June 27, 2003
Letter from General Counsel E.E. Sowell to Chautauqua CEO Bryan Bedford Concerning Negotiations
June 27, 2003
Dear Mr. Bedford:
Your letter of June 26, 2003 was non-responsive to the Union’s demand that we wanted a firm contractual commitment from you, as the CEO of Republic Airways Holdings, Inc., that Republic Airlines would not operate if we reach an agreement on the Chautauqua contract. As you know, that is the single most important obstacle preventing the parties from reaching a deal. It must be resolved if we are to reach an agreement.
Your letter was also a bit premature in your assessment of the parties’ lack of progress at the table. Both negotiating teams worked hard this week and we closed out the Training section and made considerable progress on the Scheduling section. Save for the Republic issue, progress this week has been at an acceptable pace but we simply ran out of time. As I informed you on the telephone several weeks ago and as your negotiating team is well aware, I will be out of the Country from Sunday, June 29th until July 17, 2003. Therefore, it will be impossible to meet over the weekend.
Bryan, US Airways is certainly an interested party in what airline operates under a J4J agreement, however, we have been informed that US Airways could care less about Republic Airlines. Their only interest is to start the code sharing operation as soon as possible and they are agreeable to Chautauqua flying under the J4J code sharing agreement. The Chautauqua pilot group ratified the J4J agreement in March 2003. The J4J agreement that was ratified contained the same economic terms that you had agreed to in June of last year. From the Union’s perspective, it is Chautauqua that is delaying the US Airways J4J flying. We could have been operating now under the agreement, rather than being leveraged at the bargaining table with the formation of the alter ego, Republic Airlines.
Contrary to your past assurances that Republic Airlines would only operate under the J4J US Airways code sharing agreement, we have read numerous DOT filings that Republic Airlines intends to operate under code sharing agreements with numerous mainline carriers. Most troubling is the latest DOT filing by Republic that Republic Airlines will be flying current Chautauqua Airline US Airways code sharing routes out of SDF as its first two lines of flying targeted for October 1, 2003. I am sure you understand our concerns and position that Republic Airlines’ operation poses a direct job threat to our pilots and therefore it must not operate. As the CEO of Republic Airways Holdings, Inc., you certainly have the authority to stop Republic Airlines from operating.
The next negotiation session is scheduled for July 29th through July 31, 2003 in Indianapolis, Indiana. We would encourage your attendance at that session. The issues have been narrowed to economics. The ball is in your court.
Very truly yours,
E.E. Sowell
General Counsel
cc: Chautauqua Executive Council
US Airways MEC
Letter from General Counsel E.E. Sowell to Chautauqua CEO Bryan Bedford Concerning Negotiations
June 27, 2003
Dear Mr. Bedford:
Your letter of June 26, 2003 was non-responsive to the Union’s demand that we wanted a firm contractual commitment from you, as the CEO of Republic Airways Holdings, Inc., that Republic Airlines would not operate if we reach an agreement on the Chautauqua contract. As you know, that is the single most important obstacle preventing the parties from reaching a deal. It must be resolved if we are to reach an agreement.
Your letter was also a bit premature in your assessment of the parties’ lack of progress at the table. Both negotiating teams worked hard this week and we closed out the Training section and made considerable progress on the Scheduling section. Save for the Republic issue, progress this week has been at an acceptable pace but we simply ran out of time. As I informed you on the telephone several weeks ago and as your negotiating team is well aware, I will be out of the Country from Sunday, June 29th until July 17, 2003. Therefore, it will be impossible to meet over the weekend.
Bryan, US Airways is certainly an interested party in what airline operates under a J4J agreement, however, we have been informed that US Airways could care less about Republic Airlines. Their only interest is to start the code sharing operation as soon as possible and they are agreeable to Chautauqua flying under the J4J code sharing agreement. The Chautauqua pilot group ratified the J4J agreement in March 2003. The J4J agreement that was ratified contained the same economic terms that you had agreed to in June of last year. From the Union’s perspective, it is Chautauqua that is delaying the US Airways J4J flying. We could have been operating now under the agreement, rather than being leveraged at the bargaining table with the formation of the alter ego, Republic Airlines.
Contrary to your past assurances that Republic Airlines would only operate under the J4J US Airways code sharing agreement, we have read numerous DOT filings that Republic Airlines intends to operate under code sharing agreements with numerous mainline carriers. Most troubling is the latest DOT filing by Republic that Republic Airlines will be flying current Chautauqua Airline US Airways code sharing routes out of SDF as its first two lines of flying targeted for October 1, 2003. I am sure you understand our concerns and position that Republic Airlines’ operation poses a direct job threat to our pilots and therefore it must not operate. As the CEO of Republic Airways Holdings, Inc., you certainly have the authority to stop Republic Airlines from operating.
The next negotiation session is scheduled for July 29th through July 31, 2003 in Indianapolis, Indiana. We would encourage your attendance at that session. The issues have been narrowed to economics. The ball is in your court.
Very truly yours,
E.E. Sowell
General Counsel
cc: Chautauqua Executive Council
US Airways MEC
