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From the Star Tribune:
Turmoil turned to triumph for Mesaba pilots union
Liz Fedor, Star Tribune
Published January 18, 2004 MESA18OL
When Mesaba Airlines pilots returned to the bargaining table five days before their Jan. 9 strike deadline, it seemed as though they were under siege.
Northwest Airlines, the regional carrier's only customer, was asking its own pilots to take pay cuts. Eagan-based Northwest also was considering the removal of four-engine Avro jets from Mesaba's fleet. Pilot leaders said Mesaba management was pressuring them to accept a "cost-neutral" contract agreement. And Mesaba's parent company, MAIR Holdings, was planning to expand through Big Sky Airlines, a Montana-based subsidiary with lower labor costs, possibly threatening the job security of Mesaba pilots.
Despite that tough negotiating environment, however, the union reached a five-year agreement that provides major pay hikes and enriched retirement benefits. The pact also forces MAIR Holdings to grow the corporation with Mesaba pilots.
Mesaba spokesman Dave Jackson has declined to comment on the specific terms of the contract, because of the pending pilots' vote. "The goal was to get an agreement done and we did that," Jackson said. "Obviously, getting past these negotiations was a big step for us and we are looking forward to the future with Northwest Airlines as our partner."
How did the Mesaba pilots win this contract -- and without a strike?
"We had an extremely well-organized and unified pilot group that understood what their goals were," said Tom Wychor, chairman of the Mesaba Air Line Pilots Association unit. "The company understood this would not be a group that would cave."
Ultimately, Wychor said, Mesaba management had two choices: Put more money on the table or trigger a strike.
Mesaba's 844 pilots also knew that they were not waging a labor fight on their own. ALPA pilots who fly for Northwest and Pinnacle Airlines, Northwest's Memphis-based regional partner, pledged not to fly Mesaba flights during a strike. "Their support was very instrumental in allowing us to protect our flanks if we had to take these negotiations to the mat," Wychor said.
Mesaba pilots also drew on another power base -- Duane Woerth, president of ALPA International, who successfully transformed the labor struggle at Mesaba into a national battle.
Fearing that the major airlines would pit one regional carrier against another in a bidding war that would lead to a downward spiral in wages for regional pilots, Woerth wielded ALPA's considerable clout, at one point sending members of Congress copies of a newspaper story about Mesaba pilots who hold two jobs because the starting pay was about $17,000.
Woerth came to the Twin Cities on Jan. 5 to support Mesaba pilots at a fiery public rally. Meanwhile, he was involved in an important behind-the-scenes power play that helped Mesaba Airlines get a settlement.Woerth, who previously flew Northwest 747s and served on Northwest's board of directors, told Northwest senior management what it would take to get a deal with the Mesaba pilots.
"Northwest wasn't going to be having anybody from their team in the [negotiating] room," Woerth said. But it is undeniable that Mesaba is part of the Northwest brand, he said, because Mesaba flies regional routes exclusively for Northwest with aircraft owned and leased by Northwest.
"It was a very simple message, very clear," Woerth said. He told Northwest management that the Mesaba pilots must get compensation that would put them on par with their regional airline peers as well as win job-security provisions that would block Mesaba's parent company from using non-Mesaba pilots to do expansion flying.
"I didn't have to talk to [CEO Richard] Anderson directly, nor did I have to talk to [President Doug] Steenland directly, but they got the message," he said.
In the end, Mesaba pilots emerged with a contract settlement that won unanimous support from its elected union leadership. Pilots will conduct a ratification vote in late January on the pact, which provides immediate raises of 13.4 to 26.7 percent for first officers and 5.1 percent raises for captains, who fly Saab turboprops and Avro jets.
Raising bad memories
Woerth did not identify the Northwest executives to whom he and his staff spoke about the Mesaba pilots' contract. However, he said that he raised the specter of the 1998 pilots' strike at Northwest, which cost the airline about $1 billion.
Woerth said he told Northwest executives: "We can play the blame game [with a Mesaba strike] like we're going to probably do to our graves about the 1998 strike. Or we can both ensure that there's enough movement early enough on Friday."
