Monday, April 30, 2012
Airline Week in Review April 28, 2012
PATCO Raises Critical Safety Issues at Control Tower, Airline Division Expresses It's Concern
The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) has raised concerns over the critically short staffing situation that exists at the Lihue, HI airport control tower.
In a letter to SERCO Management Services, the private company who operates the tower under a contract with the FAA, PATCO has expressed their concern over the current critical low staffing situation and its potential impact on aviation safety. The authorized staffing at the facility is six controllers and one staff Air Traffic Manager. While SERCO has moved two temporary controllers to the facility in response to the letter, a trainee manager has now quit, leaving the facility without a qualified Air Traffic Manager.
“With over 200 air carrier flights and numerous local sightseeing and general aviation flights daily, the airport is operating with approximately 50% of its required air traffic controller staffing. Because of the current critical staffing, single person coverage is very common with no back-up in case of an emergency or incident,” said PATCO President Ron Taylor. “Controllers are working long hours, and expected to do more with less, creating more pressure and stress, pushing the envelope on air safety below minimum safety standards.”
“The problem here is compensation,” said Taylor. “The cost of living on the North Shore is very high and SERCO simply doesn’t pay these controllers enough to live on. Add in the demands of working ten hour shifts, six days a week, the stress of the job and mounting concerns about making sure the aircraft are safe in the skies and on the ground with insufficient backup and you have a situation that is untenable. The controllers need a decent wage and the proper staffing. SERCO cannot attract people because of the conditions and pay, so they tried to put a band aid on the problem by putting a couple of temporary people in the tower. But we’re still short.”
“We are very concerned about the safety of the air carriers and the citizens of the North Shore,” he went on to say. “If the staffing level drops further, the FAA could shut down the tower, severely impacting the airport and community as the air carriers would likely have to cease operations here. That would have a disastrous economic impact on the North Shore. The other option would be to severely curtail the number of hours that the tower is open, which would also impact the community economically. We hope that the local government and business community will join with us, agree that the potential safety concerns and economic risks to the area are unacceptable and join us in demanding that SERCO provide compensation levels adequate to attract additional controllers and ensure that we have a properly and safely staffed control tower,” Taylor concluded.
“I am very concerned about the situation at the Lihue tower,” said Airline Division Director David Bourne. “As an airline pilot myself, I can assure you that adequately staffed tower and alert air traffic controllers are a critical part of the safety chain in aviation. To hear that this tower is so seriously understaffed causes me to question whether SERCO is more interested in profits or the safety of the over 2.4 million passengers who use the airport annually and the economic risks the community will face it the tower is shut down or curtailed. For anyone who questions whether big business is more concerned about profits or safety of the public, SERCO is providing a very clear answer. I intend to discuss this with our friends on Capitol Hill and make sure they are aware of this situation as it may well not be an isolated event with this company,” Bourne said. “When it comes to airline and passenger safety, there can be no compromise,” he concluded.
SWA, AirTran Stock Clerk/Material Specialist SLI Integration Update
Members of the Southwest and AirTran SLI integration committees met in Dallas on April 24th and 25th.
Present at the meetings were Local 104 Business Agent Joe Rhein, Terry DeVault (MDW), Gregg Vandagriff (PHX), Roger Baur (HOU), Brian Whitman (TPA), Kevin Givens (HOU), Kevin Morris (DAL), Richard Moye (ATL), Nathan Byrd (ATL), Bill Druback (MCO-AirTran), Gary Loffert (ATL), Local 528 Business Agent Johnny Edwards, Alvin Bray (ATL), Local 769 Business Agent Daisy Gonzalez-Colli, IBT International Representative Chris Moore IBT and Attorney Joshua McInerney.
During the two day session, the committee was able to draft three separate proposals; a Seniority List Integration proposal based on Category / Classification date and Transition Agreements that will cover the SWA Material Specialists and the AirTran Stock Clerks. These agreements were passed to the company on April 25th. Once an agreement is reached with the Company, the agreements will be sent to their respective members for a vote.
Negotiations Continue for Atlas Air Dispatchers, Progress Reported
The latest round of negotiations between the Airline Division and Atlas Air on a first contract for the airlines FAA licensed flight dispatchers made significant progress this week.
After first finding common ground in some of Article 14- Benefits, the parties were able to agree to all areas of this Article and sign a tentative agreement (T/A) on the Section, leading to additional tentative agreements Article 11(a) - Sick Leave and OJI.
Focused then turned to Article 1- Recognition and Scope, Article 7- Hours of Service, and Article 4 - Overtime. After reviewing the Company’s first counter of Article 1, the team expects to make further progress in the next round of meetings in early May. Previously held discussions on Articles 4 and 7 in past negotiations led to agreement in to all but a few concepts in each. The parties were able to address those areas and signed tentative agreements on both Articles 7 and 14.
The four tentative agreements signed this past week leave only a few Articles left to address and both the union negotiators and Company, are pleased with the current progress and hope to carry this momentum into the next series of meetings.
Airline Industry News
Governmental and Regulatory
Nine airline associations, including Airlines for America, have sent a joint letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood opposing the requirement that airlines use global distribution systems. "Instead, airlines should continue to have the right to utilize any distribution channel they choose, as long as in doing so they meet the letter and spirit of this shared commitment to transparency," the letter said.>
Airline and Labor
American Airlines told bankruptcy court this week that it has to reduce labor costs to stay afloat…The union representing mechanics and other workers at American Airlines plans to vote next week on the carrier's latest contract offer. The contract would cut "substantially" fewer than 8,500 jobs, an AMR representative said.
David Bates, president of the Allied Pilots Association, says US Airways will submit an alternative plan to American Airlines…Boeing has reported a profit of $923 million for the first quarter, compared to a $586 million profit in the same quarter last year.
Republic Airways Holdings posted a net loss of $7.1 million for the first quarter. Subsidiary Frontier Airlines narrowed its loss to $21.6 million for the quarter, compared with $39 million in the same quarter last year.
Airbus will pay about $139 million to repair cracks in the wings of its A380 through its warranty program.
Mechanics Dispatch for April 23, 2012
Find the Mechanics Dispatch here
Compliance Issues Causing Scrutiny
It was mentioned on the weekly Chief Steward call that mechanics are continuing to see correspondence from the FAA regarding compliance issues. As a result of the merger, aircraft with unfamiliar configurations or engines and other equipment are being redistributed throughout the system. Please use paperwork with the correct effectivity for the aircraft you are servicing. Don’t fall into the trap of assuming you are working on familiar equipment. Take five minutes to research the aircraft you are servicing and avoid fines and the hassle of having to write statements to and appear before the FAA in hearings.
