This from the Tacoma Newspaper this week.
Any opinions about early talks, or will they wait it out and end up in binding arbitration after being unable to come to a deal ?
"Alaska pilot talks suggested
JOHN GILLIE; The News Tribune
A union study recommends Alaska Airlines pilots begin contract negotiations soon to help the company shave its expenses.
A summary of that study by the Air Line Pilots Association's economic and financial analysis department, released Monday, concludes the SeaTac-based airline has an effective plan to restore its profitability but needs "appropriate" help to become competitive.
The study doesn't define what "appropriate" means.
Representatives of Alaska's 1,500 pilots could decide as early as next week whether to ratify those recommendations and begin negotiations soon or to reject them, said Gary Hansen, chairman of Alaska Air Line Pilots Association Master Executive Council.
Union officers have held meetings at Alaska bases in Seattle, Anchorage and Los Angeles to explain the study results, and a polling firm has questioned pilots about their preferences. The union won't say what that polling firm discovered.
If the union's executive council rejects the company's request for early concessionary negotiations, talks will start according to a predetermined timetable with first sessions beginning in March 2004. The pilots' regular contract will expire in May 2005.
Alaska is asking its employees to cut wages and benefits and to make changes in work rules to save the company $112 million in the next year.
The wage cuts are part of an airline plan to return Alaska's costs to the middle of the pack among major airlines.
The airline is depending on more effective purchasing, creative cost-cutting in operations and better utilization of its aircraft to provide the majority of its $307 million in projected cost savings. But Alaska's plan calls for $112 million in savings to come from labor cost cuts.
Recent concessions by unions at several of the nation's major airlines have left Alaska's costs at the high end of the scale among the nation's larger carriers. Pilots and other union members at other airlines have taken pay cuts of as much as 30 percent.
But those large cuts generally came while the airlines involved were in bankruptcy reorganization where a judge can force employees to slash their pay if the airline and the union don't voluntarily agree on such concessions. Alaska initially is seeking a 23 percent compensation cut from its pilots.
Tara Elkins, spokeswoman for the ALPA's Alaska Airlines unit, said the airline's proposal would put the largest burden for wage cuts on the pilots. According to ALPA's calculations, she said, Alaska is asking that its pilots absorb about 63 percent of the $112 million in expense cuts Alaska is seeking from labor.
Alaska pilots make from $48,000 to $181,000 a year for flying an average of 80 hours a month. But pilots point out they typically spend as much as three times that amount of time working for the company in preflight briefings and other post- and preflight work, not including time spent away from home in remote cities.
The Association of Flight Attendants already has told Alaska it won't open up a new round of negotiations aimed at cutting costs. The flight attendants will instead address Alaska's requests in regular negotiations due to begin soon.
Hansen said the study recommended new talks because pilots will have better leverage now than in regular negotiations which could end with an impasse. Failure to agree on terms of a new contract under the regular timetable could lead to arbitration where a third-party could force pilots could accept less favorable terms.
Alaska has promised that if workers agree to wage cuts, it will allow them to participate in a bonus plan with extra financial rewards doled out for reaching certain work targets.
The ALPA study further concluded that while Alaska's cash reserves are healthier than those of many of its competitors, the airline is under considerable pressure to return to profitability next year. This year will the fourth year in a row Alaska has lost money. The company lost $118 million last year.
Airlines collectively have lost billions since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The pilots association said it doesn't expect the industry as a whole to remove the red ink from its bottom line before 2005.
The ALPA report further says Alaska's plan to expand the airline aggressively is dependent on the airline's success in cutting expenses.
Alaska Chairman Bill Ayer has told employees if Alaska is able to shave its costs across the board, it will increase its 109-aircraft fleet to 150 to 175 aircraft and serve several more major cities.
Alaska is one of only two major airlines that hasn't laid off pilots or shrunk its schedule since Sept. 11, 2001."
Any opinions about early talks, or will they wait it out and end up in binding arbitration after being unable to come to a deal ?
"Alaska pilot talks suggested
JOHN GILLIE; The News Tribune
A union study recommends Alaska Airlines pilots begin contract negotiations soon to help the company shave its expenses.
A summary of that study by the Air Line Pilots Association's economic and financial analysis department, released Monday, concludes the SeaTac-based airline has an effective plan to restore its profitability but needs "appropriate" help to become competitive.
The study doesn't define what "appropriate" means.
Representatives of Alaska's 1,500 pilots could decide as early as next week whether to ratify those recommendations and begin negotiations soon or to reject them, said Gary Hansen, chairman of Alaska Air Line Pilots Association Master Executive Council.
Union officers have held meetings at Alaska bases in Seattle, Anchorage and Los Angeles to explain the study results, and a polling firm has questioned pilots about their preferences. The union won't say what that polling firm discovered.
If the union's executive council rejects the company's request for early concessionary negotiations, talks will start according to a predetermined timetable with first sessions beginning in March 2004. The pilots' regular contract will expire in May 2005.
Alaska is asking its employees to cut wages and benefits and to make changes in work rules to save the company $112 million in the next year.
The wage cuts are part of an airline plan to return Alaska's costs to the middle of the pack among major airlines.
The airline is depending on more effective purchasing, creative cost-cutting in operations and better utilization of its aircraft to provide the majority of its $307 million in projected cost savings. But Alaska's plan calls for $112 million in savings to come from labor cost cuts.
Recent concessions by unions at several of the nation's major airlines have left Alaska's costs at the high end of the scale among the nation's larger carriers. Pilots and other union members at other airlines have taken pay cuts of as much as 30 percent.
But those large cuts generally came while the airlines involved were in bankruptcy reorganization where a judge can force employees to slash their pay if the airline and the union don't voluntarily agree on such concessions. Alaska initially is seeking a 23 percent compensation cut from its pilots.
Tara Elkins, spokeswoman for the ALPA's Alaska Airlines unit, said the airline's proposal would put the largest burden for wage cuts on the pilots. According to ALPA's calculations, she said, Alaska is asking that its pilots absorb about 63 percent of the $112 million in expense cuts Alaska is seeking from labor.
Alaska pilots make from $48,000 to $181,000 a year for flying an average of 80 hours a month. But pilots point out they typically spend as much as three times that amount of time working for the company in preflight briefings and other post- and preflight work, not including time spent away from home in remote cities.
The Association of Flight Attendants already has told Alaska it won't open up a new round of negotiations aimed at cutting costs. The flight attendants will instead address Alaska's requests in regular negotiations due to begin soon.
Hansen said the study recommended new talks because pilots will have better leverage now than in regular negotiations which could end with an impasse. Failure to agree on terms of a new contract under the regular timetable could lead to arbitration where a third-party could force pilots could accept less favorable terms.
Alaska has promised that if workers agree to wage cuts, it will allow them to participate in a bonus plan with extra financial rewards doled out for reaching certain work targets.
The ALPA study further concluded that while Alaska's cash reserves are healthier than those of many of its competitors, the airline is under considerable pressure to return to profitability next year. This year will the fourth year in a row Alaska has lost money. The company lost $118 million last year.
Airlines collectively have lost billions since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The pilots association said it doesn't expect the industry as a whole to remove the red ink from its bottom line before 2005.
The ALPA report further says Alaska's plan to expand the airline aggressively is dependent on the airline's success in cutting expenses.
Alaska Chairman Bill Ayer has told employees if Alaska is able to shave its costs across the board, it will increase its 109-aircraft fleet to 150 to 175 aircraft and serve several more major cities.
Alaska is one of only two major airlines that hasn't laid off pilots or shrunk its schedule since Sept. 11, 2001."
