United Reaches Agreement With Union | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-01.06.25

Airborne-NextGen-01.07.25

Airborne-Unlimited-01.08.25

Airborne-FltTraining-01.09.25

Airborne-Unlimited-01.10.25

Tue, Mar 25, 2003

United Reaches Agreement With Union

...All 18 Members

OK, so it's a small part of United's labor force, those 18 meteorologists of the Transport Workers Union, who keep the airliners safe and on time; but it's a step in the right direction, as United tries for all it's worth (currently, about 83¢ a share) to stay afloat.

If UAL doesn't reach satisfactory agreements with all its unions by May 1, there is a good chance that remaining contracts will be abrogated by the court; failing efforts after that could seal the world's second-largest-airline's fate.

United's other unions -- pilots, flight attendants, and dispatchers (but not machinists) -- agreed months ago to contract revisions. It's possible that the "cooperative" unions will hold out until after the machinists give in, and it's quite possible the machinists, after seeing how the other unions are willing to shoulder the IAM's "share," won't budge. If that's what happens, or if the union workers find they can make more money at another job, United's bacon is burned.

The airline must show the Court a plan for sufficient cash flow, a plan that will allow UAL to pay off creditors in an amount they, too, approve. [A recent plan, filed by fellow Chapter 11 airline, US Airways, allowed repayment of roughly 2¢ on the dollar, to prepetition unsecured creditors --ed.]

As the war comes into focus, travel, particularly international travel, continues a slump. Fuel prices have, finally, taken a turn lower: this may help, to some extent. The big expense that remains, at the airline whose unions were boasting in recent years that they had reached "industry-leading" contract agreements, is labor. With a continuing and worsening overcapacity in the industry, prices (including the price of labor) must decline. [The other solution, lowering supply, is off the table, as long as major airlines are "protected" from foreclosure by Chapter 11 --ed.]

The fallout among major airlines' suppliers will take years of recovery, as the second shock wave of major airline Chapter 11 filings hits the supporting industries.

FMI: www.ual.com; www.twu.org

Advertisement

More News

Starship Flight Test 7 Targets Monday January 13

Significant Upgrades On Next-Gen Ship SpaceX has confirmed a new target date of Monday January 13 for the 7th Starship test launch following a weather delay at the Boca Chica Beach>[...]

ANN FAQ: How Do I Become A News Spy?

We're Everywhere... Thanks To You! Even with the vast resources and incredibly far-reaching scope of the Aero-News Network, every now and then a story that should be reported on sl>[...]

NTSB Prelim: James A Gray Just Aircraft Highlander

During The Initial Climb After Takeoff, The Engine Lost All Power On November 18, 2024, about 1530 eastern standard time, an experimental amateur-built Just Aircraft Highlander air>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Avionics Cooling Fans -- Sandia's Temperature Control Solutions

From 2011 (YouTube Edition): How Cool Is YOUR Cockpit??? Aviation publications LOVE to write about all the new wiz-bangs that are seen front and center is today's cockpits... the l>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (01.09.25): Handoff

Handoff An action taken to transfer the radar identification of an aircraft from one controller to another if the aircraft will enter the receiving controller's airspace and radio >[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC