July 11, 2003
Dear Fellow Pilot,
I’m pleased to report that on June 4, ALPA and US Airways agreed to legislative language on pension funding restoration. This language resolves the concerns raised by management. If this legislation is passed by Congress, it would provide for the restoration of the US Airways pilots'' defined benefits pension plan, and also help to protect other passenger airline employees'' defined benefit pension plans – a growing problem as other carriers confront this daunting issue.
ALPA President Captain Duane Woerth, ALPA General Manager Jalmer Johnson, and R & I and Legislative Affairs staff played a key role in assisting your MEC''s efforts to have US Airways fulfill its obligation to pursue and support pension legislation that will restore our defined benefit plan.
ALPA is continuing to work with US Airways management and other interested airlines to get this legislation enacted. We have also joined the Company at preliminary meetings with members of Congress to educate them on the proposal.
As early as next week, we hope that a bill will be introduced in the House by Representative Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and a bi-partisan group of congressional leaders, all of whom are members of the House Ways and Means Committee. Once the bill is formally introduced, it will be assigned a number. At that time, we will implement another MEC communications campaign, similar to the one that the pilot group participated in during May, asking our elected representatives to support this bill. I will soon be sending a letter to all pilots explaining the campaign and providing directions to contact your representatives. Please continue to stay updated on the status of this issue through the code-a-phone and pilots only website.
Age 60 legislation
By a 52-44 vote with four senators not voting, the U.S. Senate rejected Amendment 896 to the FAA reauthorization bill, the Aviation Investment and Revitalization Act, on June 12. This amendment was introduced to raise the mandatory airline pilot retirement age immediately to 63 with an incremental climb to 66.
ALPA''s opposition to this amendment is consistent with the Association''s policy on the Age 60 rule as established by its governing bodies and reaffirmed at the May 2003 Executive Board meeting in Washington, D.C.
Although some pilots do not agree with ALPA’s position on the Age 60 issue, at this time it is the Association’s established position. If ALPA members wish to change this position, they should use our constitutional process to do so. Our MEC will review ALPA’s position on the Age 60 rule at the third quarter MEC meeting scheduled for September 9-12 in BOS.
ALPA-PAC
The ALPA-PAC Steering Committee announced in March that the 2002 ALPA-PAC annual giving campaign raised $1.2 million in voluntary contributions from U.S. ALPA members. It was the first time in the PAC’s 27-year history that the million-dollar mark was broken. Encouragingly, in last year’s 2002 November election, ALPA-PAC-supported candidates were successful in 81 percent of their races.
US Airways pilots increased their ALPA-PAC support in 2002, with 15 percent of the pilot group contributing to the PAC. This percentage is up from the nine percent contributed to the PAC in 2001. The fact that our ALPA-PAC contributions increased in a year that was financially devastating to our pilots shows that we are willing to confront the challenges that are certain to come our way, including threats to our careers and industry.
If you haven’t already done so, please consider contributing to ALPA-PAC to help ALPA continue to elect more pro-pilot, labor-friendly candidates in the 2004 federal elections. If you have already contributed, please consider increasing your donation. Contributing to ALPA-PAC is easy through the ALPA-PAC check-off program. For more information, please contact MEC Legislative Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Overton, or go to the ALPA International website under ALPA Departments-Govt. Affairs/ALPA-PAC.
Star Alliance
The Star Alliance, the world''s largest airline alliance, announced on May 31 that US Airways'' application was unanimously approved to join their network of over 15 airlines. The addition of US Airways increases the number of airports served by Star Alliance from 700 to 771, and the number of countries from 128 to 133. While no firm date is set for US Airways'' official entry into Star, it is anticipated that the Company will become a full member of the alliance within six to nine months as frequent flyer and other marketing arrangements are concluded with all member carriers. To permit entry into a global alliance, the MEC ratified the international and domestic code-sharing components of the July 2002 Restructuring Agreement, which are contained in attachments C & D of that document. US Airways’ entry into the Star Alliance will provide additional revenue to our company as we capture passengers through Star’s convenience and reach.
