Suit Stemmed From Republic Airlines' Purchase Of Midwest Routes

The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday in a case involving the integration of seniority lists of former Midwest Airlines flight attendants and those of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT). The IBT represents flight attendants of regional carriers Chautauqua Airlines, Republic Airlines and Shuttle America, all wholly owned subsidiaries of Republic Airways Holdings.

The appeals court overturned a decision by a federal district court, which had agreed that the IBT was not required to integrate the Midwest flight attendants into their seniority list, which contains flight attendants of Republic’s regional carriers, when Midwest routes were acquired by Republic Airways Holdings in 2009. Federal law requires airlines to integrate employee seniority lists when two carriers merge. The issue at dispute centered on the fact that Republic did not merge with Midwest and shortly after the transaction Midwest was shut down.

The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) called the ruling a major legal victory affirming AFA's position that the McCaskill-Bond guarantee of fair and equitable seniority protection applies for all those affected by airline mergers.

"This is an enormous victory for flight attendants everywhere," said AFA International President Veda Shook. "We successfully defended flight attendant seniority across the industry. In cases where flight attendants are not represented by AFA, we have ... successfully lobbied for seniority protection under the law. The court has confirmed that this law will protect a Flight Attendants' right to a fair and equitable process for seniority integration."

In 2007, Congress passed, the McCaskill-Bond Amendment, which protects an FA's seniority in the event of a merger at their airline. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that McCaskill-Bond should have applied when Republic Airlines purchased Midwest Airlines. AFA held that Midwest flight attendants are entitled to fair and equitable seniority integration at Republic.

"This is a victory for the hundreds of former Midwest flight attendants whose years of dedicated service will now be honored," Shook said. "flight attendants at merged carriers now have some career protections regardless of union representation."

For its part, Republic Vice President of Labor Relations Ron Henson said that the airline was "a party to this action only because we are the employer.”

Because there was no merger or consolidation, the IBT took the position that it was not obligated to negotiate on seniority integration. Former Midwest flight attendants filed suit in district court to force integration. The district court ruled in favor of the IBT, after which the case was appealed. The appellate court has reversed that decision. It remains unclear whether the IBT will seek to appeal that decision.

“We have always been willing to participate in integration of Midwest and Republic flight attendant seniority," Henson said. "In fact, Republic actively supported and participated in seniority integration with other former Midwest and Republic employee groups – including pilots, customer service agents and mechanics. This was and is a dispute between the two unions as to whether seniority integration, using the statutory standard of 'fair and equitable' integration, was required by law."

Henson also pointed out that since Republic was willing to accept the court’s decision deciding the issue, whether it was in favor of IBT or the former Midwest flight attendants, the Company made no arguments to the court supporting either position.

FMI: www.ca7.uscourts.gov