AAL submits proposal
 

Sky Talk: American presents contract proposal to pilots

NOVEMBER 11, 2014

American presents contract proposal to pilots

American Airlines has formally presented a contract proposal to its pilots union which is considering whether or not it will send proposal to its members for a vote.

According to a letter sent by American president Scott Kirby to the Allied Pilots Association on Tuesday, the contract proposal would give pilots the highest pay rate among legacy carriers.

"It is my hope that as we build a stronger, more trusting relationship that, together, we will be able to reach the best economic considerations for the 100,000 employees of American and the company in the future," Kirby wrote in the letter obtained by the Star-Telegram.

The proposal does not include the company's initial request to add 5 more seats to the regional jet work scope section of the contract that would allow regional carriers, like Envoy Air and Piedmont Airlines, to fly jets with 81 seats instead of the current scope of 76 seats.

Kirby said that adding those five seats would translate into tens of millions of dollars in new revenue annually to the airline.

"Even though we believe the scope request is in the best interest of all involved, we believe that establishing trust with our employees is even more important," Kirby wrote. "Today's proposal ommits a request to add five seats to the 76-seat jets as a sign of good faith to demonstrate the trust we want to build."

The APA's board is meeting on Wednesday to consider the proposal. The two sides had previously agreed to a 30-day negotiating extension that lasts through November 15.

If the APA decides by the end of the week to send the proposal to members for a ratification vote, there is another extension for 45 days. And if a contract agreement is reached outside of arbitration, pay rates would become effective on December 1, regardless of the actual effective date of the contract.

Read more here: Sky Talk: American presents contract proposal to pilots

Smart move. While those extra seats would have provided more $, the cost of trust would have likely negated that and then some and as I stated on another thread, considering the direction of the regionals, I'm not sure those extra seats would be that important in the long run anyway. Now the question is aside from the pay issue, what other details exist that might muck up this offer ?

Hopefully, the RJ seat issue wasn't a red herring masking something just as objectionable. If there are no major issues, then I'd expect the pilots to get their say and odds are in favor of ratification. What Parker will have gotten in that case is an IOU card (or get out of jail free, if that works for you) for unforeseen threats and situations in the future. If it essentially mimics Deltas (except more pay, but no profit sharing) in other financial numbers like work rule value, it will be tough for pilots to vilify Parker for this offer.

We will have to see the details though.

Is there a ballpark % that it needs to be to equal Delta? As in Delta +15% to make up for lack of profit sharing?

Edit: just curious about 2014, I realize this changes every year. Just go to the Delta contract 2015 thread to see how much they are getting.

^^^^^
This plus Delta's payrate increases in their new contract AND their work rules.

Well that's the question of the day now I guess! Most Delta guys say they get at least an extra month of pay... That equates to 8.3% per "month" of extra pay.

Profit sharing is an annual variable, whereas set pay rates are constant, so I think its tough to quantify that. I'm more concerned about the other details and MOST especially the contract language. After decades at Eagle, I have a sore spot for deliberately ambiguous contract language designed to favor management and maximize victory in arbitration disputes.

My public school math skills came up with around 18-20% to get close to what DL makes with PS.

I'm curious to see the details. Probably a red herring, but glad to see management at least has the face of trying to work with the pilot group.

A stronger more trusting relationship? So Jerry Glass is involved why exactly?

When can we expect to hear the details of their offer? I wonder if it is negotiable, or their one and only offer. Glad they backed off scope!

Tomorrow night 7pm