GoJets Negotiations Continue, Progress Reported
The GoJets Negotiations Committee met with the Company on Wednesday, April 9th and Thursday, April 10th. On Wednesday, the IBT passed a counter on Section 7 (Hours of Service). The Company passed counters on Section 13 (Vacation), Section 28 (Union Representation) and Section 29 (Union Security).
Sections 13 (Vacation) and Section 28 (Union Representation) were TA’d.
On Thursday the Company passed a counter on Section 7 (Hours of Service).
Throughout the week the committee spent time working on Section 7 (Hours of Service), Section 8 (Scheduling) and Section 9 (Reserves).
On Monday, International Representatives briefed the committee on the TA proposal failed ratification at Republic Airlines. In addition, on Thursday the IBT joined the group and attended a presentation by a new software vendor at Company headquarters.
The next negotiating session is tentatively scheduled for the week of May 12th. In addition to the planned session, the dates are concurrent with the RAA convention in STL. The committee will attend at least some of the events.
UAL Negotiations Update
In late February and early March the economists from both sides met to thoroughly review the respective terms of the last table positions of the parties. Those two meetings produced a better understanding of the valuation of each side’s position. The result of the analysis was that while much progress was made in the expedited portion of bargaining there are still significant issues to overcome. Following these meetings, mediator McGuckin called the parties together and advised then that due to scheduling issues, the parties will now be bound by his schedule availability. With his schedule of open, active cases, the first date available in his schedule was the week of August 18th through the 22nd.
The parties agreed that there would be an additional meeting for the leadership on May 7th and 8th in Las Vegas, NV following the IBT Unity conference. The time from May to August will be used to reconvene the steering committee to discuss the current state of negotiations and to seek input for the full rank and file committee moving forward.
Airline Division Representatives Attend MRO Conference
The annual Aviation Week MRO conference was held in Phoenix last week. Attending for the Division were Representative Chris Moore and Local 986 Business Agent Dave Saucedo.
Two continuing trends brought up at the conference that affect members are the limited number of people entering the field and the rising rates in Asia which are increasing costs for widebody overhauls in that region. Both of these trends will continue for the foreseeable future.
A full report on the conference will be issued at a later date.
Airline Industry News
Governmental and Regulatory
The Federal Aviation Administration says the "foundational infrastructure" for NextGen air traffic control will be in place by 2015. About 90% of the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) has been rolled out.
The Global Gateway Alliance, which advocates for New York City-area airports, has asked U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske to ease long waits for international air travelers entering the country at New York-New Jersey airports.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unanimously approved The Transparent Airfares Act of 2014, a bipartisan bill enabling air travelers to see exactly how much of their ticket price goes to federal taxes.
Airlines, Industry and Labor
Boeing to relocate engineering jobs to Southern California.
Shares of Hawaiian Airlines have more than doubled the last 12 months, and the carrier plans to expand its international service this month with flights to Beijing.
Boeing launched a larger version of its Dreamliner on Saturday with the rollout of the 787-9, which seats 280 passengers.
American Eagle announced the carrier plans to move its headquarters to Irving, Texas, beginning in July.