Pilot frustration mounts over merger
CHICAGO (Reuters) - US Airways Group (LCC.N), the product of a 2005 merger, could carry on indefinitely with two sets of pilots, but the lack of integration is an increasingly sore spot for its workers.
The amalgamation of about 1,800 former America West pilots and about 2,700 former US Airways pilots has barely progressed in the nearly two years since those two airlines merged to form the current company. And experts say the process is stalled on two fronts.
It is unclear whether this is of any consequence to the airline. But for the pilots, frustration is mounting as they view their careers in limbo.
The most recent stumbling block for the two pilot groups -- both represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) -- is the failure to agree on a unified seniority list.
Pilots employed by the old US Airways have appealed arbitrator George Nicolau's ruling on seniority, saying he failed to adhere to basic union principles of fairness when he created the list.
"What's at stake for us is seniority," said Jack Stephan, president of the ALPA group representing the old US Airways pilots. "Your seniority controls your career destiny."
"It's not something we take lightly," he said.
Seniority is a more serious issue for the carrier's pilots than for other labor groups -- which also have yet to fully integrate -- because it plays the pivotal role in the workers' lifestyles. It dictates not only rank, pay and benefits, but also what aircraft, routes and schedules a pilot flies.
The issue of seniority is complicated by the fact that the two pilot groups are represented by two branches of the same union. ALPA rules prohibit creating a seniority list based on pilots' dates of hire because the practice disrupts the seniority ranks pilots have earned during their careers at their respective airlines.
Another central tenet of ALPA negotiations is that one pilot group cannot benefit at the expense of another. To do so compromises the union's neutrality, Stephan said.
He said Nicolau's seniority system favored the America West pilots unfairly when it transferred more than 4,450 captain flying years of seniority from US Airways pilots to the relatively junior pilot group at America West. The first court hearing on the matter is set for October 5.
While the intra-union seniority debate rages, ALPA also is trying to reach agreement with US Airways on a contract that covers both pilot groups.
As it stands, pilots at the old US Airways and America West have two contracts. The America West contract is more lucrative.
US Airways has offered to extend the America West contract to the US Airways pilots and raise the pay scale by 3 percent.
WHO CARES? Continued...
