US Airways and its pilots have come to an agreement to drop the lawsuit that US Airways filed against its union for a work slowdown.  A permanent injunction will be entered into the record, US Airways will be the “winner” and both sides pay their own legal costs.

Color me wholly unsurprised.  This was a bad move on the part of the pilots union as there was already precedent in courts going against them and it wasn’t a good way to get the company’s attention. 

Instead, the union should be working to unify its membership and get them on an integrated seniority list and then a new agreement with the airline.  These pilots have been working off two different seniority lists and without a new negotiated agreement since 2005.  That’s 6 years of bickering that admittedly, has benefitted US Airways in that it has kept pilots wages relatively lower than its competitors. 

The dysfunction shown by US Airways pilots has stunned me at times.  Particularly that of the “East” pilots (aka former US Airways pilots and not America West pilots).  First rejecting an ALPA negotiated integration and then forming a new union that could be under the control of the “East” pilots, no one has benefited from this behaviour. 

Furthermore, it’s hurt the company as well.  Until its labor problems are smoothed, US Airways doesn’t look like a good merger partner to anyone else.  After all, who wants to have three different pilots agreements and a labor group that has to be operated like three different airlines?

Filed under: Airline News by ajax