Don’t Let Stress Impact the Task at Hand
Merging two airlines can cause stress and anxiety in an already hectic work environment. Studies have proven that both these conditions can have a significant impact on job performance by affecting the more vulnerable short term working memory function. Stress can also cause a sense of abnormal haste in completing a job which can lead to mistakes, or overlooked items.
This can become even more critical when the work area is unfamiliar, such as a different aircraft configuration. It was discussed on this week’s call that there have been more frequent incidences of finding tools and shop supplies where they don’t belong. When you finish a task make sure you have your tools with you. Discovering that one of your favorite tools is across the country is never a good feeling, but finding out your flashlight was flying around in a wheel well or that your wrench was in an intake causing engine failure is even worse. The time to avoid these scenarios is right after the job is complete.
Don’t get in too much in a hurry that you forget to look around your work area before you close up. It’s much better to have a frustrated supervisor than a lost tool or damaged aircraft.
Programs Available In the event of an Accident or Incident
If you get involved in an incident regarding the above two items, please contact your flight safety representative immediately to ensure that you fill out an MSAP/ASAP form as well as a NASA form. This simple action will help you avoid license action in most instances. However, if you’ve completed these forms and have not been accepted by the MSAP/ASAP committee, and you expect to or have received a Letter of Investigation (LOI) from the FAA , then the Teamster License Protection Program available. You’re Flight Safety Representative or Business Agent has the information regarding this program. The LPP can help to mitigate or eliminate licensing action by the FAA but you must respond to the FAA within 10 days of receiving the LOI. So if your MSAP/ASAP is rejected by the ERC, contact your Union Representative immediately.
Employee Assistance Program
On the sub UA side, four full time union EAP coordinators work across the system with many volunteers from the rank and file to help fellow members with personal issues large and small. EAP volunteers can help when stress levels are high because of things at work and home. If you are going through a divorce or having a problem with drugs or alcohol or worried about what is happening at work, this is a valuable tool for relief. There are company EAP programs at each of the subsidiaries but currently only sub UA has union side assistance.
If you would like to learn more about this essential program, please contact your Business Agents program director Caleb Good for information. Caleb can be reached at his office at 773-601-5142 or via his cell at 630-485-0227
Implementation Update
On the sub UA, side the first shift bid is complete for most cities. A big part of this change over is midnights going from first shift to third shift. The switchover will happen at the end of this month. The contract has provisions to deal with this one time occurrence but if you will be negatively affected, please see your supervisor and they should make accommodations for your situation. If the supervisor won’t you help deal with the changeover get your steward involved right away.
Facilities Maintenance Update
We learned in LGA that corporate real estate is sub-contracting the facilities maintenance work without regard to the CBA for rebranding. Grievances have been filed and the parties are attempting to come to resolution. Please watch for this occurring in your city if there is a facilities maintenance department.
Seniority Update
Several Business Agents representing the three airlines met with Teamster Airline Representatives on Monday to continue discussions on the ongoing merger as it relates to the mechanic seniority list. The group was again joined by professional Arbitrator and Mediator Ralph Berger, Esq.
A former attorney with the NLRB and trial examiner for the Office of Collective Bargaining, New York City, Mr. Berger has extensive experience in mediation and arbitration of employment and labor-management disputes involving a wide variety of issues including airline mergers. In his field as a lawyer, 100% of his practice is employment and labor work.
The Airline Division requested Mr. Berger’s assistance in merging the seniority lists of all three airlines with the goal of having minimal impact to our members. This second meeting with Mr. Berger was arranged so BA’s representing members across the system could further explain the complexities of our industry and the seniority concerns of our members. While the meeting was beneficial, at this time we were unable to reach a consensus within the leadership for future recommendations to the membership because of some still unanswered legal questions regarding the sub UAL Consent Decree. This subject is a complicated matter requiring opinions from various legal groups including Teamster and United Airlines legal departments. More discussions with Mr. Berger are needed to further research the information gathered by those various legal experts and the local committees in order to assure a fare and equitable resolution on seniority happens for all Teamster members. We will keep you advised of our progress.
Furloughed members urged to update their addresses.
Members on furlough are advised to keep their addresses current with the company while on layoff. It is predicted that there will be many movements this year and there have been several members that have been removed from the seniority list because old addresses were on file when notices were sent. If you are in touch with a furloughed member, please forward this information to them. Updates may be emailed to: ESC@united.com . The ESC will provide a fax number and ask members to send the address change accompanied with a signature.
Useful links
If you would like to see a link added to this list please contact Bob Fisher at: rcfisher7@yahoo.com The following Locals represent these respective cities:
Airline Mechanics Forum Airline Mechanics forum (This is a good place to discuss merger related items)
The following Locals represent these respective cities:
Boston: Local 25
New York & Washington: Local 210
Charleston & Atlanta: Local 528
Miami & Orlando: Local 769
Cleveland: Local 964
Chicago: Local 781
Houston, Dallas & New Orleans: Local 19
Phoenix: Local 104
Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Hawaii & Guam: Local 986
San Francisco: Local 856/986
Denver: Local 455
Compliance Issues Causing Scrutiny
It was mentioned on the weekly Chief Steward call that mechanics are continuing to see correspondence from the FAA regarding compliance issues. As a result of the merger, aircraft with unfamiliar configurations or engines and other equipment are being redistributed throughout the system. Please use paperwork with the correct effectivity for the aircraft you are servicing. Don’t fall into the trap of assuming you are working on familiar equipment. Take five minutes to research the aircraft you are servicing and avoid fines and the hassle of having to write statements to and appear before the FAA in hearings.
Don’t Let Stress Impact the Task at Hand
Merging two airlines can cause stress and anxiety in an already hectic work environment. Studies have proven that both these conditions can have a significant impact on job performance by affecting the more vulnerable short term working memory function. Stress can also cause a sense of abnormal haste in completing a job which can lead to mistakes, or overlooked items.
This can become even more critical when the work area is unfamiliar, such as a different aircraft configuration. It was discussed on this week’s call that there have been more frequent incidences of finding tools and shop supplies where they don’t belong. When you finish a task make sure you have your tools with you. Discovering that one of your favorite tools is across the country is never a good feeling, but finding out your flashlight was flying around in a wheel well or that your wrench was in an intake causing engine failure is even worse. The time to avoid these scenarios is right after the job is complete.
