jsled

interesting.......

US Airways Asks Court for Seniority Ruling | Transportation News | Print Financial & Investing Articles | TheStreet.com



TEMPE, Ariz. (TheStreet) -- US Airways(LCC) moved Monday to end the festering five-year seniority dispute between its pilots, asking a federal court to enable it to negotiate a contract without fear that it will face either a strike or liability as a result.

The carrier filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, seeking a declaratory judgment regarding the seniority issue, unresolved since the 2005 merger. Last year, the same court ruled the U.S. Airline Pilots Association was not fairly representing all of its pilots because it had not implemented a controversial seniority ruling, the Nicolau award, which appears to favor pilots from the former America West airline.



In June, the U.S. Appeals Court in San Francisco overturned that ruling.

In a letter to pilots released Monday, Executive Vice President Steve Johnson wrote that the airline's filing "requests that the court clarify the company's legal rights and obligations with respect to the seniority dispute and new single contract."

The key questions, Johnson wrote, are: "Must the company insist the Nicolau award be included in the new single agreement? May the company enter into a single agreement that does not include the Nic? If the company enters into a legal agreement that does not include the Nic, would it have legal liability to the west pilots?"

In the lawsuit, the carrier reminds that it "has never taken any position on the merits of this seniority dispute; it has always been and still is neutral." But the airline wants the matter to be resolved so that it faces neither liability for not implementing the seniority ruling nor a job action if it does implement the seniority ruling.

In its June ruling, the appeals court appeared to suggest that the Nicolau seniority ruling might never be implemented if USAPA can design a contract with alternative protection for west pilots.

"Even under the district court's injunction mandating USAPA to pursue the Nicolau Award, it is uncertain that the west pilots' preferred seniority system ever would be effectuated," the appeals court said. It is possible that USAPA will eventually implement a contract "that does not work the disadvantages plaintiffs fear, even if that proposal is not the Nicolau Award."

Johnson wrote that the appeals court did not expressly rule on the seniority dispute and did not say "whether USAPA and the company would be exposed to legal liability if the union and the company agreed to a non-Nicolau seniority list." Rather, he said, the appeals court's decision clearly allows for "a future valid legal claim against a seniority list agreement that did not include the Nicolau award."

acl65pilot

Sounds like they want to clean it up so they can merge with someone.

brakechatter

It's interesting you say that. Me and the Mrs. just sitting here talking about that very thing. Do you have my house tapped???

alfaromeo

So they can do anything. Their company is in limbo now. What if they want to open a pilot base in Kansas City, who would get to bid on those positions? This is just a hypothetical, but it demonstrates how hamstrung their management is. Next year, our 767 First Officers will make more than the East Airbus Captains. And they will have work rules light years better and better retirement, disability, sick leave, all the way down the line.

USAPA has been a giant success!!!

acl65pilot

Alfa, We have discussed this to death.

It will be interesting to see what the judge says given the fact they turned a profit this last quarter.

Brake;
I have been accused of having places tapped before, but alas, just another guess on my part. No one wants a company that is still divided like this in a merger. They are risking getting left in the cold. Heck even AMR is looking elsewhere.

Sink r8

It was just a matter of seeing who would put it up first... we're probably all thinking the same thing.

If you thing this is some kind of altruistic "help the pilots" move, you're kidding yourself. If you think this is about "making UsAirways a better place", you're not considering that everytime Doug speaks in public, the word "consolidation" echoes for days.

brakechatter

Nobody said that this was being done to help the pilots. At the same time, the pilots may benefit at least in the short term because of it. In the meantime, certain factions who, continue to predict the demise of USAirways, still remain wrong.

Could it possibly be that the evil USAPA has found a way to make lemonade out of lemons?

shiznit

Agreed. Let's all hope that the NEW UCAL can surpass the DAL PWA by a solid 10-15% in ALL aspects; giving LCC the ability to up the ante by another 5-10%, get AA in the mix with a 10-15% gain over that and then DAL will be ready to go again with 10-15% over that!!

*In an "ideal world" scenario, the improvements it would lead to around an opener of 35-55% for DAL in 3 years....Unlikely I know, but if you don't set goals you're guaranteed to never achieve them...

If there is a "double dip" coming, this is definitely not a likely scenario.......

reddog25

Sounds like they want to be able to actually run the airline as one airline...synergys and all..............

lolwut

One seniority list sure would be a game changer. They'd be able to start right sizing...