Corporate culture
Following US Airways’ emergence from bankruptcy, and considering the magnitude of the pilots’ concessions to enable it, I expected that management would transition into the business of running our airline showing the proper respect to the pilots and all employees.
My cautious optimism was short lived, however, after the Company announced on April 10 that it would furlough 52 more pilots. This furlough announcement, like the Feb. 4, 2003 furloughs, is not in compliance with the July 2002 Restructuring Agreement or LOA 84. The pilots furloughed in 2003 were not pilots already scheduled for furlough as a result of Permanent Bid 03-01.
Then, ALPA learned that the Company implemented a sick leave policy to which the union had never agreed and that arbitrarily penalizes pilots who use sick leave.
When President and CEO David Siegel arrived at US Airways in March 2002, he committed to improving employee relations. Instead, employees have endured a series of cram-down negotiations and have been continually threatened with liquidation. Management seems incapable of generating a positive vision for our company.
The business of running an airline means that management-employee cooperation, communication, and contract enforcement have to be present to create a stable relationship and must be treated with the same kind of technical attention as is given day-to-day operations. Previous managements were unable or unwilling to invest the time, so US Airways’ employees have been waiting many years for corporate culture to improve. We’re already suspicious and weary from damaged employee relations and have grown tired of management’s only solution to fixing US Airways’ problems—asking labor for concessions. Now that US Airways has emerged from Chapter 11, a traditional negotiating process is once again in place, as provided under the Railway Labor Act. Management will not prevail using arbitrarily implemented procedures, nor will they prevail by manipulating parts of our contract that are contrary to our established agreements. It is obvious that they will continue to try, and it’s our job to defeat their every attempt.
I have informed senior management that serious and immediate change needs to occur in management’s approach to labor relations with pilots at all levels. Further mismanagement of US Airways at the pilots’ expense will not be tolerated, and we expect management to run the airline instead of continuously blaming their ills on the pilot group.
At our end, ALPA is aggressively fighting these latest violations by filing grievances on the following issues:
Management does not have the right to force a pilot to fly back sick leave. ALPA also believes that management has no right to interfere with or restrict the right of a pilot to utilize and take advantage of the Availability and Improvement List, and that a pilot must receive pay and credit for all time actually flown.
At this time, there is no agreement between ALPA and management that outlines how the pilots’ sick leave should be implemented. ALPA had told management that any modified sick leave policy must be delayed until the issues are resolved. Incredibly, management discounted the time spent negotiating a follow-on retirement plan in their attempt to justify a unilateral implementation because of the time delay.
At this time, the MEC and MEC officers are no longer willing to entertain management’s requests for contractual relief. At the MEC’s second quarter meeting, the Company asked the MEC to approve the utilization of the 75-seat CRJ-900 Series 705, one of the aircraft recently ordered by management, which exceeds the maximum small jet seat and weight limit restrictions in the July 2002 Restructuring Agreement. The MEC responded to this request by stating that until management begins to properly administer the Contract in good faith and begins to engage in sincere efforts to repair the financial and labor relations damage that has resulted from their many insincere actions, MEC members will not consider additional requests for contractual flexibility.
Since ALPA required US Airways to bring its aircraft order into compliance with the scope provisions in the July 2002 Restructuring Agreement, the Company announced on July 9 that it will not be taking delivery of the CRJ-900 Series 705 aircraft. These aircraft are to be converted to the 70-seat CRJ-700s, which do comply with our scope provisions, and diverted to Mesa Airlines instead of a wholly-owned carrier such as PSA. This means that US Airways will not be paying the leases for these aircraft.
In reaction to being forced to comply with the pilots’ working agreement, management made several irresponsible and untrue statements designed to inflict harmful blame on ALPA for forcing the Company to comply with the working agreement. Management announced it will divert these 70-seat aircraft to an affiliate carrier, Mesa Airlines, instead of a wholly-owned carrier. These actions appear quite punitive toward furloughed and wholly-owned pilots, and spiteful toward ALPA. Management could have put these 70-seat aircraft at a wholly-owned carrier, but chose this approach instead. Nonetheless, we will continue to vigorously enforce the Contract, especially in the wake of management’s indignant reactions.