Don’t get in too much in a hurry that you forget to look around your work area before you close up. It’s much better to have a frustrated supervisor than a lost tool or damaged aircraft.
Programs Available In the event of an Accident or Incident
If you get involved in an incident regarding the above two items, please contact your flight safety representative immediately to ensure that you fill out an MSAP/ASAP form as well as a NASA form. This simple action will help you avoid license action in most instances. However, if you’ve completed these forms and have not been accepted by the MSAP/ASAP committee, and you expect to or have received a Letter of Investigation (LOI) from the FAA , then the Teamster License Protection Program available. You’re Flight Safety Representative or Business Agent has the information regarding this program. The LPP can help to mitigate or eliminate licensing action by the FAA but you must respond to the FAA within 10 days of receiving the LOI. So if your MSAP/ASAP is rejected by the ERC, contact your Union Representative immediately.
Employee Assistance Program
On the sub UA side, four full time union EAP coordinators work across the system with many volunteers from the rank and file to help fellow members with personal issues large and small. EAP volunteers can help when stress levels are high because of things at work and home. If you are going through a divorce or having a problem with drugs or alcohol or worried about what is happening at work, this is a valuable tool for relief. There are company EAP programs at each of the subsidiaries but currently only sub UA has union side assistance.
If you would like to learn more about this essential program, please contact your Business Agents program director Caleb Good for information. Caleb can be reached at his office at 773-601-5142 or via his cell at 630-485-0227
Implementation Update
On the sub UA, side the first shift bid is complete for most cities. A big part of this change over is midnights going from first shift to third shift. The switchover will happen at the end of this month. The contract has provisions to deal with this one time occurrence but if you will be negatively affected, please see your supervisor and they should make accommodations for your situation. If the supervisor won’t you help deal with the changeover get your steward involved right away.
Facilities Maintenance Update
We learned in LGA that corporate real estate is sub-contracting the facilities maintenance work without regard to the CBA for rebranding. Grievances have been filed and the parties are attempting to come to resolution. Please watch for this occurring in your city if there is a facilities maintenance department.
Seniority Update
Several Business Agents representing the three airlines met with Teamster Airline Representatives on Monday to continue discussions on the ongoing merger as it relates to the mechanic seniority list. The group was again joined by professional Arbitrator and Mediator Ralph Berger, Esq.
A former attorney with the NLRB and trial examiner for the Office of Collective Bargaining, New York City, Mr. Berger has extensive experience in mediation and arbitration of employment and labor-management disputes involving a wide variety of issues including airline mergers. In his field as a lawyer, 100% of his practice is employment and labor work.
The Airline Division requested Mr. Berger’s assistance in merging the seniority lists of all three airlines with the goal of having minimal impact to our members. This second meeting with Mr. Berger was arranged so BA’s representing members across the system could further explain the complexities of our industry and the seniority concerns of our members. While the meeting was beneficial, at this time we were unable to reach a consensus within the leadership for future recommendations to the membership because of some still unanswered legal questions regarding the sub UAL Consent Decree. This subject is a complicated matter requiring opinions from various legal groups including Teamster and United Airlines legal departments. More discussions with Mr. Berger are needed to further research the information gathered by those various legal experts and the local committees in order to assure a fare and equitable resolution on seniority happens for all Teamster members. We will keep you advised of our progress.
Furloughed members urged to update their addresses.
Members on furlough are advised to keep their addresses current with the company while on layoff. It is predicted that there will be many movements this year and there have been several members that have been removed from the seniority list because old addresses were on file when notices were sent. If you are in touch with a furloughed member, please forward this information to them. Updates may be emailed to: ESC@united.com . The ESC will provide a fax number and ask members to send the address change accompanied with a signature.
Useful links
If you would like to see a link added to this list please contact Bob Fisher at: rcfisher7@yahoo.com The following Locals represent these respective cities:
Airline Mechanics Forum Airline Mechanics forum (This is a good place to discuss merger related items)
The following Locals represent these respective cities:
Boston: Local 25
New York & Washington: Local 210
Charleston & Atlanta: Local 528
Miami & Orlando: Local 769
Cleveland: Local 964
Chicago: Local 781
Houston, Dallas & New Orleans: Local 19
Phoenix: Local 104
Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Hawaii & Guam: Local 986
San Francisco: Local 856/986
Denver: Local 455
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Airline Representatives Meet With Ralph Berger
On April 17, Teamster representatives from s-CAL and s-UAL locals met in Miami with Ralph Berger for the purpose of presenting him with each local Seniority Integration Committee's research. Mr. Berger requested this research so he can have a good understanding of each committee's recommendations before formally meeting with the National Seniority Integration Committee on May 16th in Newark. No decisions on seniority integration were made at this meeting, but some of the discussions revolved around the integration process. One of the main items discussed was how the Consent Decree affects or applies to the merged companies. Mr. Berger said that a legal interpretation or legal opinion of the Consent Decree is needed prior to having a merged seniority list. The answer will have an impact on whether date of hire can be used for layoff and recall purposes. Some of the other items discussed were:
- The term "Constructive Notice" - that is the date the merger was announced. According to Mr. Berger, anyone hired after that date would be considered part of the merged company.
- s-UAL Flight Simulator Technicians are represented by the Teamsters and are covered under their current contract. s-CAL's Simulator Technicians are represented by the TWU. According to the source from Denver, the National Mediation Board will have to make a ruling whether the CAL Simulator Technicians will be included in the collective group or remain separate (in other words, will they be included in our combined seniority list, or have their own list).
- Disparities within the s-UAL seniority list. With so many people on the inactive list, there is no way to determine if the person's information is accurate or if the person is even still alive. It makes it harder to combine a seniority list that is not accurate. Members of the s-UAL membership are going to look into a solution.
- Here are some statistical information from the meeting: sub-CAL has 3,700 active employees. s-UAL has 4,723 active employees with 3,300 on inactive status (2,300 are Technicians).
Mechanics Dispatch for April 13, 2012
he Airline Division is committed to providing the membership with up
to date information about the merger process. Below are the important
developments that occurred over the past week.
COLA Update
As reported several months ago and pursuant to Article 15.N of the s-CAL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the Union and the Company met in Washington, D.C. at the office of Kathryn Kobe, Director of Price, Wage, and Productivity Analysis for Economic Consulting Services. The purpose of the meeting was to continue discussions pertaining to cost of living data in cities where technicians and related are based.
