ExpressJet Negotiations Update
Contract negotiations continued with mediated sessions, Tuesday April 17th through Friday April 20th, in Philadelphia.
New tentative agreements were reached on Section 13, Training and Section 5, Filling of Vacancies. Additionally, Section 6 – Reduction in Force and Recall and Section 3 -Classifications, were discussed. With five Tentative Agreements having been reached in the past two sessions, both sides are engaged and have shown continued commitment.
Despite the unavailability of the mediator, another negotiation session May 15th through May 18th in Atlanta. That will be followed by a previously scheduled session the week if May 22nd through May 24th session with the mediator at the National Mediation Board offices in Washington, D. C.
Division Representatives, GoJets Stewards to Meet
Airline Division representatives will travel to St. Louis this coming week to meet with the Stewards of GoJets to continue the process of helping them prepare for negotiations with the company.
Airline Division Rebukes Assertions by World Airways
Responding to a letter alleging an illegal job action by World Airways Pilots and Flight Attendants, represented by the Teamsters Airline Division, Captain David Bourne, Director of the Airline Division released the following statement of Friday:
“To falsely allege that our members would engage in an illegal job action that would put at risk our brave U.S. service men and women is wholly without merit and reprehensible.
Our members consider it a sacred responsibility and honor to safely transport our troops. To make knowingly false statements and accusations about our pilots and flight attendants in clearly an attempt to gain favorable leverage in a bankruptcy process is unacceptable.
World Airways and its legal representatives owe a direct, immediate and unambiguous apology not only to their creditors, but more importantly to our troops and the members of the Airline Division.”
Airline Industry News
Governmental and Regulatory
Rep. Chip Cravaack, R-Minn., proposed legislation this week to require cargo operators to adopt the same pilot fatigue rules as those for passenger pilots…The tribulations facing legacy airlines stem partly from deregulation in 1978, which resulted in the proliferation of budget carriers into the global market, George F. Will writes…US Airways has filed a Form 8K with the Securities and Exchange Commission that reveals the carrier has reached support with three unions representing employees from American Airlines. The support spells out the labor contracts that would occur if US Airways and American Airlines merged.
Airlines and Labor
United Airlines pilots have hired a public relations firm to further negotiate a deal. The pilots will also mount a social media campaign as well. Jeff Smisek, the CEO of United, said the carrier is working toward a deal with the pilots.
Facilities at Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kan., were damaged in a storm last Saturday. Both companies have suspended operations to assess the damage.
AMR Corp., the parent company of American Airlines, announced plans to cut back its workforce of nonunion employees. American plans to outsource airport service positions, and also will close a reservations center in Arizona. Frontier Airlines began laying off workers in Milwaukee last Sunday. The carrier plans to lay off a total of 446 workers there by month's end.
Investigators found that pilot fatigue contributed to an incident aboard an Air Canada flight in January 2011…Delta Air Lines appears to be gaining momentum in its bid for an oil refinery in Trainer, Pa., according to industry experts.