Posted on Fri, Jul. 16, 2004
2 unions in US Airways talks
Flight attendants, reservation agents may help cut costs
MATTHEW BARAKAT
Associated Press
ARLINGTON, Va. - Two more unions have agreed to negotiate with US Airways on cost savings the financially strapped airline says are necessary to ensure its survival.
The Association of Flight Attendants said Thursday it will negotiate on changes to its labor agreement with the airline, provided that they be included in an equitable profit-sharing plan. Pilots already receive profit sharing. US Airways is a unit of US Airways Group Inc.
The airline also said Thursday that it expects to begin negotiations soon with the Communications Workers of America, which represents reservations agents, gate workers and other passenger service employees at the airline.
Previously, only the pilots had been willing to negotiate the cost cuts the airline says are necessary to avoid a second trip into bankruptcy. The decisions by the CWA and the flight attendants leave the International Association of Mechanics as the only major union still unwilling to negotiate changes to the contract.
US Airways has said it needs to cut costs by about $1.5 billion a year, including $800 million in labor cuts, to return to profitability. The company has told the unions it hopes to emulate the pay structure and work rules of airlines JetBlue and America West.
The flight attendants have told the airline that they are not interested in discussing JetBlue work rules or America West pay rates. Union spokesman David Kameras said a flight attendant at US Airways with five years of experience earns $29,583, compared to $25,110 at JetBlue and $20,070 at America West.
An airline official said the company is not insisting on an exact duplication of those companies' pay and work rules. Instead, US Airways has set specific monetary goals for each labor unit, and is willing to negotiate how to achieve them.
Specifically, the company is seeking $295 million from its pilots, $263 million from its mechanics, $122 million from the CWA, $116 million from the flight attendants and $4 million from the Transport Workers Union.
At CWA, spokeswoman Candice Johnson confirmed that the union is working with the airline to schedule formal talks, but said the union has already made some money-saving proposals, including a buyout of more senior employees and a voluntary work-at-home plan, similar to a program offered at JetBlue.
"From our perspective, we have made proposals," Johnson said. "We've been waiting for US Airways to negotiate with us."
Unions have been reluctant to open talks because they have already agreed to two rounds of cost cuts that collectively saved the airline $1 billion a year as the airline emerged from bankruptcy last year.
At the time, the airline thought those cost cuts would enable it to compete, but stronger than expected competition from low-cost airlines like Southwest and JetBlue, plus unexpectedly high fuel costs, have created difficulties for US Airways and other traditional airlines.
Airline spokesman David Castelveter said the airline is pleased to start formal talks with two more unions "but we still have a lot of work to do."
US Airways Chief Executive Officer Bruce Lakefield has said the company needs to have new agreements ratified by the unions by September at the latest.
2 unions in US Airways talks
Flight attendants, reservation agents may help cut costs
MATTHEW BARAKAT
Associated Press
ARLINGTON, Va. - Two more unions have agreed to negotiate with US Airways on cost savings the financially strapped airline says are necessary to ensure its survival.
The Association of Flight Attendants said Thursday it will negotiate on changes to its labor agreement with the airline, provided that they be included in an equitable profit-sharing plan. Pilots already receive profit sharing. US Airways is a unit of US Airways Group Inc.
The airline also said Thursday that it expects to begin negotiations soon with the Communications Workers of America, which represents reservations agents, gate workers and other passenger service employees at the airline.
Previously, only the pilots had been willing to negotiate the cost cuts the airline says are necessary to avoid a second trip into bankruptcy. The decisions by the CWA and the flight attendants leave the International Association of Mechanics as the only major union still unwilling to negotiate changes to the contract.
US Airways has said it needs to cut costs by about $1.5 billion a year, including $800 million in labor cuts, to return to profitability. The company has told the unions it hopes to emulate the pay structure and work rules of airlines JetBlue and America West.
The flight attendants have told the airline that they are not interested in discussing JetBlue work rules or America West pay rates. Union spokesman David Kameras said a flight attendant at US Airways with five years of experience earns $29,583, compared to $25,110 at JetBlue and $20,070 at America West.
An airline official said the company is not insisting on an exact duplication of those companies' pay and work rules. Instead, US Airways has set specific monetary goals for each labor unit, and is willing to negotiate how to achieve them.
Specifically, the company is seeking $295 million from its pilots, $263 million from its mechanics, $122 million from the CWA, $116 million from the flight attendants and $4 million from the Transport Workers Union.
At CWA, spokeswoman Candice Johnson confirmed that the union is working with the airline to schedule formal talks, but said the union has already made some money-saving proposals, including a buyout of more senior employees and a voluntary work-at-home plan, similar to a program offered at JetBlue.
"From our perspective, we have made proposals," Johnson said. "We've been waiting for US Airways to negotiate with us."
Unions have been reluctant to open talks because they have already agreed to two rounds of cost cuts that collectively saved the airline $1 billion a year as the airline emerged from bankruptcy last year.
At the time, the airline thought those cost cuts would enable it to compete, but stronger than expected competition from low-cost airlines like Southwest and JetBlue, plus unexpectedly high fuel costs, have created difficulties for US Airways and other traditional airlines.
Airline spokesman David Castelveter said the airline is pleased to start formal talks with two more unions "but we still have a lot of work to do."
US Airways Chief Executive Officer Bruce Lakefield has said the company needs to have new agreements ratified by the unions by September at the latest.
I shoulda noticed that. I saw TWU and immediately my mind said "mechanics," which I naturally took to mean that I saw IAM instead of TWU. Never mind. 
