ALPA’s Plan for Positive C By Susan Burke A little history Contributing Writer From 1985 to 2001, ALPA pilot groups made very substantial gains in collective ay you’re flying a B-757 to bargaining, including during the weeks Madrid above some lousy just before 9/11. The catch was that weather, and an engine 9/11’s interruption of the bargaining flames out over the Atlan- cycle left a $100-an-hour disparity be- tic. Along with experienc- tween pilots flying the same equipment ing a spike in your blood at different companies, so the pattern Spressure, you start thinking about di- of bargaining and ALPA’s efforts to verting—probably to the Azores. After achieve similar contract terms for pilots landing, everyone faces the question of across the industry was left incomplete. how to get to their destination. After 9/11, the disparity between It’s a situation not unlike the recent rates closed to $40 an hour, though it 6-year bankruptcy era during which happened in the worst way. Instead of (mis)management—aided by bank- leading the pattern with traditionally ruptcy-court limits on bargaining and strong airlines, ALPA was forced into pilots’ right to strike—worked to shred bargaining with the financially weakest pilots’ collective bargaining agree- ones first when US Airways and United ments at airlines large and small. Pilots were the first to file bankruptcy. Other Capt. Jay Pierce, Continental’s MEC weren’t the cause of the problem, but airline managements then sought the chairman: “It’s essential to coordinate they sure suffered the most severe same rates and terms regardless of with fellow pilots over goals and strategy. consequences. The question now is: their financial situation. We’re all in this together.” how do ALPA pilots get to their destina- “ALPA wasn’t allowed to bargain the tion—contracts that recognize their con- way it always had. Instead, bankruptcy After 5 years of negotiating, Atlantic tributions to the airlines they work for? judges put a 51-day stopwatch on the Southwest Airlines in November 2007 Especially, as fuel spikes higher and bargaining parties and took away our ratified a contract that improves wages, the economy slows. right to strike,” York reflects. work rules, job protections, and schedul- Bruce York, director of ALPA’s Repre- By the era’s end, more airline man- ing. Letters of agreement at United in- sentation Department, believes firmly agements took advantage of bankrupt- clude improvements in long call/short that this bargaining cycle is different, cy protection—Comair, Delta, Mesaba, call and days off for reserves, along with and he sees reasons to remain opti- Northwest, US Airways for a second work-rule enhancements on the narrow- mistic York know the fundamentals time—tearing down the progressive pre- body fleet. Northwest pilots increased behind the headlines: it’s a new cycle 9/11 standards. But the tide has turned. deadhead pay from 50 percent to 100 of bargaining in a changed environ- “Contract repair is already taking percent and negotiated premium pay ment in which capacity continues to be place,” York says. The evidence sur- for hours over 80. Delta pilots made constrained, and the agreements com- faced at the cycle’s beginning with “a miscellaneous improvements in letters ing up for renegotiation support the great contract at FedEx,” he says, fol- of agreement. And tentatively agreed likelihood that the pilot groups heading lowed by big contract improvements at single-contract provisions for pilots of US for the table will make progress. UPS, ASTAR, and Ryan. All these pilot Airways and America West, though Rather than financially weaker air- groups obtained major pay increases, stalled by internal pilot division, already lines leading the bargaining cycle as scheduling improvements, job security had achieved $100 million in improve- they did during the 2001-to-2006 pe- enhancements, and in some cases, ments, including 10 more days of vaca- riod, stronger airlines, like Alaska, health and retirement benefit gains. tion per year, more days off, duty rig in- Continental, and Hawaiian, are now at “Improvements were not limited to creases, and premium pay. the front end of the bargaining cycle cargo contracts,” York says. “Pilot bar- Brighter prospects are attributable and will help continue positive con- gaining at passenger airlines has also to several factors. First, “despite ques- tract patterns. been positive.” tions about fuel prices and the econ- 14 • Air Line Pilot May 2008 Collective BargainingBy ALPA Staff omy generally, capacity is constrained, dinated, industrywide approach—in- and revenue has remained high,” York creases the leverage that can be ap- says. “Second, the bargaining time line plied in the new bargaining cycle. is under our control, not the bankruptcy In February of this year, pilots union judge’s control. We can decide whether officials from 40 airlines in the United