Lawsuit Against Horizon
1-27-2017
Fellow Horizon Pilots,
This morning your union filed a lawsuit against Horizon Air in the U.S. District Court for injunctive relief and other relief for violations of the Railway Labor Act in response to the unwarranted introduction of bonuses being paid to attract new-hire pilots.
As you know, during Horizon’s “commit to compete” campaign in 2015, were told that we had to reduce costs to remain competitive with non-union SkyWest and that if we could attain certain cost reductions, Air Group would purchase E-175 jets that would ensure growth and the sustainability of Horizon. Unfortunately, Horizon overreached, and immediately felt the consequences of its actions and asked us, once again, to modify our contract. You overwhelmingly rejected the Letter of Agreement you were presented as a Band-Aid. We have been in negotiations since, once again, to try to fix management’s short-sighted attempts to get your work for the very least cost possible. All of this has made little sense to your EXCO in the face of a national pilot shortage crisis.
During the course of negotiations between September and December 6, 2016 management has steadfastly refused to acknowledge where its peer carriers were moving in terms of pay, and instead wanted us to sign short-sighted agreements that they would reopen if they didn’t have their desired effect. While, that may be a good idea in management’s eyes, it is nothing that your union can agree to, it violates the fundamental requirement that we represent incumbent pilots, not those who don’t work here yet. And further, a bonus just to get a pilot through the door does little to ensure the operational sustainability of Horizon.
We are sure that you will hear the rhetoric heat up from management once again; threatening all of our jobs, repeating their use of a stick (threats to you) and carrots (bonuses to new-hires) in their tired strategy of putting Band-Aids on their problems, relying on its professional pilots to take yet another one for the team. We are hopeful that this lawsuit will result in meaningful dialog between management and your union to find solutions that will ensure the long-term viability of our airline.