When the 11:01 p.m. Friday strike deadline rolled around on Jan. 9, Mesaba ALPA's Wychor announced to the media that pilots would not walk off the job and talks would continue.
Northwest spokesman Bill Mellon said Northwest was pleased to see Mesaba management and its pilots union reach an agreement. He added that "Northwest will not comment on any of Capt. Woerth's statements, because as a matter of company policy we don't comment on labor discussions."
Mark McClain, chairman of Northwest ALPA, was at the Embassy Suites in Bloomington last weekend to support fellow ALPA pilots from Mesaba. "I've been through quite a few rounds of bargaining. This was probably the longest uninterrupted session that I've ever witnessed," McClain said early Sunday after about 39 consecutive hours of talks.
Mesaba management and union negotiators opened talks at about 8:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 9 , and they continued to exchange proposals until a tentative pact was reached and Mesaba ALPA's executive council approved it at 12:10 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 11.
"I think that that is amazing," said McClain, who spoke to the Mesaba ALPA executive council after the agreement was approved.
"Their pilots are very well represented," he said. "That's just not rhetoric. These guys have really got it together. Their negotiating committee is about as sharp as I've seen."
While Wychor recognizes the clout he gained from ALPA International and the Northwest and Pinnacle pilots, he said the union's success flows from the fact that Mesaba pilots never deviated from clear contract goals.
"Everything we asked for was fair and equitable and reasonable -- in line with the industry and our regional peers," Wychor said.
Under the existing contract, Mesaba pilots flying 85 hours per month earn an average of $17,352 to $85,445. The new agreement boosts that range to $23,542 to $94,483. The five-year agreement includes 2 percent pay raises in years two and three of the contract and 4 percent raises in years four and five.
While Mesaba pilots pushed for a contract that would place them in the same pay tier with Comair, Atlantic Coast and Air Wisconsin, those pay raises were not the most vexing issue in the talks.
Job security
"Job security was a very big issue for our pilots," Wychor said. "That was the last issue at the table."
Since MAIR Holdings acquired Big Sky Airlines in December 2002, many Mesaba pilots have worried that MAIR would funnel new flying opportunities to Big Sky instead of giving that work to Mesaba pilots.
Paul Foley, MAIR's CEO, told Wall Street analysts in an October conference call that he was soliciting airline partners to fly regional jets at Big Sky.
"We did not buy Big Sky to fly [19-seat] Metros in [federally-subsidized] markets out of Billings," Foley said. Referring to new flying options, one analyst asked Foley: "You'd be using the Big Sky pilots, you wouldn't be using the Mesaba pilots, would you?"
Foley replied, "That's correct."
The Mesaba pilots effectively killed Foley's plans with their tentative labor agreement, which restricts Big Sky to flying aircraft with 19 or fewer seats. The new contract also guarantees that any new flying obtained by MAIR, Mesaba Aviation or any other MAIR subsidiary aside from Big Sky be done by Mesaba pilots.
Woerth said the restriction on Big Sky was a huge victory.
"The industry was hoping they would have these holding company structures to create more and more fee-for-departure pilot supply houses, and see if we'd start a bidding war" among regional carriers, Woerth said.
Regional airlines rely on a major airline for their planes, routes and ticket sales. In return, they are paid a fee for flying the airplanes to destinations determined by the major airline. In that type of relationship, Woerth said, the major carriers could attempt to frequently switch regional partners based on the lowest bidder.
Robert Mann, an airline industry analyst from New York, said MAIR had hoped to use Big Sky as a whipsaw against Mesaba.
"If they were able to create a small jet operation at Big Sky with costs presumably even less than those at Pinnacle and far less than those at Mesaba, it would create an opportunity to divert work to Big Sky and create savings," Mann said.
Woerth said that strategy was halted in its tracks.
Pilots from other regional airlines closely watched the Mesaba talks, Woerth said. "Everybody is now abuzz about how we replicate what happened in Minnesota."
