Once again, PDT F/A's lead in publicity... haven't seen anything about pilot strike vote.



SALISBURY -- It could be months before travelers know whether flight attendants at Salisbury-based Piedmont Airlines strike, but if they do, a walkout likely would dramatically disrupt daily air travel through Salisbury, only offered by US Airways Express.
Piedmont attendants started voting this week on whether to authorize a strike that would impact US Airways Express travel in Piedmont domicile cities of Salisbury, Roanoke and Charlottesville in Virginia, Harrisburg, Pa., and New Bern, N.C., said Anita Jwanouskos, president of the Association of Flight Attendants representing Piedmont.
Unlike other terminals with a Piedmont presence, US Airways Express is the only passenger carrier with daily stops through the Salisbury-Ocean City: Wicomico Regional Airport, according to online airport airline listings.
Salisbury's airport also houses Allegiant Air, which flies twice weekly between Salisbury and Orlando, Fla. That service, exclusively flying between Salisbury and the Florida resort, recently announced a suspension of flights for about seven weeks, effective Aug. 30. US Airways Express, by comparison, offers year-round service through Salisbury, currently making six daily, round-trip flights: four between Salisbury and Philadelphia and two between Salisbury and Charlotte, N.C.
A strike conceivably could impact more than 100,000 passengers who pass through Salisbury per year, and according to Jwanouskos, more than 200 flight attendants, of which at least a fourth were hired by Piedmont in Salisbury.
"No one wants to strike, so we'll duke it out and see if we can come to an agreement," Jwanouskos said Wednesday.
According to the AFA, a union member of the Communications Workers of America, the looming strike comes in the wake of "unproductive negotiations" between union representatives and Piedmont. Specifically, the AFA wants a portion of US Airways profit-sharing and salaries comparable to flight attendants at other express carriers, which would amount to an average pay raise of about 10 percent, Jwanouskos said.
The AFA also wants to recover concessions by Piedmont flight attendants when US Airways was recovering from a 2004 bankruptcy, she said, adding that flight attendants relinquished benefits, pay and work schedules that valued a total of 21 percent.
After votes are counted Aug. 17, the AFA will meet with the National Mediation Board in late August to discuss progress in contract negotiations. A strike, if it comes, would not likely be before late fall or early winter, Jwanouskos said
Robert Bryant, a spokesman at the Salisbury airport, said that in 2011, a record number of airline passengers -- more than 143,000 -- traveled through Salisbury on US Airways Express.