Southwest pilots have been briefed by management that there really is a Plan B if Airtran and SWA pilots cannot come to an agreement on merging seniority lists.  Plan B is to keep Airtran as a separate entity and that would not be good for Airtran pilots (or other crew.)

There is a perception that Southwest is a friendly and nice company and, by and large, they are.  However, what people often forget is that Southwest is quite capable of making swift, hard decisions in the face of adversity. 

What Airtran pilots’ union didn’t consider is that playing coy on the first agreement and refusing to send it for a vote unintentionally signaled to Southwest that there may be adversity on the horizon.  Indeed, I would imagine that quite a few Airtran pilots are now fairly peeved at their leadership since the first agreement was more beneficial in terms of pay and seniority than what is on the table now.  Southwest’s message to Airtran pilots is this:  the deal doesn’t get better the longer it takes, it gets worse.

What’s the worse case scenario?  Plan B.  The unspoken part of Plan B is that Southwest can slowly diminish the size of Airtran over several years, transfer equipment (i.e. aircraft, gate space, etc) over to SWA and ramp up to take over Airtran flying over the next several years by hiring new pilots and crew that fit within their standards. 

In other words:  Want to keep your job?  Well, after this round of negotiations, the deal is that you get to interview for your job at some point.  If you successfully interview, you’ll join SWA at the lowest run in seniority and at reduced wages.  It will still be one of the most secure jobs in the airline industry but those people will have to reset to the beginning again and earn their way upwards once more.

Is Southwest that cutthroat?  You bet.  Is this a negotiating tactic on the part of SWA?  Yes but it comes with the knowledge that SWA really will act on its Plan B unlike some airlines.   Either way, SWA gets what it wants from the Aitran purchase and the worst case scenario for them is a stretched timeline for achieving all the benefits from the purchase.

Is this a gun held to Airtran pilots’ heads?  Well, no, not exactly.  They’re free to choose their destiny.  However, Southwest isn’t an airline that can be bullied and its pilots’ union isn’t either.  That’s the difference in this situation.  There is nothing to gain by being recalcitrant.   Even if Airtan pilots tried to strike (and remember that that can take years before the National Mediation Board gives permission), Southwest can move in and take on that traffic without much impact. 

What defies my imagination is how Airtran pilots (and other crew) think there is a better deal to be had than getting a payraise, decent seniority and the most secure job available from US airlines.

Filed under: Airline News by ajax