Management’s claims that the CRJ 900-705s created more Jets For Jobs positions are misleading at best. The total number of aircraft ordered and Jets For Jobs positions available to APL pilots do not change. There would have been no additional Jets For Jobs positions if the MEC allowed the Company to operate the -705.
LOA 83, 2C states that:
Up to 25 Large SJs, specifically limited to the CRJ-700, may be placed into revenue operation at a Participating Wholly-Owned Carrier, other than MDA. All Large SJ positions created by operation of this paragraph shall be filled by US Airways pilots in accordance with the Jets for Jobs Protocol, Attachment B-3 of the Restructuring Agreement. In addition, as an exception to the Jets for Jobs Protocol, 100% of the first 25 Medium or Small Jet positions at the Wholly Owned Carrier where the above Large Small Jets are placed shall be filled by pilots of that Wholly Owned Carrier. Upon completion of the staffing of these aircraft, the 50/50 balance of hiring pursuant to the Jets for Jobs Protocol will be followed.
This means that US Airways furloughed pilots will get 100 percent of the 70-seat jobs at US Airways’ wholly-owned carriers, but the wholly-owned carriers can then fill 100 percent of an equal number of jobs in their 50-seaters using their pilots. For example, if 25 70-seat aircraft were placed at one of US Airways’ wholly-owned carriers, all 225 of those jobs generated would go to pilots on the APL. However, LOA 83 then stipulates that 225 jobs—an equal number—of the first 25 of 50-seat aircraft would go to that wholly owned carrier.
The Company’s canceling of the -705 order does not change the total number of overall jobs for the pilots in the Jets For Jobs agreement. There would have been 225 Jets For Jobs positions available if 25 70-seat jets were placed with wholly owned carrier, or if 50 50-seat jets were placed with a wholly-owned carrier.
The central issue is that management sought to violate an important scope provision by placing an inappropriate aircraft order and then creating membership confusion to influence contractual consent. Such actions and violations of scope provisions put additional pressure on current mainline pilot jobs and ultimately cause delays of mainline pilot recalls.
An airline that is out of bankruptcy must be managed in a decidedly different manner than one that is in Chapter 11, though we haven’t seen a discernable difference yet. Management must prove that they can accomplish the difficult tasks that lie ahead—running the airline post-bankruptcy in a challenging economic climate. I am also calling upon management to improve corporate culture by building a long-term, respectful relationship with their employees. Respect starts by honoring both the letter and spirit of our negotiated agreements.
The US Airways pilots should expect to be recognized for their crucial leadership role in this reorganization. If senior management continues to treat the pilot group like second-class citizens, I fear our difficult reorganization effort will have been in vain, and our airline will wallow into oblivion.
DC plan contributions matrix
Management has failed to provide sufficient information to all pilots to verify the accuracy of the contribution rate under the Pilots Defined Contribution Plan, and I sent a letter to them on behalf of all US Airways pilots formally objecting to the contribution matrix of the pilots’ defined contribution plan.
This letter requests that US Airways provide each pilot with detailed information and informs the Company that the 30-day period under LOA 85 for pilots to review the data and request corrections cannot begin until each pilot receives sufficient information. In addition, the letter informs management that it has not complied with LOA 85 by failing to provide ALPA with the Career Progression Model used in the DC plan calculations and by improperly capping furloughed pilots’ contribution rates at 10 percent for pilots who were hired after January 1, 1998.
The MEC and MEC officers will continue to enforce our working agreement, to resist management’s unending attempts to reach for more, and to restore an atmosphere of respect for our fellow pilots. You can help by knowing our contract and requiring that it be honored in your dealings with Crew Scheduling and with other departments of this corporation.
Fraternally,
Captain Bill Pollock
US Airways MEC Chairman
Dear Fellow Pilot,
I’m pleased to report that on June 4, ALPA and US Airways agreed to legislative language on pension funding restoration. This language resolves the concerns raised by management. If this legislation is passed by Congress, it would provide for the restoration of the US Airways pilots'' defined benefits pension plan, and also help to protect other passenger airline employees'' defined benefit pension plans – a growing problem as other carriers confront this daunting issue.
