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Debbie McCoy retires
In today's online USAToday.......
Highest-ranking female pilot retires from airline
By Dan Reed, USA TODAY
The USA's highest-ranking female airline pilot retired last week as chief of Continental Airlines' flight operations while superiors investigated charges that she managed by intimidation.
Debbie McCoy, the only woman to ever to rise to the position of a major carrier's top management pilot, took early retirement as Executive Vice President Mark Moran, McCoy's former boss, is conducting a special audit of her department.
The audit was part of a deal between Continental CEO Larry Kellner and the pilots' union that management would look into complaints about McCoy's department.
In addition to supervising pilots, McCoy had oversight of flight attendants, safety and regulatory compliance, food services and crew training. Kellner promised the special audit in February as management was urging pilots' approval of wage concessions totaling $213 million a year. Pilots have since ratified the concessions.
McCoy, contacted by phone, said she decided to retire because she had "recently reached 50, and I could." She referred other questions to Continental. McCoy's career spanned 26 years, and she was certified to fly a variety of big planes, including the Boeing 777.
Continental spokesman Ned Walker said McCoy "chose to retire and was not asked to leave the company." He dismissed claims that McCoy's retirement was tied to the audit or to a pending lawsuit filed by a fired Continental pilot that also accuses her of heavy-handedness.
The audit, Walker said, "is intended to further strengthen the working relationship among pilots, ALPA and the company."
Jay Panarello, chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association unit at Continental, declined to comment. But in a March 18 letter to pilots, before concessions were approved, he called the special audit "integral" to ratification. He said the audit was a response to "complaints and grievances" against McCoy's flight operations department, including:
• A pattern of harassment, including heavy-handed administration.
• Firing or threatening to fire pilots as a way of discouraging them from exercising their contract rights.
• Making some pilots go through multiple unnecessary fitness-to-fly evaluations.
• Using supposedly private communications between pilots and federal safety regulators to support disciplinary actions.
Those complaints parallel claims made by former Continental pilot Steven Manarik in a wrongful termination lawsuit pending in a federal district court in Texas. Manarik was fired twice by Continental on what he calls trumped-up charges. McCoy and other management pilots are named as plaintiffs, along with Continental.
Manarik, a training instructor, was fired in 2002 for alleged improper use of free travel passes. An arbitrator reinstated him. Management then accused him in 2003 of failing to complete an assignment, and fired him again.
Manarik says he was targeted for pro-ALPA activities. In the lawsuit, he holds McCoy and other managers responsible for what he calls unfair dismissal. Continental and the individuals named in the lawsuit deny Manarik's claims and are countersuing.
Howard Dulmage, Manarik's Houston attorney, said he believes McCoy's unexpected retirement is a result of the problems addressed by Manarik's lawsuit and the special audit of her department. "While we can't say that with certainty, we feel like the timing is of interest," Dulmage said. Continental did not name a replacement for McCoy.
In today's online USAToday.......
Highest-ranking female pilot retires from airline
By Dan Reed, USA TODAY
The USA's highest-ranking female airline pilot retired last week as chief of Continental Airlines' flight operations while superiors investigated charges that she managed by intimidation.
Debbie McCoy, the only woman to ever to rise to the position of a major carrier's top management pilot, took early retirement as Executive Vice President Mark Moran, McCoy's former boss, is conducting a special audit of her department.
The audit was part of a deal between Continental CEO Larry Kellner and the pilots' union that management would look into complaints about McCoy's department.
In addition to supervising pilots, McCoy had oversight of flight attendants, safety and regulatory compliance, food services and crew training. Kellner promised the special audit in February as management was urging pilots' approval of wage concessions totaling $213 million a year. Pilots have since ratified the concessions.
McCoy, contacted by phone, said she decided to retire because she had "recently reached 50, and I could." She referred other questions to Continental. McCoy's career spanned 26 years, and she was certified to fly a variety of big planes, including the Boeing 777.
Continental spokesman Ned Walker said McCoy "chose to retire and was not asked to leave the company." He dismissed claims that McCoy's retirement was tied to the audit or to a pending lawsuit filed by a fired Continental pilot that also accuses her of heavy-handedness.
The audit, Walker said, "is intended to further strengthen the working relationship among pilots, ALPA and the company."
Jay Panarello, chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association unit at Continental, declined to comment. But in a March 18 letter to pilots, before concessions were approved, he called the special audit "integral" to ratification. He said the audit was a response to "complaints and grievances" against McCoy's flight operations department, including:
• A pattern of harassment, including heavy-handed administration.
• Firing or threatening to fire pilots as a way of discouraging them from exercising their contract rights.
• Making some pilots go through multiple unnecessary fitness-to-fly evaluations.
• Using supposedly private communications between pilots and federal safety regulators to support disciplinary actions.
Those complaints parallel claims made by former Continental pilot Steven Manarik in a wrongful termination lawsuit pending in a federal district court in Texas. Manarik was fired twice by Continental on what he calls trumped-up charges. McCoy and other management pilots are named as plaintiffs, along with Continental.
Manarik, a training instructor, was fired in 2002 for alleged improper use of free travel passes. An arbitrator reinstated him. Management then accused him in 2003 of failing to complete an assignment, and fired him again.
Manarik says he was targeted for pro-ALPA activities. In the lawsuit, he holds McCoy and other managers responsible for what he calls unfair dismissal. Continental and the individuals named in the lawsuit deny Manarik's claims and are countersuing.
Howard Dulmage, Manarik's Houston attorney, said he believes McCoy's unexpected retirement is a result of the problems addressed by Manarik's lawsuit and the special audit of her department. "While we can't say that with certainty, we feel like the timing is of interest," Dulmage said. Continental did not name a replacement for McCoy.
