storminpilot
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http://www.startribune.com/stories/535/4939827.html
Pinnacle calls off talks with pilots
Liz Fedor, Star Tribune August 21, 2004 PINN0821
Management at Pinnacle Airlines has halted contract talks with the pilots union only a few weeks after negotiations began.
Memphis-based Pinnacle flies regional routes for Northwest Airlines, and it has surpassed Eagan-based Mesaba Airlines in the number of flights flown out of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
"We were informed at the table that the process was going slower than they anticipated," Wakefield Gordon, chairman of the Pinnacle pilots union, said Friday. "They thought it was wise to simply break the negotiations off at this time."
The contract for about 930 Pinnacle pilots is amendable April 30, 2005, and about one-third of those pilots fly out of the Twin Cities. The rapidly growing Pinnacle is flying 44- and 50-seat Canadair Regional Jets for Northwest. Pinnacle operates a fleet of 103 CRJs and will have 129 planes by next year. Northwest holds options to acquire 175 more CRJs and Pinnacle wants to fly additional jets if the big carrier makes a CRJ purchase.
"We are one of the most, if not the most, productive pilot groups in the country," said Gordon, who leads the Pinnacle unit of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). He said that it is "almost un-American" that Pinnacle pilots are paid at rates below their industry peers. A second-year co-pilot at Pinnacle would need a 50 percent raise to be on par with a co-pilot at Comair, which flies regional routes for Delta Air Lines and is at the top of the regional industry pay scales, he said.
On July 29, Pinnacle CEO Phil Trenary told Wall Street analysts that management and the pilots union had agreed to open negotiations early.
Eight to 10 bargaining sessions were held in July and August before management chose to abandon the talks this week, Gordon said. "They decided it was in their best interest to step back and go about it a different way," he said.
Only one contract topic had been discussed: training.
"While these early talks have stopped, their tone was professional," Phil Reed, Pinnacle vice president of marketing, said Friday.
He declined to elaborate on why management halted the negotiations.
"We remain optimistic about successfully completing these negotiations and will return to mutually beneficial talks at any time," Reed said.
In a message to pilots, Gordon said he doesn't expect talks to resume until December. The union is willing to restart negotiations earlier.
"We are disappointed and undeterred," he said. Pinnacle pilots will seek higher pay, better scheduling rules and a solid retirement plan.
"Pinnacle pilots are unwilling to forgo necessary contractual improvements for the promise of future growth," Gordon said in his memo to pilots.
Pinnacle's operating revenue reached $152 million in the second quarter, an increase of 39 percent.
Eagan-based Northwest is in contract talks with its pilots, and CEO Richard Anderson said Wednesday that the two sides hope to reach a deal by this fall. Northwest wants to cut pilot labor costs by $300 million a year, while the union has offered $200 million in cutbacks.
Pinnacle calls off talks with pilots
Liz Fedor, Star Tribune August 21, 2004 PINN0821
Management at Pinnacle Airlines has halted contract talks with the pilots union only a few weeks after negotiations began.
Memphis-based Pinnacle flies regional routes for Northwest Airlines, and it has surpassed Eagan-based Mesaba Airlines in the number of flights flown out of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
"We were informed at the table that the process was going slower than they anticipated," Wakefield Gordon, chairman of the Pinnacle pilots union, said Friday. "They thought it was wise to simply break the negotiations off at this time."
The contract for about 930 Pinnacle pilots is amendable April 30, 2005, and about one-third of those pilots fly out of the Twin Cities. The rapidly growing Pinnacle is flying 44- and 50-seat Canadair Regional Jets for Northwest. Pinnacle operates a fleet of 103 CRJs and will have 129 planes by next year. Northwest holds options to acquire 175 more CRJs and Pinnacle wants to fly additional jets if the big carrier makes a CRJ purchase.
"We are one of the most, if not the most, productive pilot groups in the country," said Gordon, who leads the Pinnacle unit of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). He said that it is "almost un-American" that Pinnacle pilots are paid at rates below their industry peers. A second-year co-pilot at Pinnacle would need a 50 percent raise to be on par with a co-pilot at Comair, which flies regional routes for Delta Air Lines and is at the top of the regional industry pay scales, he said.
On July 29, Pinnacle CEO Phil Trenary told Wall Street analysts that management and the pilots union had agreed to open negotiations early.
Eight to 10 bargaining sessions were held in July and August before management chose to abandon the talks this week, Gordon said. "They decided it was in their best interest to step back and go about it a different way," he said.
Only one contract topic had been discussed: training.
"While these early talks have stopped, their tone was professional," Phil Reed, Pinnacle vice president of marketing, said Friday.
He declined to elaborate on why management halted the negotiations.
"We remain optimistic about successfully completing these negotiations and will return to mutually beneficial talks at any time," Reed said.
In a message to pilots, Gordon said he doesn't expect talks to resume until December. The union is willing to restart negotiations earlier.
"We are disappointed and undeterred," he said. Pinnacle pilots will seek higher pay, better scheduling rules and a solid retirement plan.
"Pinnacle pilots are unwilling to forgo necessary contractual improvements for the promise of future growth," Gordon said in his memo to pilots.
Pinnacle's operating revenue reached $152 million in the second quarter, an increase of 39 percent.
Eagan-based Northwest is in contract talks with its pilots, and CEO Richard Anderson said Wednesday that the two sides hope to reach a deal by this fall. Northwest wants to cut pilot labor costs by $300 million a year, while the union has offered $200 million in cutbacks.