ALPA President Captain Duane Woerth, ALPA General Manager Jalmer Johnson, and R & I and Legislative Affairs staff played a key role in assisting your MEC''s efforts to have US Airways fulfill its obligation to pursue and support pension legislation that will restore our defined benefit plan.
ALPA is continuing to work with US Airways management and other interested airlines to get this legislation enacted. We have also joined the Company at preliminary meetings with members of Congress to educate them on the proposal.
As early as next week, we hope that a bill will be introduced in the House by Representative Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and a bi-partisan group of congressional leaders, all of whom are members of the House Ways and Means Committee. Once the bill is formally introduced, it will be assigned a number. At that time, we will implement another MEC communications campaign, similar to the one that the pilot group participated in during May, asking our elected representatives to support this bill. I will soon be sending a letter to all pilots explaining the campaign and providing directions to contact your representatives. Please continue to stay updated on the status of this issue through the code-a-phone and pilots only website.
Age 60 legislation
By a 52-44 vote with four senators not voting, the U.S. Senate rejected Amendment 896 to the FAA reauthorization bill, the Aviation Investment and Revitalization Act, on June 12. This amendment was introduced to raise the mandatory airline pilot retirement age immediately to 63 with an incremental climb to 66.
ALPA''s opposition to this amendment is consistent with the Association''s policy on the Age 60 rule as established by its governing bodies and reaffirmed at the May 2003 Executive Board meeting in Washington, D.C.
Although some pilots do not agree with ALPA’s position on the Age 60 issue, at this time it is the Association’s established position. If ALPA members wish to change this position, they should use our constitutional process to do so. Our MEC will review ALPA’s position on the Age 60 rule at the third quarter MEC meeting scheduled for September 9-12 in BOS.
ALPA-PAC
The ALPA-PAC Steering Committee announced in March that the 2002 ALPA-PAC annual giving campaign raised $1.2 million in voluntary contributions from U.S. ALPA members. It was the first time in the PAC’s 27-year history that the million-dollar mark was broken. Encouragingly, in last year’s 2002 November election, ALPA-PAC-supported candidates were successful in 81 percent of their races.
US Airways pilots increased their ALPA-PAC support in 2002, with 15 percent of the pilot group contributing to the PAC. This percentage is up from the nine percent contributed to the PAC in 2001. The fact that our ALPA-PAC contributions increased in a year that was financially devastating to our pilots shows that we are willing to confront the challenges that are certain to come our way, including threats to our careers and industry.
If you haven’t already done so, please consider contributing to ALPA-PAC to help ALPA continue to elect more pro-pilot, labor-friendly candidates in the 2004 federal elections. If you have already contributed, please consider increasing your donation. Contributing to ALPA-PAC is easy through the ALPA-PAC check-off program. For more information, please contact MEC Legislative Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Overton, or go to the ALPA International website under ALPA Departments-Govt. Affairs/ALPA-PAC.
Star Alliance
The Star Alliance, the world''s largest airline alliance, announced on May 31 that US Airways'' application was unanimously approved to join their network of over 15 airlines. The addition of US Airways increases the number of airports served by Star Alliance from 700 to 771, and the number of countries from 128 to 133. While no firm date is set for US Airways'' official entry into Star, it is anticipated that the Company will become a full member of the alliance within six to nine months as frequent flyer and other marketing arrangements are concluded with all member carriers. To permit entry into a global alliance, the MEC ratified the international and domestic code-sharing components of the July 2002 Restructuring Agreement, which are contained in attachments C & D of that document. US Airways’ entry into the Star Alliance will provide additional revenue to our company as we capture passengers through Star’s convenience and reach.
Corporate culture
Following US Airways’ emergence from bankruptcy, and considering the magnitude of the pilots’ concessions to enable it, I expected that management would transition into the business of running our airline showing the proper respect to the pilots and all employees.
My cautious optimism was short lived, however, after the Company announced on April 10 that it would furlough 52 more pilots. This furlough announcement, like the Feb. 4, 2003 furloughs, is not in compliance with the July 2002 Restructuring Agreement or LOA 84. The pilots furloughed in 2003 were not pilots already scheduled for furlough as a result of Permanent Bid 03-01.
