Union Strikes Down CRJ Deal For American Eagle

In a move unlikely to surprise anyone, on Thursday executives at American Airlines rejected a contract proposal offered by its pilots unionm, saying it would have increased the carrier's costs by over $1.4 billion a year.

"AA negotiators have informed the APA negotiating committee that such a large compensation increase as proposed could not be sustained," said a message on America's negotiations website. As ANN reported, the union submitted the contract proposal two weeks ago.

The airline said the proposal would have increased its pilot cost per hour to more than those of Delta Air Lines and Continental Airlines combined, reports The Dallas Morning News. Union spokesman Karl Schricker called American's statements "tired rhetoric that tries to make everyone forget what they've done with senior executive compensation and how they basically sold labor a bill of goods with 'pull together, win together.'"

Union leaders say executives at American fail to acknowledge how much pilots and other employees at the airline gave up in 2003, in order to keep the carrier out of bankruptcy.

"They're heading us down a bad path," Schricker added. "If they want to negotiate in good faith, let's go. But if they don't want to negotiate in good faith and don't want to accept the fact that their workers deserve the raises that are coming to them, it's going to be interesting times at American Airlines."

Those are strong statements... though comparatively tame to earlier proclamations from the newly-elected leaders of the union. Last month, a letter sent by union president Lloyd Hill to AMR CEO Gerard Arpey was leaked to the press... in which Hill told Arpey "we'll see you in court, in the newspapers, and on the picket line."

In something of a tit-for-tat move, also on Thursday the union struck down American's plans to purchase 25 70-seat Bombardier CRJ regional jets destined for its regional subsidiary, American Eagle. The jets would have been flown by pilots at the regional carrier, who are not members of the APA, but rather the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA).

That dispute also kills a tentative agreement reached last week between those two unions, outlining so-called "flow-through" procedures for American Eagle pilots to move up to American's mainline service.

"Management has, thus far, been unable to document that they have the right to purchase these aircraft under our existing scope clause," union president Lloyd Hill told members.

Hill also asserted "the 25 additional CRJ aircraft are completely unrelated" to the flow-through agreement... which, in the absence of a deal, will now go to binding arbitration.

FMI: www.aanegotiations.com, www.alliedpilots.org