Airline Division News Items
Teamster Airline Division Director and Republic Pilot Leader to Meet With Republic Airways Holdings Senior Management to Discuss Potential Purchases of Frontier Airlines and Midwest Airlines
David Bourne and Peter Pranger, Pilot ExCo Chairman, will meet with Wayne Heller, Chief Operating Officer of Republic Holdings, next week to discuss Republic’s bid to purchase Frontier in the ongoing bankruptcy case. Also, the plans with respect to the announced purchase of Midwest Airlines will be discussed.
Republic’s proposal to the bankruptcy court stated it plans to operate Frontier as a separate entity and would continue to operate it as usual. Likewise, Republic has said Midwest Airlines would be operated as a separate entity, but would be expanded to its former larger size using Embraer 190 aircraft instead of A317s.
The Frontier purchase is not yet final. Republic will seek approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York at a July 13th hearing and there will then be a month-long process where others will have the right to outbid Republic.
The Teamsters represent Frontier’s mechanics, cleaners and stock clerks and Republic Holdings’ pilots, flight attendants, and fleet and passenger service representatives.
Teamsters Local 135 Contracted With Wilson Center for Flight Attendant Survey
In preparation for upcoming Section 6 contract negotiations, Barry Schimmel, Business Agent at Local 135, had a telephone survey conducted by Wilson Center for Public Research to obtain the issues the membership want to see addressed in the negotiations. Although the data is still being analyzed, Barry said preliminary results show that, “it’s all about the money”.
Teamsters Local 1224 Pursues Public Relations Campaign for ABX Pilots
Local 1224 has ramped up a public relations campaign in its continuing battle for $75 million in ABX Air pilot severance. The severance issue impacts over 300 ABX pilots who have been on furlough for as long as eight months.
Mechanics Safety Awareness Program (MSAP) Meeting Held at United
The FAA represented by Jack Grossman, the Teamsters represented by Clacy Griswold and Mike Keating, and United represented by Jim Keenan, SVP of Maintenance met this week to go over the elements of the MSAP. The MSAP is a no fault voluntary reporting system designed to further the cause of airline safety. Other groups such as pilots have similar programs.
FedEx Organizing Group Met with Teamsters Mechanics
Teamsters Clacy Griswold, Airline Division International Representative and Chris Moore, Chairman of the Teamsters Mechanics Aviation Coalition, met with a number of FedEx Organizing Committee members in San Francisco to discuss the progress of the legislative language in the FAA Reauthorization Bill that has passed the House of Representatives and will be part of the debate in the Senate version of the FAA bill. This language, if adopted, will make organizing FedEx mechanics much easier because it will specifically include only mechanics under FAA jurisdiction as under the Railway Labor Act. Other FedEx mechanics will be under the National Labor Relations Act.
The Teamsters Airline Division Will Participate in the FAA Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) to be Charged With Developing New Flight Time and Rest Rule for Pilots.
The FAA is making pilot fatigue a high priority and will work rapidly to develop and implement a new flight time and rest rule based on fatigue science and a review of international approaches to the issue. By July 15, the agency will establish an Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) – including FAA, labor and industry representatives – that will be charged with developing recommendations for an FAA rule by September 1. The Teamsters will be represented on the ARC.
Week in Review News Items
Labor Developments
The Association of Flight Attendants wants FAA to require U.S. airlines to develop and implement passenger-screening standards because of the swine flu scare. The request, if granted, could be costly to an industry already reeling from a drop-off in demand due to the weak economy. United Airlines will cut 600 additional flight attendant jobs starting Aug. 31, as it struggles with two side effects of the recession: lower-than-anticipated attrition and a steep drop in air travel.
United’s pilot union put out an update on negotiations. Scope Clauses determine how much flying can be done under the airline’s code outside of the airline’s pilot group. In the past, most of these negotiations have been about regional jet operations. United, however, has shifted the focus of Scope discussions this time with the announcement of its partnership with Aer Lingus. This now has put the pilots on the defensive at the top end of the chain as well as at the bottom.
Regulatory & Safety
US FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said this week that the agency is initiating "an expedited review of flight and rest rules" and "will work rapidly to develop and implement a new flight time and rest rule." NTSB said Thursday that it had begun an investigation into two recent incidents involving Airbus A330s, the same kind of plane as the one operated by Air France that crashed over the Atlantic Ocean on June 1.
In both cases, the system for sensing speed through the air malfunctioned, a problem that apparently occurred on the Air France plane shortly before it crashed.
At least six men suspected or convicted of crimes that threaten national security retained their federal aviation licenses, despite antiterrorism laws written after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that required license revocation. Among them was a Libyan sentenced to 27 years in prison by a Scottish court for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie.
Airline Industry Financial Condition
Lufthansa said demand for economy class air tickets had been steadying over the past few months but premium travel continued its nose dive. To cope with weak bookings, Lufthansa has so far this year cut the number of seats it offers at its passenger airlines by 2.6 percent. Demand for cross-border air freight dropped 17.4 percent year-on-year in May, suggesting international trade is still a long way from recovery. On a much brighter note, after months of ticket-price declines and almost continuous fare sales, the cost of flying is starting to go up. The first price increase of 2009 stuck earlier this month, and cheap summer vacation tickets are disappearing. It’s not just price increases that have pushed fares higher.
Aviation Industry Developments
Bankrupt US regional carrier Frontier Airlines has reached a deal to sell itself to Republic Airways for USD$108.75 million so that it can exit bankruptcy protection. Lufthansa won permission from EU antitrust authorities on Monday to buy Brussels Airlines in a deal worth up to EUR250 million euros (USD$347 million) after it agreed to let rivals fly on some of its routes.
Japanese Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said Monday the government was preparing a loan to loss-making Japan Airlines, caught by severe airline turbulence in the global economic crisis. And over two-thirds of businesstraveller.com readers believe the customer experience at Heathrow is improving, according to a recent survey. With T5 having settled down after its chaotic unveiling, and refurbishments continuing at Heathrow’s other terminals, nearly seven out of ten, businesstraveller.com said that they felt the customer experience at the airport is improving.