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AirTran Airways, Pilots Union Resume Contract Talks With Mediator's Help

Posted on: Wednesday, 10 May 2006, 12:07 CDT

By Russell Grantham, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

May 10--After nearly a monthlong break, AirTran Airways and its pilots union resumed contract talks Tuesday with the help of a federal mediator, according to a union spokesman.

The Orlando-based discount carrier has made little apparent progress in about a year and a half of discussions with the National Pilots Association, which represents about 1,400 AirTran pilots. A federal mediator with the National Mediation Board stepped in last September.

"Now it's not quite a year later and we only have two [of 19] sections done," said Brian Gaudet, spokesman for the union. "We're not near the end, or any of the big stuff."

An effort to reach a tentative deal in March outside of mediated talks ended with a heated exchange of e-mails between the union's president, Allen Philpot, and AirTran's vice president of operations, Steve Kolski, according to a recent report by trade magazine Aviation Week & Space Technology.

Each side has accused the other of unclear proposals and faulty bargaining efforts. The next scheduled talks are in Baltimore at the end of May.

The tense talks are a sharp contrast to earlier, more harmonious labor relations at the carrier. Pilots quickly agreed to voluntary pay cuts after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

This time around, pilots are seeking pay raises, more favorable scheduling and job protections in case AirTran merges with another carrier.

"These guys would like to see a minor increase in compensation," said Gaudet. He said the union has proposed annual raises "a few points" above inflation.

AirTran, which has grown and profited from the woes of rivals such as Delta Air Lines, is opposing any changes that would increase its pilot costs on a seat-mile basis. AirTran reported a $4.6 million loss in the first three months of this year but has posted annual profits since 2002.

However, Delta and other rivals that filed for bankruptcy have sought deep pay cuts and other concessions from pilots and other employees and suppliers that are bringing their costs closer to those at AirTran.

Captains flying similar-sized jets at AirTran and Delta are paid about $128,000 and $119,000 a year, respectively, according to Air Inc., an Atlanta-based career service for pilots.

Northwest pilots ratified a 24 percent pay cut last week, while Delta's pilots are expected to complete a ratification vote this month on $280 million in annual savings, extending a 14 percent pay cut in effect since December.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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AAI, DALRQ,

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

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