Joining With America West Announced September 27, 2005

September 27 marked three full years in which US Airways management has failed to complete their merger between the old US Air, and America West. Today, the airline is entangled in labor disputes... lawsuits... customer service issues... and public perception as a nickel-and-dime outfit, willing to sell its soul for a $15 service fee.

Adding its chorus to the chaos is the US Airline Pilots Association... formed earlier this year when US Airways pilots (that is, pilots from the old US Air operation) voted to remove the Air Line Pilots Association as their collective bargaining agent, saying ALPA had done little to represent their interests in early joint contract talks.

As ANN reported, a federal arbitrator presented a seniority formula in June 2007 that based pilot ratings on aircraft type, with pilots ranked by seniority within each group based on their time at their respective airline, and how many aircraft of that type are within the combined US Airways fleet. Under the proposal, the top 517 pilots came from US Airways... but the trouble began when talking about first officer rankings, which US Air pilots said favored their younger counterparts coming from America West.

As a result, today US Airways pilots still work under different Collective Bargaining Agreements left over from their former airlines... each having a different set of work rules and pay rates. They are not permitted to fly each other’s aircraft, or intermix crews.

While neither side is willing to budge from its stance (and, indeed, USAPA faces discord within itself, from former America West pilots) USAPA President Stephen Bradford says management is to blame for the current crisis.

"What the Delta and Northwest managements did in just a couple of months, US Airways Management hasn’t been able to do in over three years," Bradford states. "Management’s inability to complete the merger of US Airways and America West, coupled with their apparent focus on short term, quick-return management philosophies, is costing our Company in a big way."

According to USAPA figures, for the first six months of 2008 US Airways ranks a dismal 18th out of 19 on the Department of Transportation's consumer complaint list... a "sobering change" from the airline’s top rankings in years prior to the merger.

"Our situation causes confusion, inefficiencies and severe morale problems that carry over into the airline’s operation. No wonder we have to charge our passengers for water," said Bradford. "We see these inefficiencies day after day and at times they create passenger delays and prevent the Company from achieving its potential."

USAPA states merging US Airways and America West into a single airline, with a single Pilot Collective Bargaining Agreement, would allow management to capture synergies that would benefit US Airways’ passengers, investors and employees alike and go a long way towards positioning the airline for a secure future.

That is, as long as management doesn't ask US Air pilots to give up very much...

FMI: www.usairways.com, www.usairlinepilots.org