Ms. Kobe submitted a bid/proposal to Continental Airlines to perform the research that would estimate the cost-of -living for mechanics that live in the Houston, Newark, Cleveland, Orlando, and Los Angeles areas relative to the cost of living for individuals of similar income levels in the United States overall. Continental balked at the overall cost of Ms. Kobe’s bid and countered with an offer to buy “off the shelf” surveys themselves and review the data with the Union. The Union refused this offer pushing instead for a neutral, independent, outside consulting firm to compile and analyze the data.
During negotiations for the s-UAL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the Union strengthened Article 15 N of both agreements by introducing the following language:
“The Company agrees that it will fund a study of the cost-of-living and cost-of-living differences for airline technicians based in San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Denver and Washington compared with the cost-of-living for airline technicians in the 48 states contiguous United States. The study must be conducted by an independent, outside economic consultant firm mutually agreeable to the Company and the Union. The extension of the Proposed Study by Economic Consulting Inc. recently submitted to the Continental Airlines and the Union under Article 15 N of the current Continental Technicians and Related Agreement to include the five bases above will satisfy the requirements of this Article 15 N.”
Shortly after the ratification of the s-UAL CBA, Ms. Kobe proposed a new statement of work and cost estimate for analyzing the place-to-place cost-of-living issues with respect to the Teamsters-represented mechanics at United Airlines/Continental Airlines. Such work would estimate the relative cost-of-living for mechanics that live in the Houston, Newark, Cleveland, Orlando, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Washington DC and Chicago areas relative to the cost of living for individuals of similar income levels in the United States overall.
To the extent that is possible, the data will show differentials for major groups of expenditures including but not necessarily limited to housing (using both a rental concept and a purchase concept), transportation, food and clothing. It will also examine differences in taxes and transportation issues, such as length of commute. The overall weights used for the comparative indexes would be the U.S. average expenditure totals for households with incomes in the $70,000-$79,999 income range (before taxes).
The bid/proposal has been submitted to the carrier and the Union is waiting on their response. Once the data is made available it will be shared with the membership and date(s) will be scheduled for the parties to begin discussions about the cost-of-living in the various cities. We know this is an issue that is near and dear to the hearts of many members and we appreciate your patience. The Union is doing all we can to move the Company along and will continue to update you frequently.
Airline Division attends MRO Conference
Last week, Representatives Chris Moore and Bob Fisher attended the 17th annual MRO Americas conference in Dallas Texas presented by Aviation Week. In addition to speakers promoting the MRO industry, several very informative breakout sessions occurred regarding outsourcing and future trends.
Airlines for America (A4A), formerly known as the Air Transport Association (ATA) opened the conference on Tuesday with remarks from Jon Oberdick, A4A Chairman of the Engineering Materials Maintenance Council (EMMC) and Managing Director of USAirways Technical Operations. A4A member airlines and their affiliates transport more than 90 percent of U.S. airline passenger and cargo traffic and is America's oldest and largest airline trade association. Oberdick informed the attendees that at this year’s conference there were more than 8000 participants and about 700 vendors selling products and services.
President and CEO of A4A Nick Calio next addressed the conference and laid out his legislative plan for the airline industry. Mr. Calio pointed to the rail side of the RLA as a model for a new national airline policy. On a side note, moving towards a rail type policy has two significant benefits for the membership. If done correctly, these benefits would include a national pension plan supported through passenger revenue and a bankruptcy policy that requires negotiation of collective bargaining agreements without the ability to immediately move to abrogate. This would improve the status of all represented airline employees.
Mr. Calio also suggested that the airlines needed to work in a unified manner because sending different messages to Congress negatively affected the industry. Unfortunately, several tornadoes moved through the area and there was an hour long break in the basement of the convention center.
In the afternoon, there was a discussion on MRO industry trends. The cost of fuel is a major issue for airlines and they continue to search for ways where they can reduce costs to offset the rise in energy costs. Interestingly, it was noted that with current margins, a spike in the price of fuel to $135 per barrel will flip the projections for 2012 from an expected profit to an overall loss. Older planes are being retired at a faster pace than in previous years which will give a short-term bump to the used parts market helping to drive costs for operating older aircraft slightly lower over the next five to seven years. New financing in the industry is pushing buyers towards new fuel efficient aircraft as no one wants to finance the older planes due to decreased yield on those models. Newer aircraft provide short-term maintenance savings to the carriers as well.
Annual spending on MRO's was $49.5 billion dollars last year and is expected to climb to $68.4 billion annually by 2022. Heavy Airframe, Engine and Composite MRO spending will increase but not dramatically. Line maintenance however is expected to be a substantial part of the MRO market increasing from today's 17% to an estimated 42% by 2012.
On Wednesday, Aviation Week President Greg Hamilton introduced Gary Kelly, CEO of Southwest Airlines. Mr. Kelly relayed that the AirTran merger is expected to be complete by 2015 and the company should realize a $400 million dollar savings in synergies when the merger is finalized. Mr. Kelly expressed a desire to achieve maintenance cost controls through productivity gains because the old paradigm of 4% to 5% increases each year in the maintenance budget was unsustainable. Like every other carrier, SWA is seriously concerned about the rise in fuel costs and a spike could put the carrier in a position where it would have to report its first loss in 29 years.
Representatives Moore and Fisher then broke up to attend several breakout sessions. These sessions were panel discussions led by industry leaders including manufacturers, MRO providers, and airlines. Regulators from the FAA also sat on several panels. These sessions included; "Regulations Aren't Just for the Airlines," "Knowing When and What to Outsource," "Tricks of the Trade: Maintenance Forecasting and Planning," "The Training and Future of the MRO Workforce - Problematic or Not?" and "The Changing Face of Engine MRO." Each of these sessions provided valuable insight for collective bargaining moving forward. A comprehensive report will be submitted to the Division for its use in bargaining with an eye towards protecting members’ careers in the future.
The “Training the Future of the MRO Workforce” breakout session proved once again to be both inspirational and disappointing. The MRO’s as well as the airlines are grappling with the same issue of how to attract and retain A & P mechanics. As our work force continues to age, the prospect of attracting new, qualified technicians to the industry is becoming an immediate problem. The inspirational part of the equation is that across the industry, management is recognizing the value of a long-term, well-trained Aviation Maintenance Professional. The disappointing part is that the industry still has its head firmly buried in the sand on what to do about it. A great example of this comes from AAR which is one of the largest MRO’s in the country. They have positions available for 500 technicians that they have not been able to fill resulting in missed opportunities to generate revenue. They have finally found the bottom as far as wage rates and benefits but still will not admit that it is the driving factor behind their inability to hire qualified people.