Then, ALPA learned that the Company implemented a sick leave policy to which the union had never agreed and that arbitrarily penalizes pilots who use sick leave.
When President and CEO David Siegel arrived at US Airways in March 2002, he committed to improving employee relations. Instead, employees have endured a series of cram-down negotiations and have been continually threatened with liquidation. Management seems incapable of generating a positive vision for our company.
The business of running an airline means that management-employee cooperation, communication, and contract enforcement have to be present to create a stable relationship and must be treated with the same kind of technical attention as is given day-to-day operations. Previous managements were unable or unwilling to invest the time, so US Airways’ employees have been waiting many years for corporate culture to improve. We’re already suspicious and weary from damaged employee relations and have grown tired of management’s only solution to fixing US Airways’ problems—asking labor for concessions. Now that US Airways has emerged from Chapter 11, a traditional negotiating process is once again in place, as provided under the Railway Labor Act. Management will not prevail using arbitrarily implemented procedures, nor will they prevail by manipulating parts of our contract that are contrary to our established agreements. It is obvious that they will continue to try, and it’s our job to defeat their every attempt.
I have informed senior management that serious and immediate change needs to occur in management’s approach to labor relations with pilots at all levels. Further mismanagement of US Airways at the pilots’ expense will not be tolerated, and we expect management to run the airline instead of continuously blaming their ills on the pilot group.
At our end, ALPA is aggressively fighting these latest violations by filing grievances on the following issues:
The April 10 furlough announcement is not in compliance with the July 2002 Restructuring Agreement or LOA 84. The MEC grievance filed on these furloughs is in addition to the grievance that was filed in February, stating that an excess of 200 pilots were being furloughed who were not or should not have been identified for furlough.
In response to management’s misinterpretation and misapplication of the sick leave policy, the MEC directed that an expedited MEC grievance be filed. The arbitration was started on June 17-18 in Washington, DC, and two additional days in July are scheduled for the remainder of the arbitration. Management is implementing a sick leave policy under the December 2002 Restructuring Agreement that goes far beyond what ALPA agreed to. They are attempting to impose:
forced sick fly back, which means that a pilot would have to fly all sick time back before picking up any additional flying for pay purposes.
sick time balancing, which transfers the hours that a pilot has flown over his scheduled line value during trips and forces these hours into the pilot’s sick flyback time. This is time pilots are normally paid.
Management does not have the right to force a pilot to fly back sick leave. ALPA also believes that management has no right to interfere with or restrict the right of a pilot to utilize and take advantage of the Availability and Improvement List, and that a pilot must receive pay and credit for all time actually flown.
At this time, there is no agreement between ALPA and management that outlines how the pilots’ sick leave should be implemented. ALPA had told management that any modified sick leave policy must be delayed until the issues are resolved. Incredibly, management discounted the time spent negotiating a follow-on retirement plan in their attempt to justify a unilateral implementation because of the time delay.
At this time, the MEC and MEC officers are no longer willing to entertain management’s requests for contractual relief. At the MEC’s second quarter meeting, the Company asked the MEC to approve the utilization of the 75-seat CRJ-900 Series 705, one of the aircraft recently ordered by management, which exceeds the maximum small jet seat and weight limit restrictions in the July 2002 Restructuring Agreement. The MEC responded to this request by stating that until management begins to properly administer the Contract in good faith and begins to engage in sincere efforts to repair the financial and labor relations damage that has resulted from their many insincere actions, MEC members will not consider additional requests for contractual flexibility.
Since ALPA required US Airways to bring its aircraft order into compliance with the scope provisions in the July 2002 Restructuring Agreement, the Company announced on July 9 that it will not be taking delivery of the CRJ-900 Series 705 aircraft. These aircraft are to be converted to the 70-seat CRJ-700s, which do comply with our scope provisions, and diverted to Mesa Airlines instead of a wholly-owned carrier such as PSA. This means that US Airways will not be paying the leases for these aircraft.
