Crew Integration Timeline?
 

Now that there is a single operating certificate, when can we expect to see a blending of pilot and FA crews? Obviously there will be no need for blending for 737, 747, A319/320 pilots..but there could be for 757/767/777 pilots. And what about the FA's? When will I see a familiar looking UA face working on PMCO plane?

Chances are you will see integration of FA's before you see pilots.

This is because flight attendants are trained to work all types of equipment but pilots are only rated for the specific plane they currently fly.

Was I just snoozing? When did that happen?

It is my understanding there are procedural differences that FAs will need to be cross trained for, so those need to be resolved before FA crews can be integrated.

Apparently. ;) Couple weeks ago.

But there is a very significant difference between SoC and an integrated union schedule, both in terms of seniority and cross-fleeting. It is going to be a while.
I believe that the procedural differences were supposed to mostly be resolved with the SoC. All the checklists and such are supposed to be the same on-board.

There are still plenty of areas where there are differences, from fuel load planning to dispatch processes, but on-board I think everything is supposed to be the same. That's a requirement for the SoC as I understand it.

It was my understanding that either integration requires joint contracts, which are not (perhaps remotely) imminent. Not pretending to be up on the latest though, so could be wrong.

Don't hold your breath. USAir/America West crews still haven't integrated…

Really? How does that work!?

The inflight crews won't be integrated and won't be working each others aircraft for a quite a while, I wanna say a couple years from now. For example when April comes and you see alot of CO aircraft on UA routes, and UA aircraft on CO routes it will have the pre-merger crews working them. For instance you have a CO 738 flying IAD-LAX, I can imagine the pairing will be EWR-IAD-LAX layover, LAX-IAD-EWR or something like that. A PMUA aircraft flying EWR-SAN for example the crew will probably go IAD-EWR-SAN layover SAN-EWR-IAD etc. PMUA FA's haven't even been trained on PMCO aircraft, however PMCO FA's have been trained on PMUA 747 and A319/A320 aircraft. Interestingly enough the 1200 or so FA's the airline is hiring over the next year are actually gonna be working on the CO side of the operation (will either be based in EWR, IAH OR CLE) and will be working off of CO'S IAM contract. Another interesting thing is that the new hires are actually making more money than the most junior FA's at UA. UA may pay more an hour for it's junior FA's, but CO FA's are guaranteed more hours. CO 83 hours vs UA 75 hours.

not very well, according to a pilot for US Air East I went to school with.

I'm sure that is going to promote labor peace and smooth integration. :rolleyes:

They still each only fly their pre-merger metal. It is an enormous mess. The fact that the airline has remained in operation and even had occasional profits is a pretty impressive testament to "Douggie" and his ability to make even that mess come out reasonably successful.

Isn't this mostly because the new airline is really CO doing business as UA?

A major bone of contention with the PMUA flight attendants, given the number of furloughed PMUA flight attendants out there. I'd say it'll be a long, long time before the two FA groups work smoothly together.

:rolleyes:

The PMUA FAs had the option to get cross-trained and work under the PMCO rules on the PMCO metal and turned it down. Take that for what its worth.