The overall problem was summed up brilliantly by a Memphis College AP instructor. In an effort to attract more kids to the industry, they have begun an outreach program to the local high schools. The program was presented to 50 students, of the 50 only 5 showed interest, of the 5 that showed interest, only 2 continued into the program. The 3 that did not were instructed by their parents NOT to get into the Aircraft Maintenance profession. Why? First, from an institutional standpoint it costs more to train an A&P mechanic than it does to train an RN. Maybe this explains the high cost of obtaining the license since the FAA regulates class size to 25 students and the breakeven point is 21 just to cover the instructor’s salary. Second, and more telling, is that after the high tuition cost is paid the reward is an average starting wage of around $12 to $15 per hour in an industry that works nights, weekends, holidays, in the elements, with no job stability, and a very bleak outlook for the future owing to the continued downward pressure on airline worker wages, retirement and benefits. Finally when students do complete the course they are snapped up by other industries that require the same skill sets, are stable and start at more than twice what the industry pays. The industry is approaching the problem on a couple of creative fronts by starting to introduce aviation to students in school at the 4th and 5th grade level and by training laid off workers on task specific work such as sheet metal. Unfortunately, this does not address the real issue--Pay, Benefits and Stability. So, while the industry stands by scratching its collective head in an effort to solve the problem, we get older and the pool of qualified workers shrinks.
Day three included a breakout session for Safety Management Systems (SMS). The panel discussed various aspects of the SMS they currently have in place. They encouraged the audience to formalize SMS in their respective companies and shared thoughts on how to proceed.
Finally, the conference closed with a keynote speech by Senior VP Tech Ops for United Airlines, Jim Keenan. Jim’s presentation was on airline financing and like the other presenters he explained that the continued rise in fuel costs was putting pressure on
all other aspects of the operation. According to Jim, several years ago
fuel was only 20% of CASM but that percentage has now increased above
35%. Jim also stated that ancillary fees such as checked baggage would
continue and carriers would look to charge for several other items to
offset fuel costs. And lastly Jim restated the need to overhaul airline
regulations and threw his support behind the A4A plan.
PV/GQ Meet in Houston
In the third of regularly scheduled meetings between
representatives of the Union from the Facilities and Ground Equipment
departments and the Company, the parties discussed the openings of HNL,
PHX and LAS. At HNL, our technicians will take over from the vendor on
April 15th. The bids for PHX and LAS will be reviewed on April 2nd. Tentative start dates are; PHX May 31st and LAS July 1st.
The parties are close to an agreement on staffing bid area 109,
machinist. There is still much work to be done concerning bid area 108,
welding. The parties will meet again in Chicago on April 23rd.
In attendance for the Union were International Representative Bob
Fisher, Business Agents Dave Elmore (LAX) and Kevin Giegolt (ORD). Chief
Stewards Ken Meidinger (DEN), Dion Cornelious (LAX), Scott Baroni
(ORD), Greg Sullivan (SFO), and Allen Cosides (LGA). In attendance for
the Company were Ray Ames (WHQ), Gary Dyer (DEN), Nick Klym (EWR), Jody
Cope and Bob Watson (IAH) and Bob Heatherington.
Furloughed Members Urged to Update Their Addresses.
Members on furlough are advised to keep their addresses current with the company while on layoff. It is predicted that there will be many movements this year and there have been several members that have been removed from the seniority list because old addresses were on file when notices were sent. If you are in touch with a furloughed member, please forward this information to them. Updates may be emailed to: ESC@united.com . The ESC will provide a fax number and ask members to send the address change accompanied with a signature.
Useful links
If you would like to see a link added to this list please contact Bob Fisher at: rcfisher7@yahoo.com The following Locals represent these respective cities:
Airline Mechanics Forum Airline Mechanics forum (This is a good place to discuss merger related items)
The following Locals represent these respective cities:
Boston: Local 25
New York & Washington: Local 210
Charleston & Atlanta: Local 528
Miami & Orlando: Local 769
Cleveland: Local 964
Chicago: Local 781
Houston, Dallas & New Orleans: Local 19
Phoenix: Local 104
Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Hawaii & Guam: Local 986
San Francisco: Local 856/986
Denver: Local 455
COLA Update
As reported several months ago and pursuant to Article 15.N of the s-CAL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the Union and the Company met in Washington, D.C. at the office of Kathryn Kobe, Director of Price, Wage, and Productivity Analysis for Economic Consulting Services. The purpose of the meeting was to continue discussions pertaining to cost of living data in cities where technicians and related are based.
Ms. Kobe submitted a bid/proposal to Continental Airlines to perform the research that would estimate the cost-of -living for mechanics that live in the Houston, Newark, Cleveland, Orlando, and Los Angeles areas relative to the cost of living for individuals of similar income levels in the United States overall. Continental balked at the overall cost of Ms. Kobe’s bid and countered with an offer to buy “off the shelf” surveys themselves and review the data with the Union. The Union refused this offer pushing instead for a neutral, independent, outside consulting firm to compile and analyze the data.
During negotiations for the s-UAL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the Union strengthened Article 15 N of both agreements by introducing the following language:
“The Company agrees that it will fund a study of the cost-of-living and cost-of-living differences for airline technicians based in San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Denver and Washington compared with the cost-of-living for airline technicians in the 48 states contiguous United States. The study must be conducted by an independent, outside economic consultant firm mutually agreeable to the Company and the Union. The extension of the Proposed Study by Economic Consulting Inc. recently submitted to the Continental Airlines and the Union under Article 15 N of the current Continental Technicians and Related Agreement to include the five bases above will satisfy the requirements of this Article 15 N.”
Shortly after the ratification of the s-UAL CBA, Ms. Kobe proposed a new statement of work and cost estimate for analyzing the place-to-place cost-of-living issues with respect to the Teamsters-represented mechanics at United Airlines/Continental Airlines. Such work would estimate the relative cost-of-living for mechanics that live in the Houston, Newark, Cleveland, Orlando, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Washington DC and Chicago areas relative to the cost of living for individuals of similar income levels in the United States overall.
