Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. has announced that negotiations with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) for a new collective bargaining agreement covering the Crewmembers employed by its subsidiary Polar Air Cargo, Inc. (Polar) have been unsuccessful, and that ALPA has elected to call a strike at Polar.

"While we regret the Polar Crewmembers' decision to strike," said Jeffrey H. Erickson, President and Chief Executive Officer of AAWW, "we have prepared for this contingency. Consistent with our strategic initiatives to place our aircraft where they are most profitable, we have returned three aircraft on dry lease to Polar back to Atlas Air, Inc. We have also placed two Polar aircraft for sale or lease, and are in the process of placing the remaining seven aircraft in other uses, including dry leases. As a result, only seven of the Company's 42 aircraft are affected by the strike."

The final offer from Polar to ALPA called for no changes to the current work rules, pay rules and benefits, and provided for an immediate 10.5% across-the-board pay raise. Polar claims that ALPA was demanding significantly higher wage increases, which precluded reaching an agreement. "Our goal was to put our Polar Crewmembers at parity with our Atlas Crewmembers pending merger of the two carriers," Mr. Erickson continued.

"ALPA's demands were simply not justified in any respect, particularly given the current competitive and fuel environment in which Polar competes."

The Other Side the Story

The following statement was issued today by Captain Bobb Henderson, chairman of the Polar Air Cargo crewmembers' MEC:

"As of 1:34 a.m. EDT, on September 16th, Polar Air Cargo crewmembers are on strike. We have negotiated with our management for more than two years to achieve a fair contract that recognizes our real worth to this company. Polar crewmembers have numerous years of flight experience and advanced education, and are simply not fairly compensated for an airline of this size, sophistication, and profitability. In response to our concerns about compensation, our management has generally offered nothing more than numbers that were well below what our peers are paid. They have continued to negotiate using smoke, mirrors, and sleight of hand. We are saddened that management has refused to address our issues at the negotiating table prior to our strike deadline, leaving us with no choice but to walk away from our livelihoods to get the contract that we deserve. We have always been prepared to settle but management has forced our hand to exercise our self-help option.

We feel that our proposal is fair and reasonable and we remain fully committed to working with management to resolve this situation. After all, we are professional airline pilots, and we want to be flying, not walking the picket line."

AAWW and the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA), the collective bargaining representative for Polar's Crewmembers, had been in negotiations for an amended Collective Bargaining Agreement since 2003. The parties were released from negotiations last month by the National Mediation Board (NMB) into a mandated 30-day cooling off period. That period ended last night at midnight, after which the strike action was taken by the Polar Crewmembers.

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