Local 1322 August President Report
United News
United reported a $2.7Billion loss in the second quarter, which amazingly sent United’s stock on an upward trend as that beat Wall Street’s earnings estimates. Helping the stock was also the price of oil finally coming down a bit. Hidden in the reported $2.7 billion loss is the exclusion of non-cash charges, which resulted in United only losing $151 million or $1.19 per diluted share. Analysts polled expected the Company to post a loss of $1.95-$2.05.
Another piece of the puzzle leading to the stock rising was the agreement reached by United with Chase Bank and its Paymentech business. United will get about a billion dollars in total as Chase will give them $600 million from advanced purchases on frequent flier miles and its reserve requirement under its credit card processing agreement with Paymentech has been reduced to $25 million, which will release about $350 million in tied up cash. This is obviously a positive sign and a much needed boost in confidence for the airline’s survival.
What’s not such a positive sign for us the employees was the announcement of up to 7,000 furloughs by the end of 2009. 1600 of which were already announced last month for management and salaried employees the remaining 5400 will come from CSR’s, RSE’s, Pilots, Flight attendants & Mechanics. Although it’s not clear what the numbers will be for the NYA as of yet, it appears DIA and LAX have been and will be hit pretty hard.
As many of you on the property have already seen, United’s PS flights out of JFK received a very positive write up in the Wall Street Journal dated July 29, 2008. The article stated how much passengers preferred spending the extra money for a far superior product and that the routes are among the most lucrative for the airline in the country.
Last Wednesday (July 30) United filed a lawsuit against ALPA, mostly directed at four individual pilots in federal court seeking a preliminary injunction. The injunction is in hopes to stop ALPA from allegedly engaging in deliberate, organized and unlawful job actions such as sick outs and deliberately not working overtime that has resulted in hundreds of flights being cancelled. A hearing on United’s motion has been set by a Federal Judge for August 27-28.
IAM News
Many of you received a letter this past month in regards to the National Pension Plan (NPP), in this the first year pension plans are required to report its funding to the IRS as per the Pension Protection Act of 2006. There are three zones pension plans can potentially fall under, red, yellow or green. Plans that fall into red or yellow must have their trustees take corrective action to improve the plans financial health. The NPP is pleased to report they are in the green zone. To qualify for the green zone, a pension plan must be at least 80% funded and meet certain other conditions. The NPP shows a funded status of 113%
Other Airlines
The US Airline Pilots Association, who represent 5200 US Airway pilots and 8 senior US Airline pilots have filed complaints with the FAA charging that US Airways is pressuring its pilots to use less fuel than they feel is safe in order to save money. The airline has denied the claim.
A trial date of November 5th was set by a Federal judge for the lawsuit filed by a group of airline passengers that seeks to block the Delta/Northwest merger.
Continental and Air Canada announced a code sharing pact.
British Airways and the Spanish carrier Iberia announced a merger plan on July 29th, which would be the first major alliance between European carriers since the recent surge in oil prices. That move would also have American Airlines feeling like the bridesmaid and not the bride once again as they had been in discussions with both airlines about a potential merger.
A Qantas 747 flying from London to Melbourne had to make an emergency landing in the Philippines when an explosion aboard the aircraft last week left a large hole in the fuselage. No one aboard was injured in the blast. A report of exactly what happened won’t be released for at least another month.
Local 1322 July Presidents Report
United News
United Airlines and Continental Airlines announced a comprehensive Global Alliance this past month. Both airlines issued statements that they have developed teams to achieve significant cooperation on frequent flier programs, lounges, facility utilization, information technology, and procurement. Specifics of the cooperative agreement have not been released as of yet. The IAM has contacted both carriers’ demanding all details of the agreement so they can assess the impact on workers at both airlines.
Jake Brace, United’s CFO, told analysts that bankruptcy won’t help the airline from the growing financial problems because of the high fuel costs. He went on to say United plans to cut as many as 1600 “salaried” jobs and that United will have job cuts for the front line workers as well. Such as the news a week later that 950 pilots jobs will be reduced by the end of 2009. Due to the amount of pilots on military or personal leave over 1450 pilots will receive notification of furlough by the end of ’09. Approximately 100 pilots will be affected as early as this September.
The number of CSR’s and RSE’s that will be affected by the flight reductions has yet to be determined. The company announced those cuts will be identified as soon as the flight schedule is finalized.
