Gomer,
Are we being a bit callous here....attributing such a lack of concern to the management that they would take a few million dollars or whatever escape package they have negotiated for themselves....and let a good company founder out of greed or shortsightedness?
It would seem they would like to hang around for a long time and milk this cow for all she was worth....make enough that way they could pull the pin....retire to other endeavors without worrying about money or an unsavory reputation.
Are you of the opinion that the management does not care about the company's future to that extent? If that were true....how did they get into such a position of reposibility? That sounds like a grand conspiracy if I ever heard one.
I do wonder if ego has gotten into the mix here in an unfair proportion....some kind of ambition to poke a stick into the union eye somehow. OLOG encountered similar problems on the North Sea with the Bristow pilots and appeared to find a way to settle.
Granted the executive that headed that agreement is no longer with OLOG but is now at another growing helicopter company in the Gulf. You wonder if that might have played a part in his seeking alternative employment and leaving OLOG?
OLOG played hardball during the Bristow North Sea contract negotiation but still settled and pretty much gave the pilots what they asked for in the end....but that does not seem to be the case here. Either the union in the Gulf does not have the moxie the British union did....or something else is at play here.
The American way of fussing over CBA's does lack the etiquette of our British brothers so that might account for some of the angst, dust and feathers flying.
Definitely....why should PHI settle if the Air Log bunch don't....on the one hand....the PHI pilots stand to gain if the Air Log guys go on strike....for sure the two big companies in the Gulf of Mexico on strike would be a very interesting situation.
If the Air Log guys settle....then the heat is on PHI then....they are ahead of Air Log now...and would have stayed that way even under the now voted down offer Air Log made. (as I understand it anyway)
PHI would not have to give much of a raise to the pilots to if that happened....(Air Log pilots settling for a CBA that only made them on par or slightly below the current PHI pay levels.)
I wonder what the overall strategy of the company is...like you say...drag it out as long as possible....only to give in at some point.....that does not sound very wise.
Or....fight to the bitter end and hope to hire replacement pilots and wind up de-certifying the union as a result....and thereby end the pilot's union in the gulf?
Will the current bunch of Air Log pilots have the courage to stick it out.....find other jobs to do while waiting for the company to fold its tent....or settle? If they move to other companies....the old dogs lose their seniority and pay they have built up over the years.....that is a loss to them if that happens.
I guess time will tell......