Attempts to Fix the Problem…
Given the background and our “burned fingers” from the 2016 CBA, we came to the table last October reluctantly, but with an open mind to addressing the company’s needs and in the spirit of goodwill and cooperation. We believed then, as we believe now, that Horizon’s way forward requires well-intended, good-faith cooperation between management and employees. As you know, we conducted several negotiations with the company in late 2016. During those negotiations, we adhered to several key principles. Crucially, we believed that any changes to overall pilot compensation – including bonuses and wage changes – would need to reflect the improvements to pilot compensation occurring throughout our industry. Anything less, we believed, would prevent Horizon from effectively recruiting and retaining pilots, hobbling the operation and creating a serious risk for Air Group’s passenger network, while also jeopardizing the trust which investors have placed in both Horizon and Air Group as a whole. Horizon has fallen behind in pilot pay; this deficit is directly responsible for the company’s difficulty in attracting pilots. Your EXCO even invited the company to participate in a joint benchmarking analysis, which would have allowed the parties to cooperatively assess wage issues and work collaboratively toward essential changes. Unfortunately, in the middle of these negotiations, and without accepting our offer of collaborative benchmarking, the company decided to break off negotiations and unilaterally offer hiring bonuses to new hire pilots. In response, the union filed a lawsuit against the company to stop these bonuses and force the company to adopt a good-faith effort to resolve the situation at the negotiating table. That dispute remains open and has not yet been resolved.