UAL plans 25% fewer pilots

[bigr]

Report: United plans 25 percent fewer pilots, flight attendants
Associated Press

CHICAGO - United Airlines intends to reduce the number of its pilots and flight attendants by up to 25 percent and implement a two-tier pay structure under the new business plan it has devised in bankruptcy, a published report said Wednesday.

The Chicago Tribune, citing unidentified sources, reported that pilots and flight attendants working for a planned new discount carrier to be operated by the airline would be paid significantly less than those on regular United flights.

United declined comment on the report.

The world's second-largest airline, which has posted heavy losses since mid-2000, filed for Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy protection on Dec. 9. It is required to compile a new business plan in the first 120 days of bankruptcy to show its lenders how it intends to return to profitability.

A key to United's financial strategy is a planned $2.4 billion reduction in annual labor costs, which the carrier outlined last month in bankruptcy court. CEO Glenn Tilton also said last month that United plans to launch a low-cost carrier to compete with Southwest Airlines as part of efforts to regain its financial footing.

United spokesman Joe Hopkins said Tilton is presenting the plan to the board of directors of United's parent, UAL Corp., on Thursday. He said specifics were given Monday to financial advisers of United's creditors committee, which is monitoring the bankruptcy reorganization and includes its three major unions, but not detailed in full to employees yet.

"Our plan is to share the information with our employees before we share them with wider audiences," Hopkins said.

Spokesmen for the pilots, flight attendants and machinists said Wednesday they had not been briefed on specifics of the plan.

United has laid off 20,000 workers since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and currently has about 78,000 employees, including nearly 20,000 flight attendants and about 8,500 pilots.

According to the Tribune, it would need only about 6,000 pilots under the reorganization plan, and they would be required to increase their flight time to an average of 50 hours a month, up from the current 36 hours.

The report also said United's plan calls for contracting more of its regional routes to its commuter partners - Atlantic Coast Airlines, Air Wisconsin and SkyWest Airlines - which operate planes bearing the United Express logo and would be permitted to fly larger, 70-seat jets. And the report said United likely will close its Indianapolis maintenance center.

United is seeking concessions from its unions after a bankruptcy judge approved temporary wage reductions of 29 percent for pilots, 9 percent for flight attendants and 14 percent for machinists, who include mechanics, ramp workers and customer contact workers.

The company reports fourth-quarter and full-year results on Friday and is expected to exceed the $2.1 billion loss of 2001 - an industry record that has since been exceeded by American Airlines.

UAL shares fell 7 cents to $1.08 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

 

[banned username 2]

According to the Tribune, it would need only about 6,000 pilots under the reorganization plan, and they would be required to increase their flight time to an average of 50 hours a month, up from the current 36 hours.

Wow!

Anyone know the hire date of #6,000 on the seniority list? I would guess somewhere in the early 90's? maybe 93 or so??? Total guess....

 

[GuppyPuppy]

Around December 1995.

Time for some Yukon Jack!

GP

 

[sayagain?]

That doesn't even come close to the late 1980's sen. number pilots from USAirways on the streets. Just when you think you have it made...

sayagain?

 

[Cardinal]

My heart goes out to those who may affected by the latest round of irrational management. Always a sound plan to spread one's fixed costs over as little revenue as possible. Reminds me of that old saw about the rowing team.

I am gonna call B.S. on one thing - 36 hours/month? That's an annualized 432 hrs. Surely the majority never had it that good, right?

 

[Illini Pilot]

only good thing could be the increased contracting of Air wisc and skywest

 

[Sierra-Hotel]

CEO Glenn Tilton also said last month that United plans to launch a low-cost carrier to compete with Southwest Airlines as part of efforts to regain its financial footing.

I just LUV that quote. Competing with SWA in efforts to regain its financial footing. Sounds like a award winning plan

 

[Freight Dog]

only good thing could be the increased contracting of Air wisc and skywest

Depends how you look at it.

Fast movement, faster upgrades and all that for Air Wisconsin, SkyWest, and ACA, but it also means a replacement and outsourcing of high-paying major airline jobs to lower paid regionals, which translates to flying under a regional contract, under regional payscales, under regional work rules, under regional retirement plans (if any) and having very limited slots for that coveted major airline job. To some it's good, to others it's not. As I said, depends how you look at it.

 

[dogg]

So it looks like United is going to try and build a new low fare airline and do point to point or hub feed for the remnant of the original UAL that will still fly the big stuff to far away destinations.
Any thoughts on a much smaller United needing a much smaller United Express.... makes a person wonder

 

[Beechnut]

Any thoughts on a much smaller United needing a much smaller United Express.... makes a person wonder

Yup! And the United Express of the future will NOT consist of the current mix of companies. Either a fourth will come in and add to the flying, or a fourth will come in and replace an existing company. If it's just a situation of adding another carrier, then the "explosive" growth will be damped as it has to be spread among 4 carriers instead of 3. If the fourth replaces an existing carrier, then who ever gets dumped is going to put a ton of folks on the street. I hate to sound so down, but I think it's more and more of a gamble to leave a job to go to any UAX carrier these days.

