Union Wants To Help Pilots If They Seek Jobs Elsewhere

The Atlantic Southeast Airlines pilots' union tells ANN it will host two job seminars in September. These won't be the standard meet-and-greets seeking new pilot applicants, however... but rather are intended to help ASA pilots prepare their resumes, sharpen their interview skills and learn where the best prospects for better employment lie, if they choose to go elsewhere.

"We're going to take care of our own, even if it means helping them get out of here," said Captain David Nieuwenhuis, Chairman of the ASA pilot group's Master Executive Council (MEC). Nieuwenhuis said if pilots feel it is in their best interest to leave, their union should support that decision.

"Our union was formed more than 75 years ago because air carrier managers then were only interested in the almighty dollar," Nieuwenhuis said.

"The founders of our Association saw the need to take care of pilots and they realized their companies weren't going to do that," Nieuwenhuis added. "We've made tremendous progress in aviation since then, but airlines today still care more about their bottom line than about their pilots."

The pilots at ASA have been in contract negotiations with their management for five years. For the past three years, those negotiations have been conducted under supervision of the National Mediation Board (NMB). "We've seen this [negotiations] process deteriorate to the point that we are at the end of our rope," Nieuwenhuis said. "We have absolutely no confidence that SkyWest management will negotiate a fair and equitable contract with its ASA pilots in a reasonable amount of time."

The job fairs will be held September 15 and September 24.

SkyWest, Inc. owns and operates both Atlantic Southeast Airlines and Sky West Airlines as wholly owned subsidiaries. The airline has codeshare agreements with Delta Airlines and United Airlines, and has recently entered into a similar code share partnership with Midwest Airlines (MEH).

The union -- a branch of the Air Line Pilots Association -- says that twice since September 2006, ASA pilots have requested a "proffer of arbitration" from the National Mediation Board to place a deadline on protracted contract negotiations... which have dragged on since September 2002.

So far no deadline has been issued.

"The ASA pilots want a contract," Captain Nieuwenhuis said. "After negotiating five years, three of them under the supervision of the NMB, our pilots are losing faith in the Railway Labor Act and have certainly lost any faith they may have had in management's willingness to get a deal done."

With no end in sight and frustrations mounting, many pilots have opted to leave the carrier... and their union appears eager to assist them.

FMI: http://asanegotiations.alpa.org/, www.skywest.com