jettypeguy
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From Saturday's Chicago Tribune....
Daley says ATA jobs to be saved
But unions want commitment from AirTran on hiring
By Mike Hughlett and Gary Washburn
Tribune staff reporters
Published October 30, 2004
Mayor Richard Daley said Friday that AirTran Airways has agreed to hire virtually all of ATA Airlines' 3,200 Chicago-based employees if a proposed deal between the two carriers is consummated.
That's encouraging news to leaders of unions representing ATA's Chicago workers, though they said it would be more reassuring if AirTran made such a declaration--and in writing.
ATA, Midway Airport's second-largest carrier, filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday. At the same time, it announced it would sell rights to its 14 Midway gates to low-cost rival AirTran as part of an $87.6 million deal.
AirTran's president, Robert Fornaro, said Wednesday that ATA had "a lot of good people," but it was too early to tell how many of its workers would be kept on. AirTran's ambiguity prompted Daley to claim that any deal involving city-owned Midway would be contingent on retaining ATA's workers.
Daley said he met with representatives of both airlines on Thursday and is confident the deal will help Chicago.
"We will not lose any jobs," he said. "We have good word from them in regard to the employees."
AirTran considers the workers "a great asset," Daley said.
Jacki Pritchett, head of the Association of Flight Attendants at ATA, said Daley's involvement and reassurances "certainly helps the situation." But, she said, AirTran hasn't made such assurances to the union, which represents 1,800 ATA flight attendants, two-thirds of them based out of Chicago.
Rusty Ayers, a spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, said the union is "grateful" for Daley's commitment to protecting Midway jobs. The pilots group has 1,100 members at ATA, about 600 to 700 of whom are based out of Midway.
But Ayers said his union has heard nothing directly from AirTran or ATA.
"In none of the statements by ATA or AirTran have they committed to hiring the employees at Midway," he said.
Officials at Orlando-based AirTran didn't return calls Friday. Indianapolis-based ATA has declined to comment beyond what it already has released publicly.
Retaining a job may be the paramount worry of ATA's Chicago employees, but it's not the only one in the wake of the proposed AirTran deal.
Merging two airline workforces--particularly two groups of pilots--can be fraught with prickly seniority issues.
"Seniority is everything to an airline pilot," Ayers said. It determines what routes a pilot flies, which, in turn, determine a pilot's pay, he said.
Plus, seniority determines a pecking order for layoffs in a union shop. That's particularly important in the struggling airline industry, which has been rife with layoffs in recent years.
Airline unions normally try to blend seniority lists in a merger. But it doesn't always work out that way.
When American Airlines acquired TWA in 2001, many of TWA's employees, regardless of their experience, were put at the bottom of the merged airline's seniority list. When layoffs surged, TWA workers were the first to get pink slips.
Complicating matters in any ATA-AirTran deal is the different array of unions at each carrier. Flight attendants are represented by the same union, but that's not the case with pilots and mechanics.
Also Friday, Daley said that a $100 million employee training center that had been planned by ATA for 71st Street and Cicero Avenue is "still on the table."
Daley says ATA jobs to be saved
But unions want commitment from AirTran on hiring
By Mike Hughlett and Gary Washburn
Tribune staff reporters
Published October 30, 2004
Mayor Richard Daley said Friday that AirTran Airways has agreed to hire virtually all of ATA Airlines' 3,200 Chicago-based employees if a proposed deal between the two carriers is consummated.
That's encouraging news to leaders of unions representing ATA's Chicago workers, though they said it would be more reassuring if AirTran made such a declaration--and in writing.
ATA, Midway Airport's second-largest carrier, filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday. At the same time, it announced it would sell rights to its 14 Midway gates to low-cost rival AirTran as part of an $87.6 million deal.
AirTran's president, Robert Fornaro, said Wednesday that ATA had "a lot of good people," but it was too early to tell how many of its workers would be kept on. AirTran's ambiguity prompted Daley to claim that any deal involving city-owned Midway would be contingent on retaining ATA's workers.
Daley said he met with representatives of both airlines on Thursday and is confident the deal will help Chicago.
"We will not lose any jobs," he said. "We have good word from them in regard to the employees."
AirTran considers the workers "a great asset," Daley said.
Jacki Pritchett, head of the Association of Flight Attendants at ATA, said Daley's involvement and reassurances "certainly helps the situation." But, she said, AirTran hasn't made such assurances to the union, which represents 1,800 ATA flight attendants, two-thirds of them based out of Chicago.
Rusty Ayers, a spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, said the union is "grateful" for Daley's commitment to protecting Midway jobs. The pilots group has 1,100 members at ATA, about 600 to 700 of whom are based out of Midway.
But Ayers said his union has heard nothing directly from AirTran or ATA.
"In none of the statements by ATA or AirTran have they committed to hiring the employees at Midway," he said.
Officials at Orlando-based AirTran didn't return calls Friday. Indianapolis-based ATA has declined to comment beyond what it already has released publicly.
Retaining a job may be the paramount worry of ATA's Chicago employees, but it's not the only one in the wake of the proposed AirTran deal.
Merging two airline workforces--particularly two groups of pilots--can be fraught with prickly seniority issues.
"Seniority is everything to an airline pilot," Ayers said. It determines what routes a pilot flies, which, in turn, determine a pilot's pay, he said.
Plus, seniority determines a pecking order for layoffs in a union shop. That's particularly important in the struggling airline industry, which has been rife with layoffs in recent years.
Airline unions normally try to blend seniority lists in a merger. But it doesn't always work out that way.
When American Airlines acquired TWA in 2001, many of TWA's employees, regardless of their experience, were put at the bottom of the merged airline's seniority list. When layoffs surged, TWA workers were the first to get pink slips.
Complicating matters in any ATA-AirTran deal is the different array of unions at each carrier. Flight attendants are represented by the same union, but that's not the case with pilots and mechanics.
Also Friday, Daley said that a $100 million employee training center that had been planned by ATA for 71st Street and Cicero Avenue is "still on the table."
