General President Hoffa, Airline Division Director Bourne Meet with United Management
International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President James Hoffa and Airline Division Director David Bourne met with United Airlines CEO Glenn Tilton and Senior Vice President for Labor Relations Douglas McKeen at Teamsters Headquarters in
General President Hoffa and Director Bourne were both pleased at the positive tone of the meeting. "This was the first time that we have had an opportunity for both sides to sit down and begin building a relationship," Bourne said. "It also gave us a chance to discuss a number of issues that our members are currently dealing with that concern both UAL and the Teamsters," he went on to say. "I'm confident that these discussions will continue in a spirit of openness and that by working together, we can and will find areas of common agreement that will benefit our membership and United Airlines."
Airline Division Members Join in Support of Haitian Earthquake
Members of the Airline Division have joined in the effort to provide relief and support of the millions of Haitians impacted by the recent earthquake. Crewmembers from Kalitta have operated two flights from Europe to
Experts Brief UAL Negotiating Committee While Talks Focus on Sick Leave/Dependability, Training, Field Service and
This week's bargaining for UAL's mechanics involved extensive discussions on sick leave and dependability issues, with the Union providing the Company numerous examples of flexibility in scheduling and incentive programs that the Union feels will address the Company's concerns regarding sick leave while protecting the spirit of the language in the collective bargaining agreement.
Walter Pentz from the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Trust also held a three hour question and answer session with the Union bargaining team, where he presented a detailed report on the status of the pension plan. The Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Plan is the largest Union pension plan in the nation, and in terms of its funding status, remains in the "green zone". Mr. Pentz also went over plan details such as the two-for-one past employment credit for new groups entering the pension plan. This special one-time credit would mean a mechanic with at least ten years of seniority who works for five years after entering the plan would be credited with a total of 15 years of service for benefit calculation purposes.
The pilots of
Captain Scott Hegland of the Airline Division has been named to head the transition team to work with the
Continental Techs Mediation To Begin in
After failing to reach agreement in direct negotiations, the process of federally mediated talks between the Union and Continental management will begin on January 20th in
"We continue to be ready to discuss and resolve outstanding contract issues with management," said Daisy Gonzalez, Business Agent for Local 769. "We hope that management will come to these discussions with an open mind and work diligently and fairly to resolve the outstanding issues."
Week In Review News Items
The travel industry was quick to respond to the catastrophe in Haiti. Several airlines, including American, Spirit and United, mobilized supply flights and leveraged their frequent flyer programs to enable members to donate miles to relief organizations to assist in getting aid workers to affected areas. Royal Caribbean International's
Labor Developments
Cape Air pilots voted this week to rejoin the IBT in a second election called based on improprieties by management during a campaign last year to persuade the pilots to leave the union–negotiators for American Airlines and the union representing flight attendants begin two weeks of "lockdown" negotiations today, with both sides hoping to come out of the intense talks with a deal?American also made a new contract proposal this week to its mechanics union that includes additional pay, sick leave and holidays. However, the TWU instructed its negotiators Thursday to reject the offer at its next negotiating session with the carrier–
Aviation Security
Airlines flying to the U.S. or within the country were told to prepare for even tighter security because of the al-Qaida threat from Yemen…however, officials in the Middle East and Europe questioned tighter U.S. airline security measures saying that increased body scanning and inspections of Arab passengers would be discriminatory and overly intrusive–U.S. air travelers strongly approve of the government's use of body scanners at the nation's airports even if the machines compromise privacy, a USA TODAY/Gallup poll found–yet, TSA's plan to install body scanners at hundreds of security checkpoints still could leave many U.S. airports inadequately protected against terrorists carrying explosives.
Regulatory & Safety
The FAA has called for enhanced inspections of more than 130 older Boeing 737 planes. FAA has asked for enhanced structural inspections to find possible cracks in the fuselage skin of the planes?and investigators were trying to determine why part of a United jetliner's landing gear failed to deploy, forcing terrified passengers to crouch in their seats and brace for a crash before the pilot touched down safely despite scraping the jet's belly on the runway.
Airline Industry Finances & Structure
Some analysts detected a dip in airline ticket sales for the first week of the year, but they disagree over whether the drop was just a seasonal blip or the result of terrorism fears or consumer backlash against increased security measures–2009 passenger traffic for Europe's full service airlines is "almost certain" to decline in excess of 4% year-on-year, but recent weekly reports show the numbers are edging into positive territory–Republic Airways said yesterday that all of its executive management functions will be consolidated at its Indianapolis headquarters and former Frontier CEO Sean Menke will leave the company at the end of the current quarter.
Miscellaneous
As the world's two largest carriers vie to form a strategic tie-up with crippled Japan Airlines, opinions are split over whether a JAL alliance with Delta Air Lines, the biggest, would create unfair competition and sting consumers–and a month after detailing new rules that address tarmac delays and tardy airline operations, the Transportation Department launched an improved website for passengers to file complaints, and review carriers' on-time and baggage-handling histories.