Airline Division Week In Review For March 9, 2014

Discussions on American, USAirways CSR’s Continue

This week, Airline Division Director David Bourne travelled to Phoenix, Arizona to meet with the Local 104 regarding the pending merger of the CSR’s of American and USAirways. Discussions centered on a joint IBT/CWA agreement and looking forward to an organizing campaign to merge the American CSR’s into the unit.

Presently, the CSR’s of USAirways are represented by two unions, the Teamsters and the CWA.

Speaking after the meeting, Airline Division Director David Bourne said, “I want to thank Local 104 Secretary Treasurer Andy Marshall and Local 104 Business Agent Kimberly Barboro for the efforts they put into making the meeting a success. Their hard work allowed for a very good exchange of ideas and concepts. They have my full support and I look forward to working with them in the coming weeks.” 

ExpressJet Negotiations Continue in New York 

Contract negotiations resumed last week in Westchester County, N.Y., with the Federal Mediator, with continued discussions on Section 22 (General and Miscellaneous), and Section 9 (Holidays and Personal Days). 

While proposals were passed on both articles, with discussion on the areas of disagreement, no tentative agreements were reached during the session. 

We will resume negotiations in Baltimore, Md., on March 11, 2014.   

Town Hall Meetings Review Republic TA for Local 357 Members 

This weekend, members of the Local 357 Negotiations Committee, representing the pilots of Republic Airlines, held four “Town Hall” conference calls to fully explain the TA and answer questions streaming in from the membership.  At one time approximately 300 pilots were signed on to one of the calls. 

“I was very pleased by the turnout and questions the members asked of the committee,” said International Representative Captain Rick Dubinsky, who has been working closely with the Republic negotiators. “It has been clear on each call that the members are truly interested in getting the facts about the agreement and getting their questions answered. 

We know that negative rumors abound; that always happens. With the advent of social media and a plethora of public message boards, pilots from other airlines and others outside the industry and the union always seem willing to corrupt the information process.  I’m very pleased to see that the Republic pilots see through that destructive effort and want to cast their votes based on information coming directly from their own negotiators.  The four Republic pilots on the negotiating team worked very diligently for their brothers and sisters and have wholeheartedly and unanimously endorsed this TA,” Dubinsky continued. 

A compendium of the Q&A's from the Town Hall calls is being put together and will be sent to the Local 357 membership in the next few days.  Additionally, the schedule for the live “Road Shows” around the country that will occur during the last two weeks of March is being finalized and will be announced very soon. 

If you are a Republic pilot and were unable to participate on one of the Town Hall calls, your Negotiations Committee members recommend that you make every effort to attend one of the upcoming Road Shows.  At these meetings, those in attendance will be able to discuss the details of this TA face-to-face with their fellow pilots who negotiated the proposed agreement and stand squarely behind it.  The Republic pilots will then be in a position to cast their ratification ballots based on reliable information, not rumors, negative speculation or politically motivated subterfuge. 

Airline Industry News 

Governmental and Regulatory 

Leaders of the House Transportation Committee, led by Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., and Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., introduced a bipartisan bill to reverse a Transportation Department rule that unfairly allows government to mask the excessive federal tax rate on air travel.  

On Thursday, an administrative law judge ruled that the Federal Aviation Administration does not hold clear cut authority to ban commercial unmanned aerial vehicles in U.S. airspace. The judge overturned a $10,000 fine the FAA had levied against a UAV pilot in 2012.

The FAA issued a final rule, effective April 14, 2014 that prohibits airline pilots from using personal electronic devices (PEDs) while flying

Airlines, Industry and Labor 

Created just three months ago, American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL) is poised to earn an annual profit, which some analysts estimate could amount to an industry record.  

United Airlines debuted an aircraft hangar for widebody planes at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, N.J. The 90,000-square-foot hangar will be used to perform maintenance, and is designed to accommodate both the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350-XWB.  

Add the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) to the list of airline industry organizations in the U.S. who are not happy with Norwegian Air’s plan to start trans-Atlantic flights at deeply-discounted fares. 

FedEx and UPS are having difficulty getting permits to serve Beijing to meet growing package-delivery demand. The country will not give the U.S. firms a permit to operate in Beijing, but has granted individual permits for other Chinese cities.