US Airways pilots feel there is nothing in the way of negotiating a new combined contract with US Airways after a ruling made last week that essentially said that the airline and union may do so but there is no cover from a lawsuit necessarily.  A ruling that I feel probably lacked the clarity all were hoping for but which was  a correct ruling.  You can’t give legal cover to people from lawsuits like that.  You don’t know the nature of the lawsuit until it happens.

I agree that US Airways pilots are in desperate need of a new contract.  It’s been 7 years now and it’s time for a successful airline such as US Airways have a truly combined operation.  This is true for US Airways flight attendants as well.

But primary fault in this delay is largely due to the pilots.  Neither group (US Airways and American West pilots are the two groups) could agree on seniority integration and after an arbitration ruling, the US Airways (original) group broke away from ALPA (who represented both groups)  and by sheer numbers formed a new union.  The two sides have been at war in a courtroom since.

And US Airways doesn’t know who the legitimate combined union is really since there has been no ruling on the fight itself.

Successful airline merger seniority integrations that have taken place since the US Airways merger were based on relative seniority.  This meant that for seniority purposes only, the two lists were merged in a manner that more or less preserved each parties seniority position in the new company.

It’s our view that this is both reasonable and right as a method for combining pilot groups (or other labor groups).

Sadly, US Airways (original) pilots want date of hire as the defining measure for seniority integration.  This would lead to a large group of US Airways (original) pilots sitting at the top of the food chain and blocking promotion for years for the younger America West group.  Not very fair and particularly so when you consider this:
It was US Airways (original) that was bankrupt (again) and about to sink to the ocean floor.  Not America West.   America West was health and in possession of an excellent management team who ultimately proved to be more than capable of not just running a combined operation but improving operations tremendously while consistently earning profits.

Yes, I think that US Airways pilots deserve a contract.

I also think the two groups should shake hands, adopt the original arbitration ruling and immediately go to the negotiating table for a new contract with unity.   That’s what moves this process forward.

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