US Airways chairman meets with 2nd union
Personal diplomacy precedes requests for further concessions
TED REED
Staff Writer
US Airways Chairman David Bronner continued his mission of personal diplomacy with the airline's unions on Monday, meeting with leaders of the flight attendants in Charlotte 10 days after he met with pilot leaders. Flight attendant leaders were tight-lipped about details of the two-hour session, held in the US Airways club at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport.
Bronner apparently sketched out his desire that flight attendants help him revive the carrier, which is withering in the face of increasing competition from low-cost competitors.
The company's 5,759 flight attendants are members of the Association of Flight Attendants, one of the airline's four principal unions. The airline is expected to ask all four for salary, benefit or work rule changes in the next several weeks, the third time in two years it has sought concessions.
This time, US Airways wants to reduce costs by 25 percent. It faces its most immediate hurdle on June 30, when it must meet a condition attached to a $900 million federal loan requiring a 7.5 percent ratio of debt to cash flow.
Reducing costs would increase cash flow.
US Airways has its busiest hub in Charlotte, where it offers 469 daily departures and employs 5,782 workers.
Monday's meeting produced "nothing earth-shattering," said Teddy Xidas, president of the Pittsburgh AFA local.
Xidas said flight attendants had a more muted response than the pilots, who seemed to embrace Bronner's combination of humor, financial realism and personal commitment to the airline.
"Maybe the pilots had an epiphany, but there was no epiphany for me," she said. "Everything he spoke about, we already knew."
Steve Hearn, president of the Charlotte AFA local, said the meeting was productive because it "put the reality of the situation into perspective."
"The reality is that the leader of this union will have to make some tough decisions," he said.
The next step, Hearn said, is up to the airline, which is expected to contact flight attendants to say when it wants to talk specifically about the concessions. The airline is prepared to talk to flight attendants but is not ready to specify a time, a spokesman said.
Pilots voted to enter negotiations with the airline after meeting with Bronner Feb. 20, and have been talking for a week.
Personal diplomacy precedes requests for further concessions
TED REED
Staff Writer
US Airways Chairman David Bronner continued his mission of personal diplomacy with the airline's unions on Monday, meeting with leaders of the flight attendants in Charlotte 10 days after he met with pilot leaders. Flight attendant leaders were tight-lipped about details of the two-hour session, held in the US Airways club at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport.
Bronner apparently sketched out his desire that flight attendants help him revive the carrier, which is withering in the face of increasing competition from low-cost competitors.
The company's 5,759 flight attendants are members of the Association of Flight Attendants, one of the airline's four principal unions. The airline is expected to ask all four for salary, benefit or work rule changes in the next several weeks, the third time in two years it has sought concessions.
This time, US Airways wants to reduce costs by 25 percent. It faces its most immediate hurdle on June 30, when it must meet a condition attached to a $900 million federal loan requiring a 7.5 percent ratio of debt to cash flow.
Reducing costs would increase cash flow.
US Airways has its busiest hub in Charlotte, where it offers 469 daily departures and employs 5,782 workers.
Monday's meeting produced "nothing earth-shattering," said Teddy Xidas, president of the Pittsburgh AFA local.
Xidas said flight attendants had a more muted response than the pilots, who seemed to embrace Bronner's combination of humor, financial realism and personal commitment to the airline.
"Maybe the pilots had an epiphany, but there was no epiphany for me," she said. "Everything he spoke about, we already knew."
Steve Hearn, president of the Charlotte AFA local, said the meeting was productive because it "put the reality of the situation into perspective."
"The reality is that the leader of this union will have to make some tough decisions," he said.
The next step, Hearn said, is up to the airline, which is expected to contact flight attendants to say when it wants to talk specifically about the concessions. The airline is prepared to talk to flight attendants but is not ready to specify a time, a spokesman said.
Pilots voted to enter negotiations with the airline after meeting with Bronner Feb. 20, and have been talking for a week.
