WASHINGTON, Sept. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement was issued
today by Captain Bobb Henderson, chairman of the Polar Air Cargo crewmembers'
Master Executive Council, a unit of the Air Line Pilots Association,
International (ALPA).
"As of 1:34 a.m. EDT, on September 16th, Polar Air Cargo crewmembers are
on strike. We have negotiated with our management for more than two years to
achieve a fair contract that recognizes our real worth to this company. Polar
crewmembers have numerous years of flight experience and advanced education,
and are simply not fairly compensated for an airline of this size,
sophistication, and profitability. In response to our concerns about
compensation, our management has generally offered nothing more than numbers
that were well below what our peers are paid. They have continued to negotiate
using smoke, mirrors, and slight of hand. We are saddened that management has
refused to address our issues at the negotiating table prior to our strike
deadline, leaving us with no choice but to walk away from our livelihoods to
get the contract that we deserve. We have always been prepared to settle but
management has forced our hand to exercise our self-help option.
"We feel that our proposal is fair and reasonable and we remain fully
committed to working with management to resolve this situation. After all, we
are professional airline pilots, and we want to be flying, not walking the
picket line."
Polar Air Cargo crewmembers have been in contract negotiations since
February 2003 and in mediation since June of that year.
Polar Air Cargo is a U.S. certificated all cargo air carrier operating a
fleet of 12 Boeing 747 freighters in a global scheduled-service network that
serves major trade lanes around the world. Polar is a wholly owned subsidiary
of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (OTC: AAWW.PK), based in Purchase, NY.
Formed in 1931, ALPA is the world's largest pilots union, representing
64,000 airline pilots at 41 carriers in the United States and Canada. Its Web
site is at
http://www.alpa.org.