revenue stream they should be looking at," said Joshua Marks
of the George Washington University Aviation Institute.

The landing slots that United controls at Tokyo Narita International
Airport "are the critical element," said John Pincavage, a financial
adviser to airlines in Westport, Conn. United also could benefit from a tie-in with its partners in the Star Alliance network of international carriers, he said.

Latin America is another potential growth area, analysts said.

Today, Northwest, the No. 4 U.S. carrier, is the only major U.S.
airline with its own all-cargo fleet. United and Northwest are the
main U.S. operators in Asia.

Northwest's freighter fleet consists of 12 Boeing 747 jets.

The cargo business has suffered since the 2001 terrorist attacks.
But Northwest's cargo revenues, which account for about 8 percent of
its business, rose 7.4 percent in the first six months of 2003 to
$348 million. United's cargo revenues rose 3 percent to $318 million in the first half of 2003.

Where'd that Go???

I frequently get asked about old articles, posts, and files that were posted on PilotsUnited.com and then are removed to make way for new stuff. There are two archives you can check for old stuff. "That Was Then" contains mostly articles and news that appeared on this front page. The order is not perfect, but basically the most recent stuff is at the top of the page, cramming the older stuff toward the bottom. The other archive is the "PilotsUnited Top Ten." This is where I typically archive the more fun articles and files. There are definitely more than ten items here, but I have more than ten fingers and ten toes, so I guess it all works out in the end. If you still can't find what you're looking for, feel free to email me. I'm an insomniac and love to sift through a thousand junk mails to get the three or four that are real emails intended for me. I can't wait for an effective spam control to be designed! Cheers!

UAL Corp. Says

'Sunset' Provisions

of ESOP Are Triggered

Friday March 7, 6:50 pm ET

CHICAGO, March 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- UAL Corp. (NYSE: UAL - News), the parent company of United Airlines, today announced that sales of company stock by the company's employee benefit plans have lowered employee ownership in those plans below 20 percent, thereby triggering the "Sunset" provisions contained in the company's certificate of incorporation (as described in the company's most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q) that affect UAL's corporate governance structure. The changes that have occurred due to "Sunset" include:
-- Elimination of special Board, Board committee and shareholder votes, such as for acquisitions, divestitures and CEO appointments, among others;
-- Elimination of the 55% shareholder voting power of the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP);
-- Board discretion to change its committee structure and membership; and
-- Possible changes in Board members, other than those representing the Air Line Pilots' Association (ALPA), International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) and salaried and management employees. Decisions regarding potential Board nominees would be made by the Board's outside public director nomination committee.

UAL Corp. reaffirmed that the triggering of "Sunset" does not jeopardize tax benefits related to UAL's net operating losses (NOL). Preserving the NOL should generate substantial tax benefits following UAL's emergence from Chapter 11 protection.

News releases and other information about United Airlines can be found at the company's website, www.united.com .

66 Pilots Furloughed April 1

30 Pilots Furloughed May 1

United currently has 1,306 pilots on furlough. After April 1, 66 more join them and we'll have 1,372 furloughed, with a junor man of 8664. On May 1 we furlough 30 more, for a total of 1,402, and the junior man should be 8634.

These numbers aren't guaranteed. If you have a source that conflicts with these numbers, please pass them on!

Early Retirements

190 pilots have elected to take early retirement. The number Chuck Roichek posted in the Crystal Ball on Feb. 7 was 111, so it is increasing. Here are the numbers by fleet and seat:

B747-400 Captain 86
B747-400 First Officer 8
B777 Captain 46
B777 First Officer 4
B767 Captain 20
A320 Captain 16
B737-300 Captain 10

Thai Airways Bd OKs Purchase

Of 7 United Airlines Planes

Wednesday February 26, 7:39 am ET BANGKOK (Dow Jones)--Thailand's flag carrier Thai Airways International PCL's (H.TAI) board Wednesday approved a plan to purchase seven Boeing 747-400s from United Airlines.The purchase of these recently built planes, instead of buying new ones, will help Thai Airways save about 30 billion baht ($1=THB42.75), the airline's Chairman Thanong Bidaya said after a board meeting.