To the extent that is possible, the data will show differentials for major groups of expenditures including but not necessarily limited to housing (using both a rental concept and a purchase concept), transportation, food and clothing. It will also examine differences in taxes and transportation issues, such as length of commute. The overall weights used for the comparative indexes would be the U.S. average expenditure totals for households with incomes in the $70,000-$79,999 income range (before taxes).
The bid/proposal has been submitted to the carrier and the Union is waiting on their response. Once the data is made available it will be shared with the membership and date(s) will be scheduled for the parties to begin discussions about the cost-of-living in the various cities. We know this is an issue that is near and dear to the hearts of many members and we appreciate your patience. The Union is doing all we can to move the Company along and will continue to update you frequently.
Airline Division attends MRO Conference
Last week, Representatives Chris Moore and Bob Fisher attended the 17th annual MRO Americas conference in Dallas Texas presented by Aviation Week. In addition to speakers promoting the MRO industry, several very informative breakout sessions occurred regarding outsourcing and future trends.
Airlines for America (A4A), formerly known as the Air Transport Association (ATA) opened the conference on Tuesday with remarks from Jon Oberdick, A4A Chairman of the Engineering Materials Maintenance Council (EMMC) and Managing Director of USAirways Technical Operations. A4A member airlines and their affiliates transport more than 90 percent of U.S. airline passenger and cargo traffic and is America's oldest and largest airline trade association. Oberdick informed the attendees that at this year’s conference there were more than 8000 participants and about 700 vendors selling products and services.
President and CEO of A4A Nick Calio next addressed the conference and laid out his legislative plan for the airline industry. Mr. Calio pointed to the rail side of the RLA as a model for a new national airline policy. On a side note, moving towards a rail type policy has two significant benefits for the membership. If done correctly, these benefits would include a national pension plan supported through passenger revenue and a bankruptcy policy that requires negotiation of collective bargaining agreements without the ability to immediately move to abrogate. This would improve the status of all represented airline employees.
Mr. Calio also suggested that the airlines needed to work in a unified manner because sending different messages to Congress negatively affected the industry. Unfortunately, several tornadoes moved through the area and there was an hour long break in the basement of the convention center.
In the afternoon, there was a discussion on MRO industry trends. The cost of fuel is a major issue for airlines and they continue to search for ways where they can reduce costs to offset the rise in energy costs. Interestingly, it was noted that with current margins, a spike in the price of fuel to $135 per barrel will flip the projections for 2012 from an expected profit to an overall loss. Older planes are being retired at a faster pace than in previous years which will give a short-term bump to the used parts market helping to drive costs for operating older aircraft slightly lower over the next five to seven years. New financing in the industry is pushing buyers towards new fuel efficient aircraft as no one wants to finance the older planes due to decreased yield on those models. Newer aircraft provide short-term maintenance savings to the carriers as well.
Annual spending on MRO's was $49.5 billion dollars last year and is expected to climb to $68.4 billion annually by 2022. Heavy Airframe, Engine and Composite MRO spending will increase but not dramatically. Line maintenance however is expected to be a substantial part of the MRO market increasing from today's 17% to an estimated 42% by 2012.
On Wednesday, Aviation Week President Greg Hamilton introduced Gary Kelly, CEO of Southwest Airlines. Mr. Kelly relayed that the AirTran merger is expected to be complete by 2015 and the company should realize a $400 million dollar savings in synergies when the merger is finalized. Mr. Kelly expressed a desire to achieve maintenance cost controls through productivity gains because the old paradigm of 4% to 5% increases each year in the maintenance budget was unsustainable. Like every other carrier, SWA is seriously concerned about the rise in fuel costs and a spike could put the carrier in a position where it would have to report its first loss in 29 years.
Representatives Moore and Fisher then broke up to attend several breakout sessions. These sessions were panel discussions led by industry leaders including manufacturers, MRO providers, and airlines. Regulators from the FAA also sat on several panels. These sessions included; "Regulations Aren't Just for the Airlines," "Knowing When and What to Outsource," "Tricks of the Trade: Maintenance Forecasting and Planning," "The Training and Future of the MRO Workforce - Problematic or Not?" and "The Changing Face of Engine MRO." Each of these sessions provided valuable insight for collective bargaining moving forward. A comprehensive report will be submitted to the Division for its use in bargaining with an eye towards protecting members’ careers in the future.
The “Training the Future of the MRO Workforce” breakout session proved once again to be both inspirational and disappointing. The MRO’s as well as the airlines are grappling with the same issue of how to attract and retain A & P mechanics. As our work force continues to age, the prospect of attracting new, qualified technicians to the industry is becoming an immediate problem. The inspirational part of the equation is that across the industry, management is recognizing the value of a long-term, well-trained Aviation Maintenance Professional. The disappointing part is that the industry still has its head firmly buried in the sand on what to do about it. A great example of this comes from AAR which is one of the largest MRO’s in the country. They have positions available for 500 technicians that they have not been able to fill resulting in missed opportunities to generate revenue. They have finally found the bottom as far as wage rates and benefits but still will not admit that it is the driving factor behind their inability to hire qualified people.
The overall problem was summed up brilliantly by a Memphis College AP instructor. In an effort to attract more kids to the industry, they have begun an outreach program to the local high schools. The program was presented to 50 students, of the 50 only 5 showed interest, of the 5 that showed interest, only 2 continued into the program. The 3 that did not were instructed by their parents NOT to get into the Aircraft Maintenance profession. Why? First, from an institutional standpoint it costs more to train an A&P mechanic than it does to train an RN. Maybe this explains the high cost of obtaining the license since the FAA regulates class size to 25 students and the breakeven point is 21 just to cover the instructor’s salary. Second, and more telling, is that after the high tuition cost is paid the reward is an average starting wage of around $12 to $15 per hour in an industry that works nights, weekends, holidays, in the elements, with no job stability, and a very bleak outlook for the future owing to the continued downward pressure on airline worker wages, retirement and benefits. Finally when students do complete the course they are snapped up by other industries that require the same skill sets, are stable and start at more than twice what the industry pays. The industry is approaching the problem on a couple of creative fronts by starting to introduce aviation to students in school at the 4th and 5th grade level and by training laid off workers on task specific work such as sheet metal. Unfortunately, this does not address the real issue--Pay, Benefits and Stability. So, while the industry stands by scratching its collective head in an effort to solve the problem, we get older and the pool of qualified workers shrinks.
