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.