Brother Francis
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THE TEAMSTERS
Union aims to block airline, says it sidesteps labor contract
By Bill Wolfe
[email protected]
The Courier-Journal
The Teamsters union is trying to block the creation of Republic Airlines, which announced yesterday that it will base its operations in Louisville.
Jason Hedgepeth, communications manager for Teamsters Local 747, says Republic Airlines is a ''low-cost carrier'' that was created ''to bypass any kind of labor contract.'' He said the union will ask an independent arbitrator to stop Republic.
Tom Hanley, president of the airline, said last night that union officials are ''going to do what they think is right for them. It doesn't really affect what we're doing.''
Republic Airways, the parent of Republic Airlines and Chautauqua Airlines in Indianapolis, formed the airline after US Airways demanded that half of the new jobs at regional affiliates such as Chautauqua be offered to laid-off US Airways pilots.
The Chautauqua pilots opposed US Airways' measure because they feared losing seniority to an influx of outsiders who would maintain their seniority, Hedgepeth said.
Now the new airline, which will fly as US Airways Express, meets the obligation for hiring the laid-off pilots, but the Teamsters fear that the Louisville airline also will siphon off some of Chautauqua's business.
The ''US Airways' Jets for Jobs'' vote pitted the Teamsters against a larger pilots' union, the Air Line Pilots Association, which secured the program in negotiations with US Airways.
''The whole premise for the 'Jets for Jobs' program was to provide job opportunities,'' said Richard Obermeyer, spokesman for the association in Pittsburgh. ''Our guys are losing their jobs. We want to do something to provide opportunities for them at those other programs.''
The former US Airways pilots who fly for Republic doubtless will see smaller salaries and longer hours than at the larger airline, said Kit Darby, president of Aviation Information Resources Inc., an Atlanta job information service for pilots.
Pay figures for Republic Airlines weren't available, but top pay for a pilot at Chautauqua is $6,115 a month, he said. That's about one-third of the top pay a pilot might make at a large airline.
Still, ''Jets for Jobs'' is an innovative approach to layoffs, said David Field of Airline Business magazine.
And ''some guys really prefer to work for a regional, because they move up the seniority ladder fairly quickly,'' Field said. That allows them to choose their schedules and have a ''stable, reliable home life.''
Regional airlines also work well for large airlines that don't want to fly their own large planes in smaller markets.
''They keep the airline's name in the public eye,'' Field said.
Regional airlines have grown substantially in the past five to seven years, said Michael Miller, president of Miller Air Group Inc. in Orlando, Fla.
''Regional jets have allowed new markets to open up and new efficiencies to come into the inefficient major airline structure that we have in the U.S.,'' he said. ''Basically, we have the situation that the regional airlines are expanding as the major airlines are contracting.''
Union aims to block airline, says it sidesteps labor contract
By Bill Wolfe
[email protected]
The Courier-Journal
The Teamsters union is trying to block the creation of Republic Airlines, which announced yesterday that it will base its operations in Louisville.
Jason Hedgepeth, communications manager for Teamsters Local 747, says Republic Airlines is a ''low-cost carrier'' that was created ''to bypass any kind of labor contract.'' He said the union will ask an independent arbitrator to stop Republic.
Tom Hanley, president of the airline, said last night that union officials are ''going to do what they think is right for them. It doesn't really affect what we're doing.''
Republic Airways, the parent of Republic Airlines and Chautauqua Airlines in Indianapolis, formed the airline after US Airways demanded that half of the new jobs at regional affiliates such as Chautauqua be offered to laid-off US Airways pilots.
The Chautauqua pilots opposed US Airways' measure because they feared losing seniority to an influx of outsiders who would maintain their seniority, Hedgepeth said.
Now the new airline, which will fly as US Airways Express, meets the obligation for hiring the laid-off pilots, but the Teamsters fear that the Louisville airline also will siphon off some of Chautauqua's business.
The ''US Airways' Jets for Jobs'' vote pitted the Teamsters against a larger pilots' union, the Air Line Pilots Association, which secured the program in negotiations with US Airways.
''The whole premise for the 'Jets for Jobs' program was to provide job opportunities,'' said Richard Obermeyer, spokesman for the association in Pittsburgh. ''Our guys are losing their jobs. We want to do something to provide opportunities for them at those other programs.''
The former US Airways pilots who fly for Republic doubtless will see smaller salaries and longer hours than at the larger airline, said Kit Darby, president of Aviation Information Resources Inc., an Atlanta job information service for pilots.
Pay figures for Republic Airlines weren't available, but top pay for a pilot at Chautauqua is $6,115 a month, he said. That's about one-third of the top pay a pilot might make at a large airline.
Still, ''Jets for Jobs'' is an innovative approach to layoffs, said David Field of Airline Business magazine.
And ''some guys really prefer to work for a regional, because they move up the seniority ladder fairly quickly,'' Field said. That allows them to choose their schedules and have a ''stable, reliable home life.''
Regional airlines also work well for large airlines that don't want to fly their own large planes in smaller markets.
''They keep the airline's name in the public eye,'' Field said.
Regional airlines have grown substantially in the past five to seven years, said Michael Miller, president of Miller Air Group Inc. in Orlando, Fla.
''Regional jets have allowed new markets to open up and new efficiencies to come into the inefficient major airline structure that we have in the U.S.,'' he said. ''Basically, we have the situation that the regional airlines are expanding as the major airlines are contracting.''
