Judge Rejects Pilots Complaint That Move Would Violate Work Agreement

With a federal judge in Philadelphia on Friday refusing to halt plans by US Airways Group to merge its reservation systems on Sunday, the Tempe-based carrier's plan to join reservations for it and America West flights is on schedule for Sunday, March 4.

Pilots had hoped to halt the system implementation, reported the East Valley Tribune, which US Airways has dubbed the next major milestone in merging the two carriers.

The union, however, was unable to secure a restraining order after filing a lawsuit Wednesday that claimed the new reservations system constitutes the "merger of the airlines," an action pilots claimed is illegal because the labor groups have not first been integrated.

US Airways contends the flights are still operated separately with separate crews, so the reservation system implementation does not "merge the airlines."

Even as the court sided with the airline, the pilots said they won't back down. ANN reported on the court fight earlier this month.

"US Airways management is clearly trying to circumvent the process and capitalize on the synergies of the merger without fulfilling the promise," the pilots group said Friday.

The new system will be installed between midnight and 2 a.m. Arizona time on Sunday, with reservation taking disabled during the installation. US Airways spokeswoman Valerie Wunder said the carrier picked a time period when almost no customers even try to make reservations or check in for flights.

About 7 million passenger records will be transferred to the new system, Wunder said.

The airline is expecting a smooth transition with "minimal customer impact," she said.

America West Airlines purchased US Airways, then under bankruptcy protection, in September 2005, keeping the America West headquarters and management team, but adopting the East Coast airline's name, as reported by Aero-News.

FMI: www.usairways.com