US Airways and the US Airways ALPA Negotiating Committee have held discussions designed to provide the East pilots AWA pilot rates outside of JNC talks.
The motivation for the East pilots is simple. Obtain a pay raise and then not agree to a joint contract, which would keep the two pilot groups separate and prevent the Nicolau Award from being implemented for a long period time.
But, many have asked what would be the Company’s motivation to provide a pay raise outside of joint contract talks.
I believe there could be two points: Labor peace on the East and Turboprop Scope relief.
As far as labor peace, there seems to be an interesting sentiment change if you look closely at recent code-a-phone W.A.R. reports.
For example, on June 21 the code-a-phone told pilots “Carrying excess fuel means carrying extra weight. The flight plan header shows the cost of carrying additional fuel (weight). More importantly, this extra fuel may reduce allowable payload, which imposes additional loss of revenue. This cost multiplied by thousands of flights per year adds up quickly. It costs fuel to carry fuel.â€
Also noteworthy, on July 7 the code-a-phone told pilots “US Airways’ Operational Priorities were: Safety, Passenger Comfort, Schedule, and Efficiency.â€
It appears that ALPA has changed its posture from one of a more hostile sentiment to one of working closer with the Company’
But, could there be even stronger motivation?
Today, the US Airways East pilot contract limits the size of turboprop aircraft seats, which prevents the Q-400 from being flown in the US Airways Express network. Furthermore, the Piedmont Fleet Plan calls for all 56 Dash-8’s to be retired by 2012.
According to Air Transport World, US Airways Express president Robert Martens said at the Regional Airline Association conference and exhibition in Memphis, Tennessee, US Airways will issue an RFP will cover a mix of new 50- and 70-seat turboprops. Furthermore, it is my understanding the Company has approached the Piedmont MEC about flying the Q-400 and desiring to enter into discussions on pay rates. The challenge: The US Airways pilot contract scope language prevents the Q-400 from being flown at an Express carrier. Therefore, for the Q-400 to be flown in US Airways’ network the East pilots would need to grant scope relief. And, since this flying is not covered by the Transition Agreement, the West pilot group may not have a say in the decision on whether or not the East pilots grant this relief.
Click here to read the story.
Furthermore, Air Transport World reported a year we ago we announced we were looking at replacement [for the Piedmont fleet] but we redirected our attention to a larger order for the mainline," a US Airways spokesperson told ATWOnline. "Now that the mainline order is out, we will focus our attention on Piedmont."
Click here to read the story.
Meanwhile, the FAA’s proposed rule on demand management at LaGuardia is now scheduled to be implemented on October 31, 2007. The rules intent is to change the habits of airlines operating to LGA from midsize and large hubs. According to the FAA, "While we recognize that service to nonhub and small-hub airports may only support commuter aircraft, serving medium and large airports repeatedly throughout the day with the smaller gauge aircraft does not maximize passenger throughput or the use of a constrained resource," it says. The proposed rule satisfies "a larger share of consumer demand."
Furthermore, the FAA will enforce the rule "through a use-or-lose provision which would require carriers to report the average number of seats offered," says the NPRM. "FAA first would withdraw the operating authorization(s) operated using the smallest aircraft. The number of operating authorizations withdrawn would depend on how far off target the carrier's operations were over the preceding year."
Therefore, is US Airways’ “executive suite†interested in providing the East pilots a pay raise in exchange for labor peace and replacing the Piedmont Dash 8’s with Q-400’s, which could be used to support the FAA’s NPRM LGA Demand Management program, since the Transition Agreement would not preclude the East pilots from granting scope relief while the East and West mainline pilots remain separate?
Regards,
USA320Pilot
The motivation for the East pilots is simple. Obtain a pay raise and then not agree to a joint contract, which would keep the two pilot groups separate and prevent the Nicolau Award from being implemented for a long period time.
But, many have asked what would be the Company’s motivation to provide a pay raise outside of joint contract talks.
I believe there could be two points: Labor peace on the East and Turboprop Scope relief.
As far as labor peace, there seems to be an interesting sentiment change if you look closely at recent code-a-phone W.A.R. reports.
For example, on June 21 the code-a-phone told pilots “Carrying excess fuel means carrying extra weight. The flight plan header shows the cost of carrying additional fuel (weight). More importantly, this extra fuel may reduce allowable payload, which imposes additional loss of revenue. This cost multiplied by thousands of flights per year adds up quickly. It costs fuel to carry fuel.â€
Also noteworthy, on July 7 the code-a-phone told pilots “US Airways’ Operational Priorities were: Safety, Passenger Comfort, Schedule, and Efficiency.â€
It appears that ALPA has changed its posture from one of a more hostile sentiment to one of working closer with the Company’
But, could there be even stronger motivation?
Today, the US Airways East pilot contract limits the size of turboprop aircraft seats, which prevents the Q-400 from being flown in the US Airways Express network. Furthermore, the Piedmont Fleet Plan calls for all 56 Dash-8’s to be retired by 2012.
According to Air Transport World, US Airways Express president Robert Martens said at the Regional Airline Association conference and exhibition in Memphis, Tennessee, US Airways will issue an RFP will cover a mix of new 50- and 70-seat turboprops. Furthermore, it is my understanding the Company has approached the Piedmont MEC about flying the Q-400 and desiring to enter into discussions on pay rates. The challenge: The US Airways pilot contract scope language prevents the Q-400 from being flown at an Express carrier. Therefore, for the Q-400 to be flown in US Airways’ network the East pilots would need to grant scope relief. And, since this flying is not covered by the Transition Agreement, the West pilot group may not have a say in the decision on whether or not the East pilots grant this relief.
Click here to read the story.
Furthermore, Air Transport World reported a year we ago we announced we were looking at replacement [for the Piedmont fleet] but we redirected our attention to a larger order for the mainline," a US Airways spokesperson told ATWOnline. "Now that the mainline order is out, we will focus our attention on Piedmont."
Click here to read the story.
Meanwhile, the FAA’s proposed rule on demand management at LaGuardia is now scheduled to be implemented on October 31, 2007. The rules intent is to change the habits of airlines operating to LGA from midsize and large hubs. According to the FAA, "While we recognize that service to nonhub and small-hub airports may only support commuter aircraft, serving medium and large airports repeatedly throughout the day with the smaller gauge aircraft does not maximize passenger throughput or the use of a constrained resource," it says. The proposed rule satisfies "a larger share of consumer demand."
Furthermore, the FAA will enforce the rule "through a use-or-lose provision which would require carriers to report the average number of seats offered," says the NPRM. "FAA first would withdraw the operating authorization(s) operated using the smallest aircraft. The number of operating authorizations withdrawn would depend on how far off target the carrier's operations were over the preceding year."
Therefore, is US Airways’ “executive suite†interested in providing the East pilots a pay raise in exchange for labor peace and replacing the Piedmont Dash 8’s with Q-400’s, which could be used to support the FAA’s NPRM LGA Demand Management program, since the Transition Agreement would not preclude the East pilots from granting scope relief while the East and West mainline pilots remain separate?
Regards,
USA320Pilot
