American to end pilots’ labor contract
By Christine Boynton | September 4, 2012
A US bankruptcy judge has ruled that AMR Corp, parent of American Airlines (AA), can end its labor agreement with its pilots union.
According to Reuters, Judge Sean Lane issued his ruling late Tuesday at a hearing in a New York court, saying the company had corrected certain issues that had caused him to reject its earlier same request.
AMR can now unilaterally impose temporary work terms on its pilots as the sides continue to hash out long-term deals, Reuters reported.
AA’s 10,000 pilots, represented by the Allied Pilots Assn. (APA), voted down a tentative agreement that had been reached with AA management on a new collective bargaining agreement, setting the stage for the court to rule on a labor contract containing work rules AA has said are untenable.
Both AA and APA expected the court to reject the contract, but US bankruptcy judge Sean Lane ruled that AA, which is operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, had not made the case, particularly in regard to having the ability to furlough pilots and re-write scope clauses to have greater flexibility in regional airline contracts (ATW Daily News, Aug. 16).
In a statement to ATW, AA spokesman Bruce Hicks said, “We appreciate Judge Lane’s thoughtful consideration of our renewed Section 1113 motion regarding the pilot contract. But, there is no sense of accomplishment in this outcome. We worked very hard to reach a consensual deal with our pilots, just as we did with each represented employee group. However, the pilots rejected the tentative agreement on Aug. 8, so it is time to move forward.
“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.
“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.”
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Lufthansa cancels more than 350 flights in second day of strikes
Lufthansa cancels more than 350 flights in second day of strikes
By Kurt Hofmann | September 4, 2012
Lufthansa (LH) on Tuesday canceled more than 350 out of 1,800 flights
at Berlin Tegel (TXL), Frankfurt (FRA) and Munich (MUC) airports as its
flight attendants—represented by the UFO union—launched a second day of
strikes in an ongoing dispute over pay and conditions (ATW Daily News, Sept. 3). It estimates about a minimum of 43,000 passengers were affected by the flight disruptions.
The UFO union also announced it would carry out a nationwide 24-hr. strike Friday at every German airport.
On Tuesday, the union carried out eight-hr. strikes at TXL and FRA. Flight attendants were on strike for 11 hr. at MUC, the carrier’s second biggest hub.
LH had to cancel every other short-haul flight from FRA, as well as one-third of its long-haul flights. It canceled 15 flights at TXL.
The carrier also began canceling flights for Wednesday.
LH was confident it could operate about 75% of its 450 flights scheduled out of MUC; its highest priority was to operate around 20 intercontinental flights.
A LH spokesperson called the strike actions “intolerable.”
On Friday, LH said 26,000 passengers were affected by the 190 flight cancellations.
On Tuesday, the union carried out eight-hr. strikes at TXL and FRA. Flight attendants were on strike for 11 hr. at MUC, the carrier’s second biggest hub.
LH had to cancel every other short-haul flight from FRA, as well as one-third of its long-haul flights. It canceled 15 flights at TXL.
The carrier also began canceling flights for Wednesday.
LH was confident it could operate about 75% of its 450 flights scheduled out of MUC; its highest priority was to operate around 20 intercontinental flights.
A LH spokesperson called the strike actions “intolerable.”
On Friday, LH said 26,000 passengers were affected by the 190 flight cancellations.
Discuss this news 4
04 Sep23:08
Pay the flight attendants,
By Anonymous
Pay the flight attendants, it's time to stop holding labor hostage. I wish our laws here in the US allowed this.
05 Sep06:00
I agree! Mismanagement has to
By Anonymous
I agree! Mismanagement has to be held accountable.
05 Sep08:56
Airlines only want to see
By Penélope
Airlines only want to see full planes and get
higher marketshares, and to do this, they go down and down with tkt
prices. They did this during last 10-15 years. Now they find themselves
between the wall and the cost pressure, and - of cousre - the best idea
ist to reduce salaries and staff. But the CEOs still get their extremly
good money not accepting any change to less. Like the CEO of Iberia, Mr
Sanchez Lozano, that received IAG shares for € 969.000 in the same week
he announced a downsizing of Iberia, and that "job cuts wouldn't be
unavoidable" Its all a farce, because they die ( and kill ) for money !
