USAPA Wants Date-Of-Hire Seniority System At Merged Airline

The US Airline Pilots Association -- formed to unseat the union currently representing pilots at US Airways, the Air Line Pilots Association -- says it has enough requests from pilots to put the matter of who represents them to a vote.

The Arizona Republic reports USAPA plans to file an application with the National Mediation Board by the end of October.

As ANN reported, the issue of pilot representation has been one of the most contentious issues in the oil-and-water merger between US Airways and America West. Bickering between both sides over a single contract and merging seniority lists began almost immediately following the 2005 merger.

A federal arbitrator presented a seniority formula in June that bases pilot ratings on aircraft type, with pilots ranked by seniority within each group based on their time at their respective airline, and how many aircraft of that type are within the combined US Airways fleet.

Under the proposal, the top 517 pilots come from US Airways... but the trouble lies at the next level, when talking about first officer rankings. Some 1,000 US Airways first officers stand little chance of ever making captain under the proposal, as the current Age 60 rule would force them to retire before any left seats open up... placing younger America West pilots in a favorable position to advance.

This resulted in a lawsuit being filed by US Airways pilots seeking to have the arbitrator's plan discarded. That decision put ALPA, which represents pilots on both sides, in an uneasy position... and in the crosshairs of pilots from US Air.

Should USAPA be voted in to represent pilots at the combined US Airways, officials with the union say they plan to use a date-of-hire system to mete out seniority, instead of the arbitrator's system.

FMI: www.usairways.com, www.usairlinepilots.org, www.alpa.org