This is how UAL plans to structure their flight crews:
Got this from
AirlineRumor.com
Who will Fly Them?
The issue of who will fly for the new fractional program was carefully considered, said Oran, who served as corporate counsel in the area of pilot negotiations for United from 1987 to 1994. A letter sent by the UAL master executive council (MEC) on May 8 to its 10,000 pilot union members described UAL’s plans in some detail. The fractional-ownership division would be the core component of the business jet enterprise. The division–separate from United Airlines–would provide total operational support, “including pilots and maintenance, as well as incidental requirements.”
In the early planning stages, UAL was careful to solicit the support of its pilot union MEC. The 29 voting members of the MEC were far from unanimous in their approval, some expressing the belief that UAL should concentrate on its core airline business. On the other hand, most felt it was “an opportunity to make a positive financial impact on the company without negatively affecting United’s pilots.”
Of further interest to pilots, part of the business plan includes provisions for a possible corporate shuttle division for “certain large corporate customers,” using Airbus Corporate Jetliners and/or Boeing Business Jets. The airplanes would be owned by the corporate customer but managed, maintained and operated by United Airlines. Most significant from the pilots’ perspective, Oran said they would be flown by mainline United pilots on the United pilot seniority list at mainline wages. Oran said, “United currently operates about 100 Airbus A319s,” indicating that the European airframer may have an edge, should the corporate shuttle program go forward.
Pilots for the smaller aircraft would come from outside the United ranks. In a policy that may have been included to tempt pilots from other fractional operators, Oran said the new division would “provide interviews with the mainline airline for fractional pilots.”
Sure sounds like some pretty interesting flying but at the same time is UAL venturing off the end of the plank with this one?
[This message has been edited by JR/FO (edited 29 June 2001).]