Ahead of an imminent vote on a new four-year contract, the union representing pilots at American Airlines is now saying the deal is in “jeopardy” after United pilots negotiated a sweeter contract for themselves.
Pilot Union Says New American Airlines Contact In “Jeopardy” After United Pilots Win Greater Concessions
On May 19, 2023, the Allied Pilots Association (APA) and American Airlines reached a new agreement in principle on a collective bargaining agreement. The deal would raise wages up to 42%, increase profit sharing, and add or sweeten other benefits (specifics here). The deal has now been sent to pilots to ratify, with a voting period between July 4 – August 7, 2023
But despite the lucrative nature of the contract (with similar pay scales and profit sharing to Delta Air Lines and United), the APA is now warning that passage of the new contract is in “jeopardy” via a memo obtained by Reuters:
Management is fully aware that the proposed UAL deal has now put the ratification of our TA [tentative agreement] in jeopardy.
Surely AA management cannot expect our pilots to accept an agreement that puts us behind our contemporaries at other airlines for at least the next four years.
Dennis Tajer, an APA spokesman, confirmed the memo and said the sticking point is that under the current agreements, United Airlines pilots would be better paid than their American Airlines counterparts by about 2%, plus United has offered its pilots better back pay provisions stretching back to 2020.
Tajer believes the “reality of the marketplace has changed,” and that the new contract “will not encourage new pilots to come to American.”
American Airlines said it “will work with the union to make sure its pilots are taken care of,” though offered no specifics.
CONCLUSION
Just as pilots were set to being voting on a new contract, United’s relatively more lucrative deal has thrown the entire agreement into question. American Airlines is in consultation with the Allied Pilots Association over this as both sides try to hash out a final deal to be ratified by pilots.
image: American Airlines
At this rate if the “auction” continues pilots will be making $4.5M a year and only needing to fly 8 hours a month. As well having four rest pilots on every aircraft with all of first class blocked for rest times.
The inmates are officially running the asylum with competitive greed. Dummy me thought that when you agree to something, even before it’s signed, that the meeting of the minds was a contract.
Union members need to ratify the contract; no meeting of the minds in that case until ratification.
@octinphil
I get the ratification but when the union negotiators find a acceptable pay rate, asking to go back to table because someone else got a sweeter deal is not acting in good faith. But truthfully I don’t know. Negotiating could go on forever it would seem
This round robin game by the pilots union is appalling. There’s a certain point where you should just shut up and take the money and they the pilots unions passed that point several months ago. These contracts are not just generous but so rich that they’re pretty much untenable for the airline. In practical terms that means that the pilots got such enormous increases that some of those increases will have to be reduced in the future. A better solution would be to work in partnership with the airlines and negotiate a viable set of raises. Instead, the pilots are illustrating plenty of shortsighted greed.
This airline WILL go bankrupt once a down turn in the economy happens, which IT WILL soon! We are at the door step of major conflicts in both Russia and China! WAKE UP PEOPLE!
Give me a bleeping break. Automated piloted flights can’t come soon enough.
Tajer said “new pilots won’t come to American.”
Hilarious! With their insistence on the ridiculous 1500 hour training rule pilot unions are doing their best to ensure there won’t be any new pilots so they can squeeze the airlines cojones even tighter!
Be prepared for higher ticket prices thanks to these glorified bus drivers…..
I guess a half million dollars a year isn’t enough to live on.