Capt. Hummel:
This is in response to the letter you received from the West merger committee members that tendered their resignations. The inaccuracies in the letter require a response.
As you know, the Merger Committee is tasked with protecting the seniority of all USAPA pilots, East and West. While this committee has always had differences regarding the fairness of the Nicolau award, the West members have always told us they would consider other methods of integration once the courts ruled. They gave that assurance at the time they were appointed to the committee and reaffirmed that commitment after their appointment. Now that the federal court in Phoenix, AZ has finally determined that USAPA is not obligated to submit the Nicolau Award ISL as the premerger seniority list for US Airways pilots, the West Representatives have reneged on their prior assurance and refuse to consideration of alternative methods for achieving an ISL with American pilots. In fact, at our meeting just yesterday they steadfastly refused our repeated offers to review and consider a series of potential SLI methods, stating in no uncertain terms that the unmodified Nicolau is the only list they would consider. We have, of course, considered the Nicolau list and our thorough review demonstrates that it doesn’t satisfy the fair and equitable requirements of McCaskill-Bond and it is not fair for our pilot group as a whole. Nor, as they assert, have we yet developed a list we can definitively say we are going to present as our case.
We have consistently tried to engage with the West committee members as we work towards a fair and equitable list. It now appears they are not interested in a fair and equitable list for all USAPA pilots. They are interested in only the unmodified Nicolau award to serve only the interests of West pilots despite USAPA’s DFR responsibility to former East and West pilots. That stance does not fulfill the duties of our committee. Any and all proposals made by this committee must be and will be fair for all pilots. Not just West pilots and not just East pilots.
Regarding the protocol agreement, our latest pass to APA addresses only the merger committees established by APA and USAPA. It requires the continuation of these committees in the event of a single representative determination by the NMB. This is clearly what the McCaskill-Bond Amendment requires and we believe that an attempt by either the Company or APA to take control of the USAPA Committee or to constitute other committees would clearly violate the McCaskill-Bond Amendment and will only lead to further litigation.
Meaningful participation of any committee member requires the ability to be open-minded in order to explore and consider many aspects of how the lists may eventually be merged. If West participation on our committee is limited to their unwavering and unreasonable commitment to the unmodified Nicolau list, it obstructs our desire, goal, and ability to reach a fair and equitable SLI as required by MB. Particularly after two court decisions holding to the contrary, continued strident pursuit for imposition of the unmodified Nicolau list is a disservice to all of our pilots.
Under the circumstances, we have no choice but ask that you accept the resignation of the two resigning members immediately and do whatever is necessary and appropriate to find reasonable representatives from among the former America West pilots who can honestly work with us for a fair and equitable SLI for all US Airways pilots.
Sincerely,
Jess