The United Airlines planes will cost less than US$50 million a unit, compared with a normal price at around $150 million, he added.The seven Boeing 747-400 planes, with 347 seats each, have been in operation for less than five years.Thai Airways plans to spend about THB500,000 to upgrade each of the seven planes. The upgrade will take around 30 days for completion, Thanong said.A five-year development plan recently adopted by Thai Airways, that requires the acquisition of nine new aircraft, will be amended as the company has decided to purchase the United Airline planes, Thanong said.The carrier's board also approved a plan to seek short-term financing of around US$142.2 million until the company finds other long-term sourced of funds.The funds will be used to refinance a Samurai Bond, which will come due March 27.Under the plan, the Finance Ministry, its major shareholder, will issue Euro Commercial Paper to raise funds for Thai Airways.

LATEST SURPLUS

Click here to see the latest Surplus. It's too many to type, but it's 413 total, the most in the 777, 767 and A320 F/O ranks.

LATEST VACANCY BID

25 Total; Effective 8-30-03, Closes 3-08-03

Thanks to all that caught the "surplus v. vancancy error."

LATEST SURPLUS

376 Total; Effective 5-1-03, Closes 2-20-03

By the way, there is a new VACANCY BID (and NEW DOMICILE) of
HNL 767 CAP 8, HNL 767 F/O 8, and SFO 777 CAP 8.

UNITED TO CUT WORKFORCE
120 PERCENT

NEW YORK, N.Y. (SatireWire.com) - United Airlines will reduce its workforce by an unprecedented 120 percent by the end of 2003, believed to be the first time a major corporation has laid off more employees than it actually has. United stock soared more than 12 points on the news.

The reduction decision, announced Wednesday, came after a year-long internal review of cost-cutting procedures, said United Chairman Glenn Tilton. The initial report concluded the company would save $1.2 billion by eliminating 20 percent of its 108,000 employees.

From there, said Tilton, "it didn't take a genius to figure out that if we cut 40 percent of our workforce, we'd save $2.4 billion, and if we cut 100 percent of our workforce, we'd save $6 billion. But then we thought, why stop there? Let's cut another 20 percent and save $7 billion.

"We believe in increasing shareholder value, and we believe that by decreasing expenditures, we enhance our competitive cost position and our bottom line," he added.

United plans to achieve the 100 percent internal reduction through layoffs, attrition and early retirement packages. To achieve the 20 percent in external reductions, the company plans to involuntarily downsize 22,000 non-United employees who presently work for other companies.

"We pretty much picked them out of a hat," said Tilton.

Among firms United has picked as "External Reduction Targets," or ERTs, are Quaker Oats, AMR Corporation, parent of American Airlines, Callaway Golf, and Charles Schwab & Co. Tilton's plan presents a "win-win" for the company and ERTs, said Tilton, as any savings by ERTs would be passed on to United, while the ERTs themselves would benefit by the increase in stock price that usually accompanies personnel cutback announcements.

"We're also hoping that since, over the years, we've been really helpful to a lot of companies, they'll do this for us kind of as a favor," said Tilton.

Legally, pink slips sent out by United would have no standing at ERTs unless those companies agreed. While executives at ERTs declined to comment, employees at those companies said they were not inclined to cooperate.

"This is ridiculous. I don't work for United. They can't fire me," said Kaili Blackburn, a flight attendant with American Airlines. Reactions like that, replied Tilton, "are not very sporting."

Inspiration for United's plan came from previous cutback initiatives, said company officials. In January of 1998, for instance, the company announced it would trim 18,000 jobs over two years. However, just a year later, United said it had already reached its quota. "We were quite surprised at the number of employees willing to leave United in such a hurry, and we decided to build on that," Tilton said.

Analysts credited Tilton's short-term vision, noting that the announcement had the desired effect of immediately increasing United share value. However, the long-term ramifications could be detrimental, said Bear Stearns analyst Beldon McInty.

"It's a little early to tell, but by eliminating all its employees, United may jeopardize its market position and could, at least theoretically, cease to exist," said McInty.

Tilton, however, urged patience: "To my knowledge, this has never been done before, so let's just wait and see what happens."

{Ed. Note: This wonderful satire was posted by a member on the ALPA Forum, and that member got it from a JFK F/O. I only wish that I had written it myself.}