I hope I'm wrong.

S.

 

[AAflyer]

cardinal,

Actually that number is accurate. 36 hours. I have a copy of the UAL bankruptcy report. Ours at AA is 39. DAL is at 45 hours according tothe numbers in the report.

Remember you also need to take into account vacations, sick days, personal vacation days, training days, and if you are clever enough( and lucky) touching trips to your vacation to get them dropped.

These are very unproductive numbers. I am all for great pay, but would prefer to be productive to help the company. Unfortunately to attain productive hours now would require many more furloughs.

Here are the numbers from the Informational Brief on the UAL Bankruptcy, put out by Kirkland and Ellis, they are counsel for the debtors and DIP.

UAL 36
AA 39
NW 40
DAL 45
Alaska 46
JetBlue 47
CAL 49
USAir 50
Frontier 50
Airtran 51
SWA 62

AAflyer

 

[DaveGriffin]

Here's an article from today's USA Today.

ALPA lawyers are soon going some of the few fully employed.

Since round II of the DL FM will soon be over, I guess they needed something new to work on.

Memo to counsel: Do not let Mr. Woerthe discuss the negative impact on the industry of the 11 Sept attacks.

30 Jan 2003

Pilots union blasts UAL plan
By Marilyn Adams, USA TODAY

Even before UAL has issued a reorganization plan, the airline company's proposal to create a low-fare carrier is prompting outrage from its powerful pilots union.The chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association on Wednesday blasted what he called "rumors" of a reorganization plan that he said could break up the airline in bankruptcy court.

Paul Whiteford, a United captain who is also a UAL director, said leaders of the union fear United's proposing to create a separate low-fare airline with a separate workforce and separate labor contract that could be "spun off" from UAL. The directors are scheduled Thursday to review United's preliminary reorganization plan.UAL, which has been a majority employee-owned company since 1994, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Dec. 9."I'm more than willing to give United the tools it needs" to emerge from bankruptcy, Whiteford said in an interview. "But I won't have discussions about a separate airline that could be spun off. We will oppose management's breakup plan by every lawful means available to us."

The stinging remarks caught UAL executives by surprise. UAL hasn't released details of its plan. But the airline said in a statement Wednesday night that a low-fare carrier "integrated" into its network is critical to its future.

People familiar with the planning say UAL envisions a division or subsidiary with a separate brand, workforce and pay scale that would operate flights between leisure destinations, such as Orlando, and United's hub airports, such as Chicago O'Hare. Passengers could transfer to regular United flights.

It wasn't clear Wednesday whether United seeks a separate labor agreement with employees of the new low-fare unit to keep costs down.Whiteford criticized UAL for failing to negotiate a new contract with his union in a "meaningful" way. UAL responded it has held "dozens" of meetings and shared "thousands of pages" of documents with union leaders.

His angry tone was the most visible sign yet that labor and management aren't communicating or that UAL might not get the labor-contract concessions it wants without a court fight.Whiteford's statement comes just weeks after 92% of his members voted to take temporary 29% pay cuts to help United trim costs quickly in bankruptcy. The airline went to court to extract 14% pay cuts from members of its largest union, the International Association of Machinists, which refused to take voluntary cuts.

UAL has made clear it's willing to ask the bankruptcy court for permission to break its labor contracts if necessary. UAL executives have said that an initiative to address stiff competition from low-fare airlines must be a significant part of its business plan for survival. The discount unit, they have said, would fly Boeing 737s, like Southwest Airlines, and require lower labor costs than United's main line.

 

[Publishers]

UAL

Sometime ago I mentioned the difference in time for UAL to do what US already accomplished in BK.

Those that spread the call for a lengthy court fight will find themselves nowhere. This reflects what has been there all along, there is no relationship between management and labor.

That we need to fight attitude reflects a clear misunderstanding of the situation and alternatives that exists.

 

[pilotyip]

Remember

I posted this over 2 months ago, based upon a Unisys study UAL pilots were paid an average of 900 hours per year, and worked 427 hrs per yr, lowest productivity in majors, compared to 800 hours yr at SWA and 900 at JB. The UAL pilot force is not productive, UAL pilots need to fly close to 800hr/yr at a 29% pay cut to compete as LLC. They not have that many hours in thier schedules for all the pilots they have on the payroll, so they have to cut their pilots by 30%. If the UAL pilots fight this the way they did in 1999 or 2000 with their industry leading contract, the picture is not rosy. Remember when UAL folds and you tell the next potential employer you were a UAL pilot, they will not care. Ask the EAL, Braniff, Pam Am, Midway, etc guys, what they found out when the doors closed. The UAL pilots would be smart to offer even greater consessions than the company wants, boy am I glad I did not get hired there back in 96, but only in hind sight.