Originally Posted by
Nevjets
XJT, or any regional airline currently in existence, does not meet the definition of an alter ego airline, does not meet the definition of a commercial flight operation of the type historically performed by United flight attendants, and does not meet the definition of a commuter airline (primary 135 carrier). And even if it did meet any of those three things, it still does not prevent United from buying a regional. It simply needs to recognize the AFA as the union, and add them to the seniority list. Or it can come to an agreement with the AFA to get around anything they deem problematic.
Is history going to repeat itself?
AFA Wins Lawsuit over United Scope Violation
https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport
After 10 years of litigation, a federal arbitrator awarded United Airlines flight attendants $8.89 million in connection with a claim by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) that United’s 1992 purchase of the original Air Wisconsin violated a so-called scope side letter in its collective-bargaining agreement. The scope clause, included in a flight-attendant contract signed by AFA and United in 1986, required the airline to use flight attendants from the mainline seniority list for all its wholly owned subsidiaries. When United bought Air Wisconsin in 1992, it chose to ignore the provision, sparking a protracted court battle that finally ended April 27.
When AFA issued its grievance, United initially refused to submit to arbitration, sending the issue to court. After United lost the case, the violation went before United’s grievance hearing board, which in 1998 issued a finding that the airline had, in fact, violated the contract.