Turmoil turned to triumph for Mesaba pilots union
Liz Fedor, Star Tribune
Published January 18, 2004 MESA18OL
When Mesaba Airlines pilots returned to the bargaining table five days before their Jan. 9 strike deadline, it seemed as though they were under siege.
Northwest Airlines, the regional carrier's only customer, was asking its own pilots to take pay cuts. Eagan-based Northwest also was considering the removal of four-engine Avro jets from Mesaba's fleet. Pilot leaders said Mesaba management was pressuring them to accept a "cost-neutral" contract agreement. And Mesaba's parent company, MAIR Holdings, was planning to expand through Big Sky Airlines, a Montana-based subsidiary with lower labor costs, possibly threatening the job security of Mesaba pilots.
Despite that tough negotiating environment, however, the union reached a five-year agreement that provides major pay hikes and enriched retirement benefits. The pact also forces MAIR Holdings to grow the corporation with Mesaba pilots.
Mesaba spokesman Dave Jackson has declined to comment on the specific terms of the contract, because of the pending pilots' vote. "The goal was to get an agreement done and we did that," Jackson said. "Obviously, getting past these negotiations was a big step for us and we are looking forward to the future with Northwest Airlines as our partner."
How did the Mesaba pilots win this contract -- and without a strike?
"We had an extremely well-organized and unified pilot group that understood what their goals were," said Tom Wychor, chairman of the Mesaba Air Line Pilots Association unit. "The company understood this would not be a group that would cave."
Ultimately, Wychor said, Mesaba management had two choices: Put more money on the table or trigger a strike.
Mesaba's 844 pilots also knew that they were not waging a labor fight on their own. ALPA pilots who fly for Northwest and Pinnacle Airlines, Northwest's Memphis-based regional partner, pledged not to fly Mesaba flights during a strike. "Their support was very instrumental in allowing us to protect our flanks if we had to take these negotiations to the mat," Wychor said.
Mesaba pilots also drew on another power base -- Duane Woerth, president of ALPA International, who successfully transformed the labor struggle at Mesaba into a national battle.
Fearing that the major airlines would pit one regional carrier against another in a bidding war that would lead to a downward spiral in wages for regional pilots, Woerth wielded ALPA's considerable clout, at one point sending members of Congress copies of a newspaper story about Mesaba pilots who hold two jobs because the starting pay was about $17,000.
Woerth came to the Twin Cities on Jan. 5 to support Mesaba pilots at a fiery public rally. Meanwhile, he was involved in an important behind-the-scenes power play that helped Mesaba Airlines get a settlement.Woerth, who previously flew Northwest 747s and served on Northwest's board of directors, told Northwest senior management what it would take to get a deal with the Mesaba pilots.
"Northwest wasn't going to be having anybody from their team in the [negotiating] room," Woerth said. But it is undeniable that Mesaba is part of the Northwest brand, he said, because Mesaba flies regional routes exclusively for Northwest with aircraft owned and leased by Northwest.
"It was a very simple message, very clear," Woerth said. He told Northwest management that the Mesaba pilots must get compensation that would put them on par with their regional airline peers as well as win job-security provisions that would block Mesaba's parent company from using non-Mesaba pilots to do expansion flying.
"I didn't have to talk to [CEO Richard] Anderson directly, nor did I have to talk to [President Doug] Steenland directly, but they got the message," he said.
In the end, Mesaba pilots emerged with a contract settlement that won unanimous support from its elected union leadership. Pilots will conduct a ratification vote in late January on the pact, which provides immediate raises of 13.4 to 26.7 percent for first officers and 5.1 percent raises for captains, who fly Saab turboprops and Avro jets.
Raising bad memories
Woerth did not identify the Northwest executives to whom he and his staff spoke about the Mesaba pilots' contract. However, he said that he raised the specter of the 1998 pilots' strike at Northwest, which cost the airline about $1 billion.
Woerth said he told Northwest executives: "We can play the blame game [with a Mesaba strike] like we're going to probably do to our graves about the 1998 strike. Or we can both ensure that there's enough movement early enough on Friday."