United also halted operations at Palm Beach International Airport as well as Fort Lauderdale International Airport, this will result in the loss of 66 jobs of which 60 of those employees will be eligible to exercise their seniority somewhere in the system as per our contract.
On a local level United will no longer be operating at Hanger 19. All the offices and workers will be squeezed into building 22A and Terminal 7. How many store keepers or mechanics that will be affected by this transition also has yet to be determined.
IAM News
General Vice President Robert Roach, Jr. was quoted this month after the United/Continental alliance announcement saying, “Alliances like this are just mergers on the installment plan.” He went on to say, “Integrating programs and technology today will make it easier for the airlines to complete a merger tomorrow. The IAM will remain vigilant in our fight to block mergers that hurt employees.”
Liz Cattaneo, from the “American Rights at Work” is asking for our support in an effort to help us help ourselves. They have put together a petition that would help level the playing field and get our economy back on track. The petition supports, “The employee free choice act’ and can be located at http://freechoiceact.org/araw. This legislation makes it easier for a working American to join a union, harder for companies to harass workers who seek to do so, and supports the economy by protecting middle class jobs here at home. I assure you it will take less than 40 seconds to finish. If you can get your family and friends to do the same it would be very beneficial to all.
Other Airlines
Most airlines, with the exceptions of North West and Delta, have at least temporarily suspended their urge to merge in what seems like a reaction to the never ending rise of fuel cost. Both North West and Delta are working on Capitol Hill to gain support for their merger. Apparently in these meetings they are not talking about the $7.5 billion in underfunded pension liabilities the merger would have, nor do they seem to be too concerned about the thousands of employees that will be forced to relocate or lose their jobs entirely. The IAM is the only voice workers from either airline have on Capitol Hill. A merger between the two airlines will be at a tremendous risk for failure, endangering the jobs of all North West and Delta employees.
About 4,000 workers at Delta accepted the buyout offer, which is double the amount Delta was looking for.
As legacy US carriers continue to go through capacity cuts, fleet reductions and layoffs to survive, South West airlines announced plans to add services to high demand markets like Denver and ironically enough Fort Lauderdale. Although South West will eliminate 31 flights from its existing schedule it will add 40 flights to growth markets. This type of flexibility is being afforded to South West because of their management teams’ shrewd decision making to partake in an active fuel hedging program which is providing aviation fuel at a much lower price than other airlines.
Presidents report June ‘08
United News
Talks of a United/Continental alliance continued this past month as well as the end of merger talk between United and US Air. In what is a small dose of positive news one would think an alliance with Continental is the lesser of two evils and less damaging than any type of merger. The rising cost of fuel seems to make an alliance or merger of some kind, a question of when not if. In some articles I’ve even read United mentioned with the dreaded “B” word (bankruptcy).
I, for one was very surprised that no merger was announced after the May 15 Board of Directors meeting. Many frustrated employees attended the meeting and shouted questions at CEO, Glenn Tilton. Then they booed and hissed when the directors were re-elected. A proposal to allow a shareholder vote on executive pay failed after getting only 21% of the vote. Tilton had the audacity to claim he has, “renewed commitment to united stockholders” despite the fact he is being compensated handsomely for job failure.
Along with charging passengers for checked bags and culling six 747’s and its entire fleet of 94 B- 737’s (that is more than 1/5 of United’s entire fleet of 455 airplanes) United announced it will have job cuts between 1400-1600.
United also announced it plans to do away with the minimum 500 mile reward to its frequent flier passengers who take short flights. Now they will be credited with the exact mileage of each flight.
Up to 600 flight attendants will be offered the ability to jump ship when an agreement was reached for a one time opportunity for eligible flight attendants to voluntarily separate from the company. Flight attendants who are at least 45 with 15 years of service as of August 1, 2008 will be eligible to participate, with severance payments based on years of service and retiree travel benefits. The offer provides $500 for each year of service as a flight attendant up to 25 years.
OSHA levied another big fine against United of $192,500 when safety violations ranging from the design of flammable liquid storage cabinets to a failure to conduct a survey to determine the presence of asbestos were discovered in Chicago during the month of May. This was the second big fine levied against United during the month the first one was $215,500. However Brad Mitchell, a spokesman for OSHA said United would probably get a break and pay far less than the $408,000 because many of the issues have been addressed.
Union news
General Vice President Robert Roach Jr. was back on Capitol Hill this past month testifying in regards to the North West/ Delta, stating that history has shown that poorly managed airlines cannot operate without government assistance. This was the fourth hearing since the North West/ Delta announcement. IAM members from around the country attended these hearings in uniform to send a message of strong opposition against foolish airline mergers.
A very interesting grievance was successfully arbitrated on behalf of 57 IAM members of local 681 in Louisville, KY. Two years ago, managers at the Alcoa Louisville Foil Plant tried to implement a 64 hour work week rule. However this was a clear violation of their contract. After two years of patience and excellent record keeping by the shop steward on behalf of any employee who was refused the right to work overtime because they had already exceeded or would exceed 64 hours worked in a week paid off when the 57 members divided a $149,516 settlement. The checks ranged from $100-$10,000 depending upon the amount of overtime denied.
Other Airline News
After 43 months of negotiations the US Air fleet service ratified a new agreement. The contract covers 7700 employees represented by the IAM.
American Airline mechanics and ramp service employees rejected a contract proposal that called for a lump sum payment instead of wage increases. The proposal also included additional vacation and sick leave. Americans labor cost are amongst the highest in the industry.
In a report done by David Jonas of Travel Management, “Airlines scrambling for survival” dated May 29, 2008 an interesting point was brought up by Will Ris, American Airlines senior vice president of government affairs. On the first day of deregulation the airline industry lost an average of $1.76 for every passenger flown. As of January 1st of this year the industry is losing an average of $10.89 per passenger.
May’s unemployment report of 5.5% was up from 5.0%in April and signified the biggest monthly spike since 1986.
Local 1322 May President Report
United News
United announced a $537 million 1Q loss this past month and followed that by saying it will be cutting flights and 1100 jobs before year’s end.
This past Sunday started United’s new policy of charging passengers a $25.00 fee for each bag checked in excess of one.
Merger talks have to be at an all time high for the employees as information about them changes on a daily basis. On April 26th the New York Times reported that a merger between Continental & United was all but done and would be officially announced within a week. The very next day a Dallas based business writer reported that a Continental United deal was dead and that Continental Airline management had told its employees they would no longer seek to merge with any other airline. Then on April 29th the NY Times reported a United & US Air was going to merge and announcement should become public any day.
It’s impossible to try and keep tabs on merger talk, so it’s probably best for our peace of mind and individual health to not even bother trying. If united merge’s with someone I’m sure someone will let us know.
One person who clearly is upset is poor old Glenn Tilton. He only received $1.4 million in compensation for 2007 which was down just a touch from the $39.7 he received a year ago. Now please don’t go getting upset for Glenn he stands to get $11.9 million if there is a change of control at United.
IAM News
International association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers President Thomas Buffenbarger continues to fight for our protection as he was urging members of the House Judiciary Committee to oppose consolidation plans being proposed by airline CEO’s. President Buffenbarger stated, “Consolidation is not the solution for this troubled industry, more competent management is. This industry is in disarray and the Executives in charge are only making it worse.”
Buffenbarger’s complete testimony is available at www.goiam.org/mergers.
General Vice President Robert Roach was invited to testify at the hearing on airline industry consolidation and the proposed Northwest/Delta merger. The hearing date is scheduled for May 14, 2008 at 2:00 pm in the Rayburn House Office Building room 2167. All IAM members who live in the Washington DC area or can easily travel to DC are invited to attend and show support for the IAM’s position against senseless mergers.
For more information go to http://transportation.house.gov/
Miscellaneous
Well finally after trying to accommodate the flying public for nearly six years by keeping the price of ticket prices affordable, despite an increase in per barrel oil prices of more than 300% over that same time frame some major airlines announced they would be increasing fairs. I’m sure this will come as somewhat as a relief to a workforce who has grown accustomed to having their management try to reduce their salaries and benefits. United said it would increase fairs between 3-5 % but some other airlines are increasing their fares by as much as 15-20%.
In a bit of good news Southwest has decided against outsourcing a chunk of its maintenance operations due to the heightened scrutiny following last month’s discovery of fuselage cracks in several of its planes.
Trans Atlantic carrier EOS Airlines became the 3rd airline (Max Jet Airways & Aloha) to stop flying in the last two months. EOS airlines employed 450 workers.
Local 1322 April President Report
United News
On March 11th, United appointed Douglas Mc Keen as Senior Vice President for Labor Relations, Mc Keen is an employment lawyer and a highly regarded Labor language negotiator. Mc Keen will replace Pete Kain who will be retiring after 32 years of service on July 1st. If the name “Pete Kain” sounds familiar that’s because his name is on numerous letters in the back of our contracts.
As many of you know from the constant whining of UAL management fuel prices continue to skyrocket to record highs. Employees are being offered ANP locally and the furlough process has been initiated in other places throughout the system as United is once again in the “save, save, save” mode!
What you may not know because United conveniently forgets to publicize the fact that they have failed to hedge as much fuel as they did at this same time last year. A year ago they hedged 33% in the first quarter, compared to only 15 % this year. United has claimed that fuel will cost them $1.2 billion more this year than last year. Averaged out over the four quarters means United management has already cost us over $500 million from poor planning/managing in the first quarter alone. Rest assured it will be us, the employees who pay for this latest blunder on behalf of good ‘ol Glenn Tilton and his pathetic cronies.
In another move to cover up their latest mistake United cut its fleet by 15-20 aircrafts or 4% of its 460 planes to help reduce cost.
The Federal Aviation administration forced United to ground seven, 747’s on March 20th when it was discovered they had been checking the planes’ altimeters with an instrument that was not properly calibrated. The flight schedule was minimally affected, but not all the aircrafts have been cleared to fly just yet.
The ESOP saga came to a close this month when employees received checks ranging from $30-$100 as a result of the class action suit filed a few years ago.
The Teamsters union successfully won the right to represent the mechanics at United.
IAM News
It looks like the intense lobbying efforts by the IAM may be starting to pay some dividends as 47 members of Congress wrote to the US Attorney General and the Secretary of Transportation questioning if airline consolidation is good for America.
District 142 president Tom Higginbotham and his negotiating crew finally reached a tentative agreement for the 3300 mechanic and related employees over at US Air. If ratified by the rank and file, the tentative agreement would bring mechanic & related employees from both US Air and Americawest under the same contract and wage scale for the first time since the two airlines merged back in ’05. The voting for ratification is this Thursday April 3rd. You can see complete terms of the agreement on the district 142 web-site which is www.iamdl142.org.
I’d like to remind everyone about the Union Plus programs that are available to all Union members. This organization was designed to help all members enjoy life at affordable prices. Services such as loans, insurance, health, education, automobile, legal counseling and many more are available at www.unionplus.org.
Other Airlines
Aloha Airlines, who have been flying passengers back and forth from the Hawaiian Islands to the mainland’s since 1946 flew their last passenger flight yesterday. They will continue its cargo operations and its aviation services while US Bankruptcy courts seek buyers for those assets. The move will affect 1900 of its 3400 employees.
Dave Neelman, founder of Jet Blue announced last week of plans to start a new Brazilian airline starting in 2009. The operation will begin initially with 3 jets and eventually grow to a fleet of 76 planes flying nationwide.
Southwest was proposed with a fine of $10.2 million by the FAA because it flew dozens of older Boeing 737’s without the inspections required by FAA orders.
Starting in May the Federal Government is reducing flights out of EWR during peak periods by 13 % which will be 83 flights per hour down from 95. This action is being taken in hopes to decrease the NYC area airline delays that routinely spread nationwide. This is the same sort of flight cap imposed at JFK airport earlier last month. LGA has always had a flight cap and will continue to do so unless the Transportation Department changes the rule. JFK and EWR however will only have this flight cap for the next two years. The three New York area airports had the nations lowest on time arrival rates.
As it becomes more and more unlikely for a Northwest/Delta merger an announcement by Delta airlines came out in March that they would be offering over 30,000 of its employees a voluntary severance payout. The airline goal is to cut 2,000 frontline jobs. A spokesperson for Delta said the Company would accept more job cuts if the more employees than its goal requested the voluntary severance program.
This program will not affect the Delta Pilots, who are the only work group at delta protected by a Union contract.
President of Local 1322’s March report
United News
Joseph Prisco who is the President of Local 9 for the Aircraft Mechanics Association was quoted this month saying, “All the Unions at united have put on the war paint.” He went on to add, “They only way they (United) pay attention is if we’re acting up.”
