Dirty Tricks From Whipsaw City, part 1

[outerfix]

M-B has pretty plain language so yes, in my opinion it would apply to all Air Carriers regardless of size. The mechanism for integration is Allegany -Mohawk not DOH. I don't think a 135 company is required to have a seniority list but they would probably end up with one in the event of an integration. The only way around this is to call your Senator and get the law changed or challenge it in court. If you don't think M-B should protect 135 pilots, what should replace it? Don't forget there would also be unintended consequences if the law got changed.

 

[gret]

Are there any Part 135 operators that have unions?

From FlexJet's websire-

FAQ

What is an air carrier?

The term "air carrier" is defined in the Federal Aviation Act in 49 U.S.C. ? 40102. In general, under federal aviation law, an air carrier means an entity that undertakes ? either directly or indirectly ? to provide interstate transportation for compensation as a common carrier. To be an "air carrier," an entity must have two separate government approvals: economic authority from the U.S. Department of Transportation ("DOT") and safety/operational authority from the Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA"). Air carriers must also be U.S. citizens.

Fractional programs are regulated by the FAA, and may be operated by air carriers or non-air carriers, like Flexjet.​

 

[outerfix]

CitationAir and FLOPS are 135 Air Carriers and they both have Unions.

 

[gret]

OK...the parties in question....any others?

 

[outerfix]

Netjets has an independent union and Great Lakes has a union although they may have switched to 121.

 

[gret]

The question concerns the definition of an air carrier and how it may apply to a frac provider. I don't know and doubt that it has come up before as few 135 operators are unionized. It doesn't appear operating 91k puts you in an air carrier situation.

Don' know the answer and how it would be applied from a labor perspective.

 

[gunfyter]

Fracs are air carriers ... thats why they are unionized subject to the RLA....

But if someone wants to get us out from under RLA ... I am for it

 

[outerfix]

Frac's are Air Carriers because they are 135 Air Carriers. Flex is different because if they owned a 135 certificate they would violate the 49% foreign ownership rule. For that reason, they operate under someone else's 135 Certificate. I think a judge could rule either way on FLEX but my gut tells me he would offer the protection that M-B provides to the FLEX pilots. I know that some of the FLEX pilots feel that if they are not an Air Carrier that they won't be party to a single carrier suit, and that's true but Ricci could lose a lawsuit from the FLOPs pilots and be forced to integrate and FLEX would not have the protection of either a single carrier suit to stop it or M-B protections for integration.

 

[doh]

From the DOT website:

Anyone who wants to provide air transportation service as an air carrier must first obtain two separate authorizations from the Department of Transportation:

Economic Authority from the Office of the Secretary of Transportation (the Department) in the form of a certificate for interstate or foreign passenger and/or cargo authority
Safety Authority in the form of an Air Carrier Certificate and Operations Specifications from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

As noted above, the economic authority issued to air carriers by the Department is separate from the safety authority (commonly referred to as Part 135 or Part 121 Operations Specifications) granted to them by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). For safety authority application procedures and related questions, air carriers should contact the appropriate FAA flight standard district office based upon the geographical location of the air carrier.

Flexjet is not an Air Carrier. We do not have Ops Specs. If your lawyers successfully argue that Air Carrier (your contract term, I believe) status applies to us, then Mckaskill Bond would apply to us as well. The court would have ruled we are an Air Carrier for purposes of this merger.

 

[outerfix]

DOH, I get what you are saying but FLOPS has in their contract that all fractional flying will be done by them. If FLOPS takes Directional to court and wins and you are not an Air Carrier you probably will be merged without a single carrier suit and without the protections of M-B. How would an integration go? Who Knows because there would be no guidelines. If you are an Air Carrier you would be subject to a single carrier suit but you have the right to argue that there should be no single carrier and if you lose you would have the protections of M-B. While you are not technically an Air Carrier, you operate as one under someone else's certificate so a judge could rule either way. Looking at the FLOPS contract, I think you run a bigger risk NOT being an Air Carrier.