Labor Relations Strained at U.S. Airlines

Labor relations between U.S. airline unions and management show signs of strain in an era of rising fuel costs and airline cutbacks, industry analysts said.

United Airlines is taking its pilots’ union to court to challenge an allegedly orchestrated sickout by union members, USA Today reported Friday.

Flight attendants and ground workers at Northwest Airlines told U.S. House of Representatives members Wednesday that the merger between Delta and Northwest had a hidden agenda item: Dismantling the unions’ pension plans.

Labor-management relations in this industry have never been very good, but today they are deplorable, Richard Gritta, a University of Portland, Ore., business professor, told the newspaper.

To the average traveler, these kind of fights don’t make sense now when carriers are facing such enormous financial problems, Gritta said.

As fuel costs rise and airlines cut flights and jobs, union members and management view the situation differently, the report said. Unions point to alleged poor management decisions and large executive bonuses, while they have accepted concessions to keep the airlines afloat. Management views union members as unsympathetic to rising costs that could put airlines out of business, the report said.