Day three included a breakout session for Safety Management Systems (SMS). The panel discussed various aspects of the SMS they currently have in place. They encouraged the audience to formalize SMS in their respective companies and shared thoughts on how to proceed.
Finally, the conference closed with a keynote speech by Senior VP Tech Ops for United Airlines, Jim Keenan. Jim’s presentation was on airline financing and like the other presenters he explained that the continued rise in fuel cost
PV/GQ Meet in Houston
In the third of regularly scheduled meeting
Furloughed Members Urged to Update Their Addresses.
Members on furlough are advised to keep their addresses current with the company while on layoff. It is predicted that there will be many movements this year and there have been several members that have been removed from the seniority list because old addresses were on file when notices were sent. If you are in touch with a furloughed member, please forward this information to them. Updates may be emailed to: ESC@united.com . The ESC will provide a fax number and ask members to send the address change accompanied with a signature.
Useful links
If you would like to see a link added to this list please contact Bob Fisher at: rcfisher7@yahoo.com The following Locals represent these respective cities:
Airline Mechanics Forum Airline Mechanics forum (This is a good place to discuss merger related items)
The following Locals represent these respective cities:
Boston: Local 25
New York & Washington: Local 210
Charleston & Atlanta: Local 528
Miami & Orlando: Local 769
Cleveland: Local 964
Chicago: Local 781
Houston, Dallas & New Orleans: Local 19
Phoenix: Local 104
Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Hawaii & Guam: Local 986
San Francisco: Local 856/986
Denver: Local 455
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
April 17, 2012 – Local Union Representatives to hold second meeting with Ralph Berger
The purpose of this meeting will be to provide historical documentation
from previous mergers and to get Mr. Berger’s schedule to begin meetings
with rank and file members of the committee. Mr.
Berger requested this second meeting without the member committee so the
individual Locals can outline what the individual station "integration
committees" have been researching and working on. As previous updates
have detailed, arbitrator Berger has been retained to assist the
National Seniority Integration Committee during the process with any
questions or concerns. Arbitrator Berger is very accomplished and has a
wealth of experience in merging seniority lists. In the first meeting
Mr. Berger expressed his desire to have as much information available to
him so he can have a good understanding of what is ahead before meeting
and formally starting the National Seniority Integration Committee,
made up of one member from each of the largest cities.
System Steering Negotiating Committee Meeting Scheduled
On April 23rd, Charlie Alferio and I will be attending a System Steering
Negotiating Committee meeting in Chicago. The purpose of this meeting
is to begin the process of moving forward in an effort to
achieve a Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA). I anticipate
this first meeting to be more of a meet and greet along
with outlining a collection of data strategy moving forward. The Company
will not be present at these meetings, only rank and file
representatives from around the system.
Because this is the beginning of the negotiation process, I urge you to start thinking about ideas and proposals for the new Joint CBA. You can do so by using the contract proposal sheet, you can find it here. The ideas and proposals you place on this sheet are what I will bring to the steering committee meetings, and where they will be collected and sorted through. It is out of these meetings an opening proposal is usually born. Please fill out the sheet, and either give them to your Shop Steward, myself, or you can leave them in my file cabinet folder next to the Hangar 2 time clocks. It is not imperative to have them by filled out by April 23rd, but the longer you wait, the more likely you will forget.
As the negotiating process unfolds, the System Steering Committee will play a vital roll in sharing information with the members.
I anticipate sharing that information through the email process, updates on the Union bulletin boards, and through the Cleveland Tech Ops blog site. If you have any questions, please contact me.
Because this is the beginning of the negotiation process, I urge you to start thinking about ideas and proposals for the new Joint CBA. You can do so by using the contract proposal sheet, you can find it here. The ideas and proposals you place on this sheet are what I will bring to the steering committee meetings, and where they will be collected and sorted through. It is out of these meetings an opening proposal is usually born. Please fill out the sheet, and either give them to your Shop Steward, myself, or you can leave them in my file cabinet folder next to the Hangar 2 time clocks. It is not imperative to have them by filled out by April 23rd, but the longer you wait, the more likely you will forget.
As the negotiating process unfolds, the System Steering Committee will play a vital roll in sharing information with the members.
I anticipate sharing that information through the email process, updates on the Union bulletin boards, and through the Cleveland Tech Ops blog site. If you have any questions, please contact me.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Mechanics Dispatch March 31, 2012
The Airline Division is committed to providing the membership with up to date
information about the merger process. Below are the important developments that
occurred over the past week.
The Resource Utilization Letter which provides the membership with greater leverage was finalized. Last week, we distributed a FAQs sheet to address questions about the Resource Utilization Letter. To view it, go to www.teamsterair.org under the “Weekly Dispatch” button.
Mechanics and Related at sub CMI now have a Tentative Agreement. The work rules and economics are in line with both the sub CO and sub UA agreements. A bullet point update has been released to this group. After it is checked for editing errors, the full tentative agreement will be made available.
The AD addressed training issues with company leadership. Last week on the Chief Steward call, concerns regarding peer to peer OJT were raised. According to the company, training will be done a majority of the time by either same subsidiary hourly workers or members of management. In smaller cities where these resources are not available, other means of providing the training will be used.
System/Joint Board hearings continue on schedule. A sub UA Joint Board session was held in Denver on March 29th. Due to the nature of the case, only one grievance was heard for this session. The next Joint Board will be an all day session held in Chicago on Aril 25th. The next System Board hearings for sub CO will be an all day session held April 10th in Newark.
Local Union and AD Representatives will hold preliminary meeting with Ralph Berger to discuss seniority integration on April 17th in Miami. The purpose of this meeting will be to provide historical documentation from previous mergers and to get Mr. Berger’s schedule to begin meetings with rank and file members of the committee. Mr. Berger requested this second meeting without the member committee so the individual Locals can outline what the individual station "integration committees" have been researching and working on i.e. different seniority integration systems/procedures used in other cases, laws and documents they feel apply to the process, etc. Mr. Berger expressed his desire to have as much information available to him so he can have a good understanding of what is ahead before meeting and formally starting the "National Seniority Integration" committee, made up of one member from each of the largest cities.
Furloughed members urged to update their addresses. Members on furlough are advised to keep their addresses current with the company while on layoff. It is predicted that there will be many movements this year and there have been several members that have been removed from the seniority list because old addresses were on file when notices were sent. If you are in touch with a furloughed member, please forward this information to them. Updates may be emailed to: ESC@united.com . The ESC will provide a fax number and ask members to send the address change accompanied with a signature.
