Airline Division News Items
National Mediation Board Orders a Rerun Election be Held at Cape Air
On November 18, 2009 the NMB ruled that the “laboratory conditions” necessary for a fair election were tainted in the representation election for
ABX Pilots Ratify New Labor Agreement
ABX Air pilots have approved an amended labor contract with the company that will allow members of the union, Airline Professionals Association Teamsters Local 1224, to receive severance benefits provided by express shipper DHL.
DHL, ABX’s biggest customer, slashed its
ABX Air said the new labor agreement provides for wages, benefits and work rules that are more in line with market competitors than under the current agreement. No details were released.. It amends a contract that was last updated in 2003.
ABX Air flight crew members ratified the new contract in voting that ended Tuesday, Nov. 17. The union represents about 600 members, two-thirds of whom have been furloughed from their jobs. The new contract is contingent upon the signing of a new commercial agreement that would provide for DHL’s continued use of ABX Air aircraft and flight crews in its
TSA Opens Comment Period for Proposed Rule Making on Security at Repair Stations
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced publication in the Federal Register of a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) to strengthen the Aircraft Repair Station Security program. The proposed rulemaking would establish security requirements for maintenance and repair work conducted on aircraft and aircraft components at domestic and foreign repair stations certificated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
"This proposed rule supplements FAA requirements that protect aircraft undergoing repairs from terrorist threats," said TSA Office of Security Operations Assistant Administrator Lee Kair. "By enhancing repair station security, this rulemaking guards against the potential threat of an aircraft being destroyed or used as a weapon."
The NPRM requires FAA-certificated foreign and domestic repair stations to adopt and carry out a standard TSA security program to safeguard the security of a repair station, the repair work conducted, and all aircraft and aircraft components at the station.
The program will require certificated stations to implement strict access controls, provide security awareness training, and allow for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspections.
The NPRM is long overdue and fulfills the Vision 100-Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act's requirement for DHS to put forth security regulations for domestic and foreign aircraft repair stations. The public has 60 days to comment on the NPRM once published in the Federal Register.
United Mechanics Section 6 Negotiations Continue and Will Accelerate
Negotiations continued in
The presentations were followed by an official health benefits proposal from the Company. The Union negotiating committee asked questions to clarify the proposal, but informed the Company that our official response to the proposal will come after an exhaustive analysis by the experts at the IBT Benefits and Legal Departments in
On day two of negotiations, proposals and counter proposals on the Article XXI-General and Miscellaneous were exchanged. Article XXI will be discussed again at the next negotiation session in the first week of December.
The parties have agreed to accelerate the negotiation process. The result will be an extremely aggressive negotiating schedule in December and January that will involve a significant time commitment from the Union negotiating team. Negotiations are scheduled for December 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in SFO, and December 8th and 9th in SFO Further dates in December and January will be forthcoming.
Expressjet Mechanics Negotiations Underway and New Arrangement with United Announced
According to a report by Bob Luciano of Local 210 who is leading the negotiations, the first session of contract negotiations were held on November 17th and 18th 2009 at Teamster Local 19’s offices in
The negotiations began with the company giving a detailed presentation of the corporate financial situation based on SEC filings and projections for the coming year. The upcoming flying for UAL was also discussed although the company still had not received details from United as of yet.
When contract proposals were discussed both sides engaged in open and productive analysis of the issues and with a few exchanges of proposal and counter proposals a tentative agreement was reached on Article 4, Seniority. There was also discussion of Article 5, Filling of Vacancies with proposal and counter proposal exchanged.
Negotiations have been scheduled to resume in early January 2010.
Also, United announced on Monday that Expressjet will operate 22 ERJ 145 aircraft under the United Express Brand.
Week in Review News Items
Labor Developments
Finnair pilots said they had rejected the latest proposal in talks with their employer and would go on strike on Monday, grounding all the carrier's traffic. Finnair and the Finnish Airline Pilots' Association have been trying to reach a deal for more than a year, with the talks coming to a head two weeks ago as Finnair started to outsource some routes. Willie Walsh, BA's CEO, was to meet the joint general secretaries of the Unite union later this week as a strike ballot by the airline's cabin crew got underway.
Regulatory & Safety
Eight years after the 9/11 attacks brought a new focus on security at airplane maintenance facilities — and six years after Congress first required action — the government still hasn't tightened its vigilance. Concerned that terrorists might use a repair station to sabotage airliners, Congress in 2003 passed a law ordering TSA to come up with security requirements for repair facilities, and gave the agency eight months to do it. In unrelated news,
Air France KLM posted an operating loss of €543m for the first six months of its financial year. The figure compares with a €592m operating profit for the same period last year. The first half of JAL’s 2009-10 financial year generated a net loss of $1.5 billion, a $2 billion reversal from last year’s first half result. Airbus and Boeing predicted airlines will emerge from a slump next year as the global economy rebounds from the worst recession in decades and fuels air travel.
Quest For JAL
Delta revealed this week that it has made a comprehensive offer to Japan Airlines to switch from oneworld to SkyTeam that includes financial assistance and guarantees totaling $1 billion, saying it wants JAL to be "the face of Asia" for Delta. American said preparations for an investment in JAL are at an advanced stage after Delta announced its package of incentives. It's difficult to imagine that American would lose its partnership with JAL, but it could happen. At Narita, about 40% of the passengers on American's five daily arrivals connect onto JAL flights, so the short-term impact would be disastrous were Delta to succeed in its continuing efforts to replace American.
The Federal Advisory Committee on the Future of Aviation
DOT last week hosted a closed-door forum on the future of
Miscellaneous
The European Court of Justice ruled this week that passengers on flights delayed for more than 3 hours have the same right to seek compensation from airlines as passengers on cancelled flights…Ryanair will wait until the end of November or very early in December to reach a deal with Boeing on a fresh batch of aircraft orders, Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said on Thursday.