In reaction to being forced to comply with the pilots’ working agreement, management made several irresponsible and untrue statements designed to inflict harmful blame on ALPA for forcing the Company to comply with the working agreement. Management announced it will divert these 70-seat aircraft to an affiliate carrier, Mesa Airlines, instead of a wholly-owned carrier. These actions appear quite punitive toward furloughed and wholly-owned pilots, and spiteful toward ALPA. Management could have put these 70-seat aircraft at a wholly-owned carrier, but chose this approach instead. Nonetheless, we will continue to vigorously enforce the Contract, especially in the wake of management’s indignant reactions.
Management’s claims that the CRJ 900-705s created more Jets For Jobs positions are misleading at best. The total number of aircraft ordered and Jets For Jobs positions available to APL pilots do not change. There would have been no additional Jets For Jobs positions if the MEC allowed the Company to operate the -705.
LOA 83, 2C states that:
Up to 25 Large SJs, specifically limited to the CRJ-700, may be placed into revenue operation at a Participating Wholly-Owned Carrier, other than MDA. All Large SJ positions created by operation of this paragraph shall be filled by US Airways pilots in accordance with the Jets for Jobs Protocol, Attachment B-3 of the Restructuring Agreement. In addition, as an exception to the Jets for Jobs Protocol, 100% of the first 25 Medium or Small Jet positions at the Wholly Owned Carrier where the above Large Small Jets are placed shall be filled by pilots of that Wholly Owned Carrier. Upon completion of the staffing of these aircraft, the 50/50 balance of hiring pursuant to the Jets for Jobs Protocol will be followed.
This means that US Airways furloughed pilots will get 100 percent of the 70-seat jobs at US Airways’ wholly-owned carriers, but the wholly-owned carriers can then fill 100 percent of an equal number of jobs in their 50-seaters using their pilots. For example, if 25 70-seat aircraft were placed at one of US Airways’ wholly-owned carriers, all 225 of those jobs generated would go to pilots on the APL. However, LOA 83 then stipulates that 225 jobs—an equal number—of the first 25 of 50-seat aircraft would go to that wholly owned carrier.
The Company’s canceling of the -705 order does not change the total number of overall jobs for the pilots in the Jets For Jobs agreement. There would have been 225 Jets For Jobs positions available if 25 70-seat jets were placed with wholly owned carrier, or if 50 50-seat jets were placed with a wholly-owned carrier.
The central issue is that management sought to violate an important scope provision by placing an inappropriate aircraft order and then creating membership confusion to influence contractual consent. Such actions and violations of scope provisions put additional pressure on current mainline pilot jobs and ultimately cause delays of mainline pilot recalls.
An airline that is out of bankruptcy must be managed in a decidedly different manner than one that is in Chapter 11, though we haven’t seen a discernable difference yet. Management must prove that they can accomplish the difficult tasks that lie ahead—running the airline post-bankruptcy in a challenging economic climate. I am also calling upon management to improve corporate culture by building a long-term, respectful relationship with their employees. Respect starts by honoring both the letter and spirit of our negotiated agreements.
The US Airways pilots should expect to be recognized for their crucial leadership role in this reorganization. If senior management continues to treat the pilot group like second-class citizens, I fear our difficult reorganization effort will have been in vain, and our airline will wallow into oblivion.
DC plan contributions matrix
Management has failed to provide sufficient information to all pilots to verify the accuracy of the contribution rate under the Pilots Defined Contribution Plan, and I sent a letter to them on behalf of all US Airways pilots formally objecting to the contribution matrix of the pilots’ defined contribution plan.
This letter requests that US Airways provide each pilot with detailed information and informs the Company that the 30-day period under LOA 85 for pilots to review the data and request corrections cannot begin until each pilot receives sufficient information. In addition, the letter informs management that it has not complied with LOA 85 by failing to provide ALPA with the Career Progression Model used in the DC plan calculations and by improperly capping furloughed pilots’ contribution rates at 10 percent for pilots who were hired after January 1, 1998.
The MEC and MEC officers will continue to enforce our working agreement, to resist management’s unending attempts to reach for more, and to restore an atmosphere of respect for our fellow pilots. You can help by knowing our contract and requiring that it be honored in your dealings with Crew Scheduling and with other departments of this corporation.
Fraternally,
Captain Bill Pollock
US Airways MEC Chairman
