Pilots Seek Separate Talks With US Airways

Weary of bickering with their East Coast-based peers, pilots of the former America West Airlines have given US Airways management 30 days’ notice that they want to negotiate their new contract separately.

The West Coast pilots also want to get trained to fly the wide-body planes, to date the exclusive domain of the East Coast crews, said Tania Bziukiewicz, spokeswoman for the Tempe-based pilots group. The bigger planes mean better pay and prestige for pilots.

Tempe-based America West and East Coast carrier US Airways merged in September 2005, and management and unions have been trying to come to terms on single contracts for each of the to-be-integrated labor groups.

But the pilots can’t agree among themselves on how to determine seniority for an integrated work force and they are now in the process of potentially dumping their union and starting a new one.

That representation vote is in progress, slated to take at least another month and could be followed by lawsuits, Bziukiewicz said. The West Coast pilots don’t want to wait any longer to get better pay and access to the big planes, she said.

US Airways management is not planning to meet with the America West pilots separately regarding contract terms, said company spokeswoman Valerie Wunder.

"We believe it’s in the best interest of US Airways as well as our employees to focus on joint negotiations for a single contract, and we are ready to meet with both groups," Wunder said.

She said the company is already meeting with the pilots about who gets the onorder wide-bodied Airbus planes pegged to start arriving next year.

"We are adding seven A230s in 2009, and we are in discussions with both pilot groups as to where they will be placed," Wunder said.

East Coast pilots who delayed contract negotiations because they didn’t like the seniority system established by an independent arbitrator may be facing new worries when they finally get back to the negotiating table, said Bob Mann, an airline consultant.

While the airline industry is cyclical, and labor contracts span multiple ups and downs, it’s always easier to negotiate during an up cycle, Mann said.

Shortly after the merger, US Airways’ fortunes and immediate future were heady. Now with oil prices soaring to new heights and the country heading into a recession, the overall economic outlook isn’t nearly as optimistic, he said.

"It will make the (negotiating) process more protracted," Mann said.

—–

To see more of The Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.eastvalleytribune.com.

Copyright (c) 2008, The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

NYSE:LCC,