ATW Daily News

US's Parker shies away from pilot squabble

Thursday June 5, 2008

Despite the deterioration in the relationship between the East and West pilot groups at US Airways, the subsequent lawsuit and calls for executive intervention, it appears unlikely that US CEO Doug Parker will inject himself into the dispute, according to a US spokesperson."Doug has made it very clear throughout all of these issues that we would be neutral on this," spokesperson Andrea Rader told ATWOnline. The disagreements between pilot groups who flew for the former US Airways [East] and America West Airlines [West] and still work under separate contracts are not unusual following a merger, she said.

But this disagreement has moved beyond the negotiating table and into the courts following a lawsuit filed by the US Airline Pilots Assn. alleging harassment and intimidating behavior by former HP pilots.

A West pilot associated with the lawsuit told this website that it is time for Parker to step in. "There has been a complete lack of leadership from senior management," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "When you are the head of an organization, you can try and stay out of those issues but no matter what you do, you have an impact on those issues."

The dispute goes deeper than the issues outlined in the suit. Seniority continues to be a major sticking point, according to representatives from both sides. "Emotions are so high right now I don't think these guys can fly together anytime soon," the pilot said. "They believe they can intimidate us. They knew there was no basis for the suit but they thought it would create leverage."

A May 17 letter from USAPA to individual West pilots said that if a pilot fails to pay dues for representation, the union will take steps to have that pilot fired. The letter and lawsuit hardened feelings among West pilots, sources told this website.

"USAPA has gone to great lengths to be fair and accommodating, but the West pilots will not even listen to a most level-headed discussion," an East senior pilot said. "The pilots hoot, holler and disrupt USAPA attempts at ironing out an agreement."

Rader said airline operations have not been affected by the dispute and noted that US was ranked third in April by the US Dept. of Transportation for ontime performance. "That's not the work of a disengaged workforce," she claimed. But she said a truce would be welcome. "We would all like to get back to the table, negotiate a single agreement and get through these issues. That clearly is the way this gets resolved."

by Sandra Arnoult

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