A day after pilots staged a silent protest at Miami International Airport to protest the airline's attempt to have their contract thrown out, a federal bankruptcy judge gave American Airlines approval to reject collective bargaining agreements with the Allied Pilots Association.
The decision invalidates the current contracts with the APA and allows American Airlines to impose cuts.
“Judge Lane’s ruling is very important because it will allow us to implement the changes that are necessary for our successful restructuring. We will be sharing the implementation plan with the APA, and will communicate details of the plan to pilots in the coming days," said American Airlines spokesman Bruce Hicks in an email statement. “Our goal remains to reach a consensual agreement with our pilots, and we are resolute in our efforts to put American Airlines in a position to win and create new opportunities and a brighter future for our people," Hicks said.
In court two weeks ago, the judge sided with almost all of parent company AMR’s arguments and agreed that major labor cuts are needed for the company to emerge as a profitable airline. But, the judge did say American was overreaching on two issues: furloughs and the outsourcing of jobs.
The company said they made the changes the judge requested.
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At MIA on Monday, pilots staged a silent march to protest the possible cutting of the long-standing contract.
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"We're looking for a contract that resembles the contracts that pilots have at Delta Airlines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines. The contract that American's given us is simply unacceptable," said Howie Schack, a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association. "The contract that management had put on the table makes pilots work longer hours, spend more time away from our families, it doesn't cover us significantly for sick and other health issues, the pay is far below what pilots make at other carriers and it's simply far too low for pilots of American Airlines."
“We disagree with APA’s effort to reopen the Section 1113 process for another lengthy trial and have filed a response to the union’s Court filings asking the Court to not allow that. We are moving forward with the process clearly delineated in Judge Lane’s decision, in which he invited the company to revise two specific elements on pilot furlough protection and codesharing before renewing our 1113 motion," Hicks had said in a statement. “Our revised term sheet withdrew the company’s prior proposal to change pilot furlough protections, leaving the current contract terms in place, and proposed substantially less codesharing.
"Now that we have addressed the two narrowly defined issues identified by the Court, American believes there are no other issues for the Court to consider and APA’s attempt to introduce evidence and arguments pertaining to already settled issues should be rejected by the Court.”
The pilots union is legally prevented from striking or any organized work slowdown, but several pilots told NBC 6 that if American has a court victory that would eliminate the contract they work under now. Some pilots would start to call in sick, and report even minor maintenance problems that would ground flights and hurt the flying public, they said.
"It's always frustrating no matter where you're traveling if you can't get where you want to go," said Barry Johnson, president of the greater Miami Chamber of Commerce.
Johnson said thousands of South Florida jobs in hotels, restaurants, retail stores, all hinge on visitors being able to get to the area without disruptions or the threat of them.
"Anyone that is showing a bit of a breakdown in that reliability has a ripple effect throughout the community," he said.
