The announcement from our MEC


January 26, 2017

UAL Approves “Distressed Carrier” Status for ARW Pilots

The MEC is very pleased to report that the United Airlines MEC has worked out an agreement with their management to offer “distressed carrier” status to Air Wisconsin pilots. We received this information today directly from the UAL MEC. This support will offer additional points for ARW pilots in United Airlines’ hiring algorithm, but it is not a guaranteed job offer. Here are the facts regarding what “distressed carrier” does – and doesn’t – mean.

United is the only ALPA airline that talks about being a “distressed carrier” from a contractual perspective. Under United’s pilot contract, section 21.R loosely defines a distressed carrier pilot. The actual language states:

21-R Hiring Standards

Subject to other legal obligations, the Company shall make reasonable efforts to fill Pilot vacancies with the individuals who satisfy United’s hiring standards, who have previously worked for carriers represented by ALPA, and who are no longer working for those carriers for economic reasons such as lay-offs or the shutdown of that carrier.

Note that the language defines the individual pilot, not the airline. Somewhere along the way, the term “distressed carrier” was used to describe the phrase “no longer working for those carriers for economic reasons such as lay-offs or the shutdown of that carrier.” As you can see, the language is fairly vague and really only speaks to the individuals who have been laid off by way of furlough or shutdown. If you take the language at face value, it does not speak to those pilots that are still employed with the carrier. Over the years this language was used to encompass an entire pilot group vs. individuals.

How will this help us? Now that the Air Wisconsin pilots are being categorized as distressed, every ARW pilot is now able to fill out the Affiliates portion of the application. If you have an Airline Apps account, you can go to the United Airlines addendum section and select “Unemployed by virtue of lay-off/shutdown from ALPA-represented carrier” under the affiliate section, like below:



After you select the “Add Affiliate” button, you will see this added to your addendum:



Once this is selected, your application will receive an unspecified amount of additional points. If you are close to the interview point’s threshold, it could be enough to get you a call to begin the full interview process, including the Hogan assessment. If, for whatever reason, you are not close to United’s pre-determined interview point threshold, then it will not make a substantial difference for you.

Once again, “distressed carrier” status alone does not offer anyone a guaranteed opportunity to begin the hiring process with United, but it may be a game-changer for some of us and certainly is the type of support needed during this time of uncertainty. The ARW MEC asks that you do everything in advance to prepare yourself for success if given the opportunity with United. Stay tuned for additional resources that will assist you with that request. This includes organizing a series of hiring workshops for ARW pilots that we will be offering in the coming months.

The ARW MEC greatly appreciates the support that the UAL MEC has given us over the last 12 months. This particular support exemplifies what it means to belong to this Association and we hope other carriers follow the example set by the United MEC.

In unity,

ARW MEC






Air Line Pilots Association, International
www.alpa.org

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