and when contracts meet our mem- States and Canada met at a 3-day bers’ expectations. Third, a more labor- ALPA-sponsored gathering at ALPA’s friendly White House, if that happens Herndon, Va., offices to discuss bar- later this year, could provide an envi- gaining goals and strategy for deter- ronment in which employee issues and mining and implementing favorable interests are taken more seriously. contract patterns and to coordinate “But maybe most important,” says members’ support of each other’s ne- York, “is that the bargaining cycle is be- gotiating efforts. Besides ALPA-repre- ing sequenced with financially strong sented pilot groups, participants in- airlines up front setting the new pat- cluded representatives from indepen- tern—not bankrupt and weak airlines dent unions for pilots of Air Canada, establishing patterns of pay, benefits, AirTran, American, Frontier, Southwest, and work rules.” and World Airways and Horizon. “We’re one of the first legacy airlines Bruce York, director of ALPA’s Represen- Good teams win to begin negotiations in the new bar- tation Department, believes, “A positive Along with these obvious differences, gaining cycle,” said Capt. Jay Pierce, bargaining cycle has returned, and contract consolidation events and airline needs Continental’s MEC chairman. “It’s es- repair is taking place.” may provide opportunities to bargain sential to coordinate with fellow pilots and improve contracts even before over goals and strategy. We’re all in this and Mesaba—met in Cincinnati to de- their current amendable dates. Given together.” velop a common strategy for contract these different dynamics, ALPA’s team In August 2007, the leaders of five negotiations with their respective approach to negotiations—for indi- ALPA pilot groups— Atlantic Southeast, managements. vidual pilot groups and through a coor- Comair, ExpressJet, Mesa Air Group, “What happens at one airline is go- ing to affect pilots at other airlines,” Capt. Tom Wychor, then Mesaba MEC chairman, said at the time. “If we watch out for one another, we protect ourselves at the same time.” And in March, leaders of these five groups and others met in St. Louis to talk about strategies for protecting jobs and building careers at fee-for-departure airlines (see “ALPA at Work,” page 26). “We will be patient, but persistent,” said Capt. Dave Nieuwenhuis, ASA MEC chair, in the wake of his group’s recent contract success. “We proved what pilots can do when we commit to win—and are willing to work together.” ALPA’s reinvigorated Collective Bar- Members of ALPA’s Representation Department are out in force to answer questions and gaining Committee and the Strategic make forecasts during the Association’s Collective Bargaining Roundtable Discussion, Preparedness and Strike Committee held in February in Herndon, Va. are the centerpieces of the initiative of May 2008 Air Line Pilot • 15 ALPA’s president, Capt. John Prater, to restore wages, working conditions, and benefits by establishing advantageous contract patterns and enabling close co- ordination among pilot groups. All Together Now Boots on the ground A prime example of what pilot mem- Pilots of Groups of All Sizes Were at bers, with the assistance of their lead- ALPA’s Annual Collective Bargaining ers and the SPSC, can accomplish in Roundtable to Compare Notes on support of negotiations is the Continen- tal pilots’ Unification Rally on March 12 Negotiating Strategies and Tactics in New York’s financial district. More et’s take a vote: Who wants and ongoing negotiations by the pilot than 500 pilots from Continental and more pay in their paycheck? reps are “the heart and soul of our at least five other pilot groups marched LBetter work rules? Im- Roundtable.” Punctuating those reports through the streets with one message: proved quality of life? A better pen- were presentations on several topics of Management must deal with pilots if it sion? Stronger scope language in vital interest to the reps and the line pi- wants successful airlines. It was one of their contract? Thought so. lots they represent, such as Age 65 bar- many multi-group rallies that have Here’s one part of the formula for gaining issues, labor integration legisla- been held in the last year. success: Send your MEC reps to tion, and merger-related negotiations. Six days later, Prater was the only ALPA’s Collective Bargaining labor leader to address the 2008 Roundtable Discussion, an event Pattern bargaining opportunities JPMorgan Aviation and Transportation that brings together MEC officers David Krieger, manager in ALPA’s Eco- Conference in New York. He told the and negotiating committee mem- nomic & Financial Analysis Depart- leading U.S. financial analysts that in bers, ALPA national officers, and se- ment, reported on the current and pre- light of the tremendous concessions nior ALPA staff, plus pilot reps from dicted state of the airline industry.