Airline Blames Pilots

After announcing its long-awaited regional jet mega order in May, US Airways has gotten crossways with its pilots union. Now, US Airways won't take delivery of 25 75-seat CRJ705s intended for one of its wholly owned Regional subsidiaries.

Instead, the airline said it "will contract with Mesa Airlines to fly at least 25 and perhaps as many as 55 70-seat RJs" under a codeshare arrangement, with 50% of flying reserved for furloughed mainline pilots. Had the aircraft gone to a wholly owned unit, mainline pilots would have done all the flying, US Airways said.

Pilots Just Say No

But the ALPA, was in no mood to negotiate. It claimed that its scope agreement limits the weight of regional jets to 75,000 lb. The CRJ705 weighs in at 79,500 lb., according to Aviation Daily, which first reported the disagreement.

"We continue to believe that the CRJ705 falls within the parameters of our contract with ALPA," said US Airways Express President Bruce Ashby. "We finally concluded that we must agree to disagree since we must continue to run the company and implement our new business plan…That will mean fewer jobs for furloughed pilots and at lower wages but it reflects the position ALPA has maintained in representing its members."

US Airways ordered 170 RJs in May, a deal comprised of 25 CRJ700s, 60 CRJ200s and 85 Embraer 170s. All the 170s will be flown by in-house pilots.

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