Mobile Billboard Gives Visibility To Message Against DOT
Delta pilots continued to
demonstrate their opposition to the DOT's recent decision to place
what they called onerous and likely deal-breaking conditions on its
tentative approval of a proposal by Delta and US Airways to
exchange takeoff and landing slots in New York and Washington, DC.
On Friday, a "mobile billboard" drove through the nation's capitol
with a message that the DOT's decision represents a trifecta of
failure -- a lose-lose-lose scenario for the consumer, labor, and
the airlines.
The move follows a letter to Delta pilots in which, Captain Lee
Moak, chairman of the Delta branch of the Air Line Pilots
Association, the union that represents over 12,000 Delta pilots,
criticized the decision as a failure of government and an
aggressive intrusion into an already overregulated industry.
"DOT's claims that their actions are designed to protect the
consumer are unsupported by critical analysis," Captain Moak
stated. "The DOT's decision is not only anti-consumer; it is also
anti-labor and anti-business."
Under the terms of the joint petition Delta would have
transferred 42 pairs of slots to US Airways at Ronald Reagan
Washington National along with international route authority to Sao
Paulo and Tokyo. In exchange, US Airways would have transferred 125
pairs of slots at New York's LaGuardia airport to Delta and leased
another 15 pairs with the option to purchase. The proposal would
have allowed both carriers to capitalize on their network
strengths, maintain existing service and add new nonstop service
between two of America's top business markets and small and
medium-sized communities across the United States.
ALPA mobile billboard. Credit: PRNewsFoto/ALPA
DOT granted the carriers' joint petition but conditioned the
approval on the divestiture of 14 pairs of slots at Reagan National
(33 percent of the total) and 20 pairs of slots at LaGuardia (16
percent of the total). The DOT also dictated the timing of the sale
and a short list of government selected beneficiaries of the
divestiture.
These conditions "substantially weaken the value of the deal and
will likely render it unacceptable to both airlines," Captain Moak
wrote. "For both the consumer and labor, the reality is that
the long-term interests of both are best served by a vigorously
healthy, profitable, flourishing airline industry, and when the
government interferes in the free-market process . . . that simply
cannot happen."
"In fact, what the traveling public often takes for granted when
they travel -- highly skilled professional employees earning
competitive wages, an exemplary safety record, broad consumer
choice and even inexpensive fares -- can only exist long term
against the backdrop of a profitable and successful airline
industry," Captain Moak continued. "Viewed from this perspective,
there is no rational way to justify the DOT's recent ruling."