Useful links If you would like to see a link added to this list please contact Bob Fisher at: rcfisher7@yahoo.com The following Locals represent these respective cities:
Airline Mechanics Forum: Airline Mechanics forum (This is a good place to discuss merger-related items)
The following Locals represent these respective cities:
Boston: Local 25
New York & Washington: Local 210
Charleston & Atlanta: Local 528
Miami & Orlando: Local 769
Cleveland: Local 964
Chicago: Local 781
Houston, Dallas & New Orleans: Local 19
Phoenix: Local 104
Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Hawaii & Guam: Local 986
San Francisco: Local 856/986
Denver: Local 455
The Resource Utilization Letter which provides the membership with greater leverage was finalized. Last week, we distributed a FAQs sheet to address questions about the Resource Utilization Letter. To view it, go to www.teamsterair.org under the “Weekly Dispatch” button.
Mechanics and Related at sub CMI now have a Tentative Agreement. The work rules and economics are in line with both the sub CO and sub UA agreements. A bullet point update has been released to this group. After it is checked for editing errors, the full tentative agreement will be made available.
The AD addressed training issues with company leadership. Last week on the Chief Steward call, concerns regarding peer to peer OJT were raised. According to the company, training will be done a majority of the time by either same subsidiary hourly workers or members of management. In smaller cities where these resources are not available, other means of providing the training will be used.
System/Joint Board hearings continue on schedule. A sub UA Joint Board session was held in Denver on March 29th. Due to the nature of the case, only one grievance was heard for this session. The next Joint Board will be an all day session held in Chicago on Aril 25th. The next System Board hearings for sub CO will be an all day session held April 10th in Newark.
Local Union and AD Representatives will hold preliminary meeting with Ralph Berger to discuss seniority integration on April 17th in Miami. The purpose of this meeting will be to provide historical documentation from previous mergers and to get Mr. Berger’s schedule to begin meetings with rank and file members of the committee. Mr. Berger requested this second meeting without the member committee so the individual Locals can outline what the individual station "integration committees" have been researching and working on i.e. different seniority integration systems/procedures used in other cases, laws and documents they feel apply to the process, etc. Mr. Berger expressed his desire to have as much information available to him so he can have a good understanding of what is ahead before meeting and formally starting the "National Seniority Integration" committee, made up of one member from each of the largest cities.
Furloughed members urged to update their addresses. Members on furlough are advised to keep their addresses current with the company while on layoff. It is predicted that there will be many movements this year and there have been several members that have been removed from the seniority list because old addresses were on file when notices were sent. If you are in touch with a furloughed member, please forward this information to them. Updates may be emailed to: ESC@united.com . The ESC will provide a fax number and ask members to send the address change accompanied with a signature.
Useful links If you would like to see a link added to this list please contact Bob Fisher at: rcfisher7@yahoo.com The following Locals represent these respective cities:
Airline Mechanics Forum: Airline Mechanics forum (This is a good place to discuss merger-related items)
The following Locals represent these respective cities:
Boston: Local 25
New York & Washington: Local 210
Charleston & Atlanta: Local 528
Miami & Orlando: Local 769
Cleveland: Local 964
Chicago: Local 781
Houston, Dallas & New Orleans: Local 19
Phoenix: Local 104
Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Hawaii & Guam: Local 986
San Francisco: Local 856/986
Denver: Local 455
Airline Division Week in Review April 1, 2012
United Airlines IBT Flight Safety Committee Meet
Last week, the Flight Safety Committee (FSC) met to discuss LOA 21 and Article 14 (J) and (K).
The FSC put together recommendations for its involvement with Line Safety Operations Audits; or LOSA, and reviewed it relationship with the company and what the membership should and can expect from the FSC in the future.
The FSC continues to support a robust and aggressive safety program in the interest of the flying public and Teamster represented technicians by continuing to bring forth the membership’s concerns. They will continue to advise the company on hazard identification and risk mitigation using the hierarchy of controls as put in place by Safety Management Systems or SMS and will admonish the company when it falls short of the expectations of the membership and a strong SMS.
Members attending were: John Fischbach, Chair; PT Thomas (ORD), Tom Reid (IAD), John Gensinger (JFK), Jock Creach (SEA), Robert Gubran (LAX) and Vic Austin (DEN). Observing the meeting was Fred Lewelling (CAL- IAH). Advising the FSC were Local 986 Business Agent Rich Petrovsky and Airline Division Safety Coordinator Chris Moore.
CMI Tentative Agreement Announced
Last week a tentative agreement was reached for the subsidiary Continental Micronesia Mechanics and Related at United Airlines. The agreement provides significant wage increases, a ten thousand dollar signing bonus, and enhanced job protection provisions.
The agreement becomes amendable at the end of the year at the same time as the subsidiary Continental agreement; however negotiations will begin almost immediately for the new amalgamated agreement. This is the final agreement of the three subsidiary groups, and is an important step towards achieving the joint collective bargaining agreement for the twelve thousand Mechanics and Related at the new combined United Airlines.
Airline Industry News
Governmental and Regulatory
The Federal Aviation Administration has changed its break-even point for NextGen to 2020, from 2018 in a previous forecast…President Barack Obama has nominated Michael Huerta, interim chief of the Federal Aviation Administration, to a full five-year term. Huerta stepped in as interim administrator of the agency after former Administrator Randy Babbitt resigned. Huerta's nomination must be confirmed by the Senate.
Airline and Labor
American Airlines plans to end service to Puerto Rico in 2013, according to El Vocero, a Puerto Rican newspaper. American Eagle employs around 150 employees on the island…
Tom Horton, the CEO of AMR Corp., wants to quickly move the company through bankruptcy proceedings…United Airlines has added 600 call center workers to handle the volume of calls after its switch to Continental Airlines' reservations system…Former union leaders are urging Air Canada pilots to embrace the "new realities" of the airline industry and return to the negotiating table. "Nobody likes change, but change is coming," said a memo signed by 27 former leaders of the Air Canada Pilots Association...according to the CEO of Southwest, there will be no furloughs when the 717’s depart.
Van Rex Gallard, Boeing's vice president of sales for Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean, forecasts carriers in Latin America will need 2,500 jets in the next two decades…Rafael Alonso, vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean for Airbus, predicts the airline industry will need 28,000 new passenger airplanes over the next two decades.
Boeing may buy rights to more land in North Charleston, S.C., to expand its facilities.
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