When the 11:01 p.m. Friday strike deadline rolled around on Jan. 9, Mesaba ALPA's Wychor announced to the media that pilots would not walk off the job and talks would continue.
Northwest spokesman Bill Mellon said Northwest was pleased to see Mesaba management and its pilots union reach an agreement. He added that "Northwest will not comment on any of Capt. Woerth's statements, because as a matter of company policy we don't comment on labor discussions."
Mark McClain, chairman of Northwest ALPA, was at the Embassy Suites in Bloomington last weekend to support fellow ALPA pilots from Mesaba. "I've been through quite a few rounds of bargaining. This was probably the longest uninterrupted session that I've ever witnessed," McClain said early Sunday after about 39 consecutive hours of talks.
Mesaba management and union negotiators opened talks at about 8:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 9 , and they continued to exchange proposals until a tentative pact was reached and Mesaba ALPA's executive council approved it at 12:10 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 11.
"I think that that is amazing," said McClain, who spoke to the Mesaba ALPA executive council after the agreement was approved.
"Their pilots are very well represented," he said. "That's just not rhetoric. These guys have really got it together. Their negotiating committee is about as sharp as I've seen."
While Wychor recognizes the clout he gained from ALPA International and the Northwest and Pinnacle pilots, he said the union's success flows from the fact that Mesaba pilots never deviated from clear contract goals.
"Everything we asked for was fair and equitable and reasonable -- in line with the industry and our regional peers," Wychor said.
Under the existing contract, Mesaba pilots flying 85 hours per month earn an average of $17,352 to $85,445. The new agreement boosts that range to $23,542 to $94,483. The five-year agreement includes 2 percent pay raises in years two and three of the contract and 4 percent raises in years four and five.
While Mesaba pilots pushed for a contract that would place them in the same pay tier with Comair, Atlantic Coast and Air Wisconsin, those pay raises were not the most vexing issue in the talks.
Job security
"Job security was a very big issue for our pilots," Wychor said. "That was the last issue at the table."
Since MAIR Holdings acquired Big Sky Airlines in December 2002, many Mesaba pilots have worried that MAIR would funnel new flying opportunities to Big Sky instead of giving that work to Mesaba pilots.
Paul Foley, MAIR's CEO, told Wall Street analysts in an October conference call that he was soliciting airline partners to fly regional jets at Big Sky.
"We did not buy Big Sky to fly [19-seat] Metros in [federally-subsidized] markets out of Billings," Foley said. Referring to new flying options, one analyst asked Foley: "You'd be using the Big Sky pilots, you wouldn't be using the Mesaba pilots, would you?"
Foley replied, "That's correct."
The Mesaba pilots effectively killed Foley's plans with their tentative labor agreement, which restricts Big Sky to flying aircraft with 19 or fewer seats. The new contract also guarantees that any new flying obtained by MAIR, Mesaba Aviation or any other MAIR subsidiary aside from Big Sky be done by Mesaba pilots.
Woerth said the restriction on Big Sky was a huge victory.
"The industry was hoping they would have these holding company structures to create more and more fee-for-departure pilot supply houses, and see if we'd start a bidding war" among regional carriers, Woerth said.
Regional airlines rely on a major airline for their planes, routes and ticket sales. In return, they are paid a fee for flying the airplanes to destinations determined by the major airline. In that type of relationship, Woerth said, the major carriers could attempt to frequently switch regional partners based on the lowest bidder.
Robert Mann, an airline industry analyst from New York, said MAIR had hoped to use Big Sky as a whipsaw against Mesaba.
"If they were able to create a small jet operation at Big Sky with costs presumably even less than those at Pinnacle and far less than those at Mesaba, it would create an opportunity to divert work to Big Sky and create savings," Mann said.
Woerth said that strategy was halted in its tracks.
Pilots from other regional airlines closely watched the Mesaba talks, Woerth said. "Everybody is now abuzz about how we replicate what happened in Minnesota."
