US Airways Carrying More Than Financial Baggage
Excerpts from PHL Inquirer story:
Joe Franzini loads strangers' luggage for a living, a job he's done for 26 years for an airline he says he loves. We've got such good guys there," said the 44-year-old father of two from Boothwyn, Delaware County. "We're family men. We have children in school. We need our jobs. We don't want this to end."
The (operational meltdown) debacle, concentrated in Philadelphia, raises weighty questions about US Airways and the region: Will the fiasco sink the airline, or be a catalyst for employees to come together to save it?
Unions said hundreds of employees have offered to work overtime. US Airways also has corralled scores of volunteers, mostly managers from around the country, to come to Philadelphia to act as unpaid customer-service representatives. The unusual move could soothe passengers and forestall problems, not to mention counteract the image of a workforce in revolt. "It certainly puts a human face on their situation and suggests there is support for the company," said Peter Cappelli, an expert in airlines and labor-management relations at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
On Wednesday, the Association of Flight Attendants, representing 6,000 US Airways workers, will release results of its ratification vote on a severe new cost-cutting contract. If it approves the concessions, US Airways will have only one union left to fight in Bankruptcy Court.
If Mitchell does not grant the cuts, the company could shut down soon, said Daniel Kasper, an airline consultant at LECG L.L.C., who has testified on behalf of the company in court. "If they can't or won't agree to the labor cuts, it will be extremely difficult. But they're not in a death spiral," Kasper said.
Complete Story
Regards,
USA320Pilot
Excerpts from PHL Inquirer story:
Joe Franzini loads strangers' luggage for a living, a job he's done for 26 years for an airline he says he loves. We've got such good guys there," said the 44-year-old father of two from Boothwyn, Delaware County. "We're family men. We have children in school. We need our jobs. We don't want this to end."
The (operational meltdown) debacle, concentrated in Philadelphia, raises weighty questions about US Airways and the region: Will the fiasco sink the airline, or be a catalyst for employees to come together to save it?
Unions said hundreds of employees have offered to work overtime. US Airways also has corralled scores of volunteers, mostly managers from around the country, to come to Philadelphia to act as unpaid customer-service representatives. The unusual move could soothe passengers and forestall problems, not to mention counteract the image of a workforce in revolt. "It certainly puts a human face on their situation and suggests there is support for the company," said Peter Cappelli, an expert in airlines and labor-management relations at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
On Wednesday, the Association of Flight Attendants, representing 6,000 US Airways workers, will release results of its ratification vote on a severe new cost-cutting contract. If it approves the concessions, US Airways will have only one union left to fight in Bankruptcy Court.
If Mitchell does not grant the cuts, the company could shut down soon, said Daniel Kasper, an airline consultant at LECG L.L.C., who has testified on behalf of the company in court. "If they can't or won't agree to the labor cuts, it will be extremely difficult. But they're not in a death spiral," Kasper said.
Complete Story
Regards,
USA320Pilot
