TRANSITION AGREEMENT MEETINGS WITH AMERICA WEST
Highlights from MEC President Mike Flores
Your merger negotiating committee, Carol Austin and I, had our first formal meetings with our America West counterparts on August 24 and 25. Details of the meeting will follow in part II of this letter but first I will address a concern we all share, seniority. According to the America West MEC website, an advance agenda item has been submitted to the AFA Board of Directors seeking to amend the current AFA merger policy of date of hire. Neither Carol nor I were apprised of this agenda item at our meetings last week. The Board of Directors, made up of all LEC presidents from all AFA carriers will hold its annual meeting October 18-21 in Palm Springs, California. The current date of hire policy has been in place since the late 1980's. US Airways and before that US Air and before that Allegheny have ALWAYS used a date of hire policy. We used that policy even before it was mandated by the AFA Constitution and By Laws. The America West logic is that the policy was put in place at a time when legacy carriers were merging and therefore does not apply now. According to the America West leadership the new world order is that a low cost carrier, America West merging with a legacy carrier, US Airways, now requires a change to the current policy. This membership has gone through three contract concessions in the last three years. The road to reduce our costs down to a level equal to a low cost carrier is paved with pay cuts, lost pensions and lost jobs. In fact, when our most recent concessionary negotiations began we were told by Jerry Glass and other members of management our labor costs had to mirror those of America West. Our costs now mirror or are below America West's costs. To refer to US Airways as a "legacy carrier" now is a stretch. We do not need to, nor will we give up any seniority to facilitate this merger. Nor will we ever agree that this merger is in any way different than any other merger or acquisition. Our costs reductions have given US Airways the opportunity to join America West in a merger. Unlike previous mergers, which were actually acquisitions, this is truly a merger. Neither company is buying the other; outside investors are the financial backing behind merger. The merger will benefit both companies as neither could remain a stand-alone company in today's economic environment. This merger will help secure the future of both of these fine carriers. We need each other and the investors to make this a reality.
While it is true US Airways has a long history dating back to All American Airways (circa 1949), the current seniority list at US Airways is actually a composite of regional carriers; Allegheny, Lake Central, Mohawk, PSA, Piedmont, Empire and the Trump Shuttle. Date of hire has been the tool for seniority integration in all of these mergers. Although the Piedmont/Empire merger resulted in Empire flight attendants being placed at the bottom of the Piedmont list, when US Air acquired Piedmont the Empire flight attendants were credited with their original date of hire. In fact, out of the top one hundred members on our list only 52 are original US Air/Allegheny/Mohawk members. The trend continues throughout or list and in fact the number one person on our seniority list is a former Trump Shuttle flight attendant who per agreement is using her Eastern Airlines date of hire. The point is that some of the original US Air/Allegheny/Mohawk members lost seniority every time there was a merger. Date of hire can advantage some members and disadvantage others. The fact that we are an older carrier also means we have a much higher attrition rate. Either through resignations, retirements or Voluntary Furlough programs we have seen the more senior members of US Airways leave the company at an alarming rate. That will continue as US Airways continues to shrink prior to the operational integration of the two carriers. In other words, the seniority disadvantage perceived by our fellow members is taking care of itself. I can certainly understand the trepidation that many America West members are feeling. I know because I have been part of three mergers and while I have lost seniority each time the playing field was fair for all and leveled out over time. America West is unique in that they are a one base airline. Their seniority only changes for the better. All of us at US Airways have seen our base seniority change constantly and have lived through it. This merger will not create a windfall for our members. There will be no bumping into Phoenix. Any transfers into Phoenix will only occur contractually due to vacancies or growth. There will be no bumping into a job for those on our list who are currently on furlough.
I don't yet know the exact details of the amendment to be presented to the Board of Directors via the advanced agenda item. The item will be published in mid September. I do know that we will be prepared to make our case.
I had the privilege of riding on the new livery aircraft from CLT to PHX last week. One of the most impressive things about the new livery is the circle of the original carrier's insignias surrounding the U-S symbol. This new symbol will be on every aircraft adjacent to the 1L door; visible to all upon entering the aircraft. That symbol and the four retro paint schemes from the original carriers symbolize what Doug Parker, CEO of the new US Airways Group, calls our "commitment to tradition and heritage". So too should AFA's commitment be to the heritage and tradition of date of hire. That policy has been followed in the past and should be followed now and in the future as the consolidation of this industry may be just beginning. There should indeed be "one Union for all".
