Airline Will Consult With National Mediation Board On Next Steps

Flight attendants at US Airways  represented by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), have voted to not ratify a proposed five-year collective bargaining agreement. US Airways and AFA reached a tentative agreement on January 27, 2012 that would cover the airline's 6,700 flight attendants who are based in its three hub cities of Charlotte, NC, Philadelphia and Phoenix and its Washington, D.C. focus city.

"We are obviously disappointed that our flight attendants chose to vote against ratification of a new contract," Doug Parker, US Airways' Chairman and CEO, said in a news release. "This tentative agreement was the result of years of deliberate negotiations and was achieved with the instrumental assistance and hard work of the National Mediation Board (NMB). It was also unanimously approved by the AFA negotiating committee.  We will now consult with the NMB and AFA leadership to determine the best steps going forward to one day reach a ratified agreement."

The AFA said ninety percent of the over 6,700 combined Flight Attendants from each of the pre-merger airlines, US Airways and former America West, participated in the voting process.

"Since the onset of negotiations, Flight Attendants have been steadfast and determined that an agreement must address the needs identified by the membership. Flight Attendants have subsidized the cost of the merger and rising fuel costs for the 'New US Airways.' Management must recognize that our sacrifices have directly contributed to the success of US Airways," said Deborah Volpe, AFA pre-merger America West President and Mark Gentile, AFA pre-merger US Airways acting President, in a separate news release.

The National Mediation Board (NMB) will retain oversight under Section 6 of the Railway Labor Act. AFA will conduct a survey of members to determine which items in the tentative agreement need to be modified in order to reach an agreement that can be ratified.

"US Airways Flight Attendants' voices were heard loud and clear: it is imperative that we obtain substantial improvements to our current contracts. We are committed to improving our future," added Volpe and Gentile.

FMI: www.usairways.com, www.afanet.org