Airline Division News Items
Horizon Air Mechanics Join Teamsters
On Monday April 20, 2009, mechanics and related class and craft workers at Horizon Air overwhelmingly voted to join the Teamsters. The vote was 245 to 187. The bargaining unit is 485 strong. The workers are based in Portland, Oregon.
Teamsters Meet With Horizon Mechanics
Having just won the Horizon vote on Monday, Teamster representatives met on Tuesday and Wednesday with the new members and started the process of getting organized to select stewards, deal with outstanding grievances, as well as early preparation to work on a new contract. (A Section 6 notice has already been filed.) International Representative Clacy Griswold and Business Agent Jim DeKay will be leading the effort at Horizon.
United Reaches Decision on GQ/CV Mechanics at Nine Stations
The existing contract with United, a holdover from AMFA representation, provides no protection against outsourcing of the ground equipment and building maintenance work. United sought bids from outside vendors at all nine stations (BOS, JFK, LGA, EWR, PHL, PDX, SAN, SEA, and HNL). But, United agreed to work with the Teamsters to see if cost savings could be achieved so that stations could continue using Teamster mechanics. A Teamster committee with representatives from all nine stations and headed by Clacy Griswold and Jim Craun worked over a period of several months with United managers to try to limit the outsourcing, and save stations and jobs for the Teamsters. The Committee members were: Phil Stewart, Tom Keevil, Allen Cosides, Wes Wakata, Bob MeAllister, Jim Arnold, Jimmy Muraki, Rob Pennell, and Ken Meidinger. A decision was reached on Wednesday to turn over two stations to vendors, Boston and Honolulu, and keep the other seven as Teamster stations albeit with some layoffs, which were necessary to be competitive with vendor bids.
Piedmont Mediation Continues With Little Progress
The Teamsters met in Harrisburg, PA on Thursday and Friday morning with a mediator and Piedmont representatives. Piedmont's last offer was voted down by a two to one ratio. In an attempt to reach agreement, the Teamsters presented term sheets with a few items, but no agreement was reached.
Airline Division Meetings at the Unity Conference Next Week in Las Vegas
On Friday May 1, the Airline Division Advisory Board of Governors will hold its quarterly meeting and on Saturday May 2 the Airline Division Meeting will be held from 10 am to 2 pm. There will be presentations at the general meeting on Congressional activity by Jack Albertine, a Teamster consultant, organizing activity by Kim Keller of the IBT Organizing Department, legal issues and developments by our legal staff, and a report by Chris Moore on the Teamster Aviation Mechanics Coalition, among other presentations.
Week in Review News Items
Labor Developments
Unions at American Airlines have picketed, worn buttons and rented billboards to protest what they consider unseemly management bonuses. Now they're using an interactive Web site game to skewer their CEO. The Transport Workers Union, which represents mechanics, bag handlers and other ground workers at American, said Thursday it is launching a new campaign to protest stock-based compensation for several hundred management employees later this month.
Safety & Oversight
Atlantic Southeast Airlines, a major regional carrier for Delta Air Lines Inc., said Tuesday it grounded 60 of its 110 50-passenger jets after an internal audit raised safety concerns. The groundings were expected to cause some flight delays for passengers flying ASA. The paperwork audit raised questions about whether the engines on Bombardier CRJ200 jets had been properly inspected according to the guidelines provided by the engines' manufacturer. And the Transportation Department inspector general released results from an investigation this week that said problems with air traffic controllers covering up errors isn't systemic. Congress requested the audit after a preliminary investigation showed Dallas-area controllers shifted blame for their errors to pilots or misclassified them as "non-events." The errors involved instances when planes flew too close to one another.
Oberstar Questions Virgin America's Citizenship
US House of Representatives Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.) yesterday urged the Dept. of Transportation to review whether Virgin America still meets the requirements of US airline ownership and control laws, echoing earlier allegations by Alaska Airlines that Virgin America now is wholly owned by the UK's Virgin Group.
Problems at Air Canada
Air Canada, Canada's biggest airline, said its chief executive Montie Brewer resigned, effective April 1. Calin Rovinescu, a former senor executive with the airline, will succeed Brewer, the company said in a statement . Last month, UBS analyst Fadi Chamoun said the airline could be forced to file for bankruptcy protection if it does not secure additional financing and succeed in renegotiating covenants in credit card agreements. The decision to replace the executive, Monte Brewer, with Calin Rovinescu, who earlier led a restructuring operation at the company, has fueled speculation that Air Canada might seek bankruptcy protection for the second time in six years. Air Canada is facing a cash shortfall and increasing competition on crucial routes from its smaller domestic rival, WestJet. It also has pension problems and is facing contract talks with its unions.
Airline Demand
Passenger traffic aboard all airline flights in the United States will drop nearly 9 percent this year due to recession compared with 2008, when they carried 679 million people, the U.S. government said on Tuesday. The FAA estimate, if it proves accurate, would represent the largest decline in annual domestic capacity since the industry was deregulated in 1978. Continental Airlines said on Wednesday that companywide traffic fell 9.7 percent in March from a year earlier as the weak economy constrained demand for travel. On Friday Continental provided further evidence of the collapse in US air travel demand, reporting that March consolidated revenue per ASM plunged an estimated 19.5%-20.5% year-over-year while mainline unit revenue fell 18.5%-19.5%. Airlines' recovery from the current recession will be slower than in previous downturns owing to a substantial debt burden for consumers and businesses that is likely to curtail spending even after economic growth returns, IATA Chief Economist Brian Pearce told reporters this week in Washington.
