Pilots sue airlines and their union
By: Karen Ferrick-Roman - Times Staff
More than 230 pilots have filed a lawsuit against airlines and their
union, claiming they were scammed into thinking an airline existed
as a separate business when, instead, it was part of US Airways.
They are seeking $400 million in damages and back pay from the Air
Line Pilots Association, US Airways, America West, Republic Airways
and Republic's investment company, Wexford Capital.
The 85-page lawsuit was filed Friday in New York's Eastern District
Court by attorney Michael Haber of New York City, on behalf of about
75 percent of the 322 pilots flying for US Airways' regional
MidAtlantic Airways Division. The suit covers a range of
accusations, including breach of contract and duty of fair
representation; violation of the Railway Labor Act, which governs
airline labor pacts; and racketeering.
About 25 percent of MidAtlantic's 850 employees are based in
Pittsburgh, the airline has said, including pilots, flight
attendants, mechanics and supervisors. Pittsburgh was supposed to be
the headquarters for MidAtlantic, which was to operate separately
from the mainline airline, as PSA Airlines and Piedmont Airlines do.
That didn't happen.
The airline, Haber said, credited this new start-up with performing
wonders for the financially ailing company through the efficiencies
of flying smaller, 70-seat jets instead of the larger mainline fleet.
The union and company agreed MidAtlantic would hire some of the
1,800 laid-off US Airways mainline pilots, retaining their rights to
be recalled to a mainline job, Haber said.
"As it turns out, there was no MidAtlantic. ... It was never
anything except a name," Haber said. "These people were tricked into
thinking they worked for an entity that never existed."
MidAtlantic was recently sold to Republic Airlines.
US Airways re-released a prepared statement on MidAtlantic,
saying, "Our agreement with Republic ... is in full compliance with
our collective-bargaining agreements with ALPA (the Air Line Pilots
Association). This transaction was contemplated and agreed to by the
parties during negotiations on this issue."
No comment was available from ALPA or Republic.
MidAtlantic, the suit said, was operated under the same rules and
government certificate as the mainline.
Additionally, union leadership approved agreements that should have
been ratified by the members, the suit said. The union and airlines
camouflaged the fact that MidAtlantic was not a stand-alone company,
the suit said, and established a lower pay and benefit rate for
these pilots.
"Labor relations law means nothing if a pilot who was laid off can
be brought back at a lower wage," Haber said.
The $400 million in damages was arrived at by taking the number of
pilots involved, times the amount of their salary decrease
(generally, about half of the mainline wage) times the number of
years they would be employed, Haber said.