Your union dollars at work....

WASHINGTON | Wed Feb 16, 2011 11:39am EST
(Reuters) - More mergers of U.S. airlines are inevitable and essential for domestic carriers to compete globally, the new president of the largest pilots union said on Wednesday.

Lee Moak of the Air Line Pilots Association told reporters that passenger airlines are still too vulnerable to fuel price spikes and other business conditions that threaten industry profitability.

"I believe we need to be there sooner rather than later because we need to compete globally," he said. "How it will shake out remains to be seen."

Moak also said that carriers must demonstrate sustained profitability for pilots to achieve gains at the bargaining table, signaling the union will be patient as it moves forward in contract talks at several carriers.

oh but he did say..
However, Moak said it would be a mistake for airline management to misinterpret the labor group's position on what he called constructive engagement.

"We know there is a time and place for confrontation," Moak said

In the mean time....

ATA adds lobbyists in reorganization
ATA announces staff reorganization to focus on lobbying

By Christine Boynton | February 17, 2011

Air Transport Assn. President and CEO Nicholas Calio, who took over from James May in January, continues to put his stamp on the trade group, announcing a shake-up on Tuesday that saw the departure of long-time Executive VP and COO John Meenan and Chief of Staff Patty Higginbotham.

Calio, who served as chief liaison to Congress for former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush (ATW, Nov. 30, 2010), said the changes "reflect a shift, leveraging the association’s strong operations and technical expertise with a significant increase in outreach to key stakeholders to advance policy and legislative issues.

The association promoted Sharon Pinkerton to the new position of senior VP-legislative and regulatory policy. Tom Hendricks, who joined ATA in June as VP operations and safety was named senior VP-safety, security and operations. ATA also said it will hire a new senior VP-global government affairs and add other "top-line lobbyists" to its government affairs function. With other changes, the reorganization impacted approximately 10% of the association’s staff, ATA said.

"As an association, we have strong technical and operational expertise that we will better leverage in our advocacy efforts with Congress, the administration and other key stakeholders,” Calio said.