New Work in SFO for UAL Teamsters
On June 23rd, Aircraft 4238 arrived in Dock 6 at UAL’s SFO maintenance base. It is part of UAL’s cost reduction efforts that the company determined would save money by bringing work in house. As reported in an article on the company website this is the first of what will be a nonstop parade of Airbus heavy checks and other services to be performed by Airline Division Teamsters at the facility.
This will be the first heavy check to be done in twelve years at the facility; with the technicians planning on having the job done by late July. Current plans call for expanding the existing Airbus “C” check lines to perform HMVs, adding a third Airbus line and further development of aircraft modifications and special visits. In time, the operation will transition to a 24/7 operation in Airframe and many supporting shops and departments.
Kudos to Business Agents Rich Petrovsky of Local 986 and Javier Lectora of Local 856 for their efforts to help make this happen!
Piedmont Negotiations Update
Negotiations resumed on Monday, June 23rd, and concluded on Thursday June 26th. Discussions had been scheduled to resume in May, however the Company asked for a pause in the talks. With the rejection by the American Eagle (Envoy) pilots if their tentative agreement, the mainline carrier said that the new jet aircraft that had been ordered will be flown elsewhere, prompting new talks with the Piedmont pilot group. No conclusion has been reached in those talks. Twenty of the newly ordered aircraft have been committed to Compass, a Trans States company, outside of the AA USAir owned companies.
The Company advised the union that regardless the outcome of the talks with the pilots they wanted to resume and hopefully reach an agreement with the technicians.
The talks at the recent session centered on wages and the costs associated with the different proposals. The Union spent a great deal of time looking at cost figures. The committee was joined by an economist provided by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, who was very helpful and will be of great assistance going forward.
Negotiations are scheduled to resume on August 18th.
Airline Industry News
Governmental and Regulatory
The Federal Aviation Administration has proposed lowering the maximum building height of buildings located near 388 airports across the U.S. "We're trying to create a balance of the aviation needs and the development needs in the local community," said John Speckin, deputy regional administrator for the agency.
During a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing, lawmakers said the Federal Aviation Administration needs to move more quickly with its NextGen initiative. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said it is "unacceptable for us to continue to spend resources and not make more progress."
The Federal Aviation Administration set a deadline of December 31 for Boeing related to the ram air turbine on its 787-9s. Boeing is still scheduled to deliver the 787-9 to launch customer Air New Zealand by the end of June.
Airlines, Industry and Labor
United Airlines is taking steps to cut non-fuel costs per available seat mile, as well as reduce fuel costs by using more fuel-efficient aircraft.
Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson is calling for significant reforms to the U.S. Export-Import Bank to ensure the bank's assistance in financing sales of widebody aircraft is not tilting the playing field in favor of global competitors.
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