'Negotiated Solution is Always the Preferred Outcome'

Much like the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), the Allied Pilots Association caught up with the industry as the world headed into the week of July 4th, telling the world that "a course change is past due".

They commented on the negotiations update disseminated by APFA, bridging the gap between pilots and flight attendants by updating the flight deck folks on where things are at this point in the contract process. 

“On behalf of the 16,000 American Airlines pilots the Allied Pilots Association represents, I want our fellow union members at the APFA to know that APA wholeheartedly supports their efforts to secure a fair contract,” said APA President Ed Sicher. “We know from firsthand experience in our own protracted Section 6 negotiations that management intransigence is the culprit for the predicament American Airlines now finds itself in during the peak summer travel period."

“We urge management to consider carefully how they choose to respond. Unfortunately, we are not especially optimistic they will choose the correct course. Management’s handling — or more precisely, mishandling — of negotiations with the APFA is yet another example of what we view as a concerning trend at American Airlines,” added Sicher. “From management’s myopic focus on short-haul domestic travel at the expense of lucrative long-haul international travel, to alienating key corporate clients, to turmoil in the senior management ranks, it is clear to us that a course change is past due."

Much like the painful negotiations process endured by pilots, where the whole thing feels like a never-ending flux of cool-offs and mediations without an actual strike, the flight attendants could be in for a time-out. Sicher showed the way forward in that case, too.

"If the NMB declares a 30-day cooling-off period and starts the clock on a potential flight attendant strike, it would have an adverse impact on the airline’s bottom line as passengers take their business elsewhere to avoid the risk of disruption in their travel plans — and a strike would be tremendously costly."

Sicher's point is right on all counts, and not just for those in the negotiations. It would be rough on American Airlines pilots, enjoying their new contract, to have operations fall out of rhythm following a full FA strike. "A negotiated solution is always the preferred outcome in Section 6, and we urge management to rethink its approach to bargaining with the APFA before it’s too late.”

FMI: www.alliedpilots.org