Someone's counting chickens before the eggs hatch!
I don't know BrowntailWhale, nor will I speak for him. I don't even know if he really IS a line UPS pilot or management. That said, as a 21 year plus UPS line Captain I can safely say he does not represent the typical UPS pilot's attitude towards our recent TNT acquisition announcement.
First of all, NO UPS pilot knows what the ramifications of this acquisition means for our flying or staffing. UPS has kept the pilots represented by the IPA (my union) totally in the dark. We took no active roll in these negotiations, and UPS really isn't interested in our opinions or desires. UPS only gave the IPA the minimum notice required by our contract once the purchase agreement was accepted.
Integrating the TNT system into the UPS system will undoubtably be an extremely complicated logistical, financial, and legal maze. The complexity associated with standing 3rd and 5th freedom rights, coupled with the depressed EC economic engine could lead to LESS UPS flying for all anyone knows (politically, how easy of a sell would it be for an EU politician to change the rules, eliminating intra-European N-number flying by IPA crews??)
The track record for pilots surviving a UPS acquisition is poor. Our purchase of Challenge Air Cargo was (from the line UPS pilots perspective) messy at best. We only bought the that company for their landing rights in South and Central America. The pilots were non-union, and their leased aircraft returned. UPS didn't even offer any of their pilots job interview preference. I was embarrassed.
This acquisition of TNT by UPS will affect many thousands of employees, families, sub-contractors, etc. Some may come out ahead, but a lot may not. Only time will tell. But UPS Corporate has determined this to be the best course to expand our branded service in not only Europe, but also Asia, South America, and India. It is the biggest piece of the worldwide logistics puzzle we've purchased, and hopefully will mean more jobs for more people as our international system becomes more interconnected.
For any pilot to brashly exclaim glee over possible expanded international flying at this point, is simply throwing out flame bait, an opinion based upon a vacuum of facts. If I had made such a statement in haste, I would whole-heartedly apologize to everyone on this forum. This type of attitude does not represent a line UPS/IPA pilot.
This completes my once per year posting on this forum…..