Now I know a lot of us have grown quite frustrated at United’s self serving management team. But regardless of ready-room bravado talk or idle threats from some “loose cannon” President of the Mechanics Association keep in mind there are the right way to do things and the absolute wrong way. Employees can take legal actions such as working just their scheduled work hours. The illegal actions such as organizing groups of people to call in sick on a specific day should never be considered. I don’t think I need to remind anyone in Local Lodge 1322 of what a uncomfortable feeling it is to be accused by the company of organizing such actions despite how untrue they are.
More anxiety has built up in regards to mergers, when it was reported that Lufthansa would have interest in potentially buying a stake in United airlines should they merge with Continental. Other rumors floating abound have Air France/ KLM ready to take a minority stake if Delta/ Northwest merge. US regulators would have to approve such deals which are not always a foregone conclusion. Just ask British airways and American who have been trying to partner up for years to no avail as US experienced have thwarted such efforts due to fear they would dominate the transatlantic market.
The coalition for an Airline Passengers Bill of rights (CAPBOR) announced they will join the IAM in opposing the potential mergers of major US air carriers. Kate Hanni who is the founder & executive director of the group of over 21,000 members said, “The importance of the alliance cannot be overstated 7 we look forward to working with the IAM. Airline passengers bear the brunt of poor service. Combining two major airlines with diverse cooperate cultures is the recipe for disaster.”
Keep in mind even if a merger is announced, a successful completion is far from guaranteed. The department of Justice must approve any merger and the department of Transportation will evaluate any proposal for its impact on the public.
Two United aircrafts clipped wings at Dulles International Airport. There were no injuries reported.
A bullet was found by a flight attendant on a seat of an aircraft in the midst of passengers boarding a flight destined to Denver from San Jose. All the passengers were removed from the aircraft and rescreened. The aircraft later experienced an unrelated mechanical failure and the passengers were booked onto another flight.
Flight 267 from Denver international airport to Wyoming’s, Jackson Hole Airport skidded off the runway this past week. Air safety investigators believe this may have been a result of the braking system wires being cross connected. The 119 passengers on board the Airbus 320 jet had to evacuate the plane down the emergency slides. There were no serious injuries reported.
IAM News
More than 120 local officers met this past month down in Maryland to develop a unified strategy against risky airline mergers. What came out of the meeting was for Local Lodges to prepare their membership for airport demonstrations and to engage our elected city, state & Federal Representatives for support. We’ll keep you posted on any upcoming events.
The legislative conference is coming up the week of May 19th. Our Legislative Representative Mr. James Carlson will be our representative there.
The organizing drives on delta, Air Tran and Continental continued this past month. If you would like to help in any of these drives please let someone from our Executive Board know and if you wish to learn more about these campaigns just visit www.goiamnow.org.
Other Airline’s
Chris Kelly, a Delta spokeswoman had this to say in the Atlanta Journal Constitution dated February 11, 2008, “Delta’s senior leadership has made it very clear its commitment to growing its in-house maintenance by focusing on high skill, high value maintenance work”. Ms. Kelly was apparently responding to Teamster President James Hoffa’s comments on how a Delta/Northwest merger could lead to a dramatic increase in the amount of aircraft maintenance work going overseas. Northwest does an extensive amount of outsourcing overseas.
It seems American airlines has jumped into the merger talk arena when it was reported earlier this month that they were having “exploratory” talks with Continental. The same article in the Wall Street journal went on to say the Industry experts have suggested American might want to pursue a smaller low-cost airline rather than a network rival.
The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) overwhelmingly voted to strike in a dispute over British Airways plan for its new transatlantic subsidiary carrier, Open Skies. The union supported the launch of the service but opposed BA’s intention to recruit lower paid pilots. BALPA represents more than 3,000 of BA’s pilots, with 86 % of those balloted in favor of striking. No dates for the strike have been scheduled at this time.
Local 1322 February President Report
United News
Despite reporting a fourth quarter loss and JP Morgan analyst Jamie Baker feels United may be headed to an even larger first quarter loss United still posted its first annual profit this century. This is the first bit of good news employees have received in quite some time as the profit will lead to a profit sharing payment that will significantly dwarf the previous profit and success sharing checks we’ve received over the last few years. Employees will receive an estimated $600.00 for every $15,000 earned.
Once again Glenn Tilton reiterated that United is in, “very good position to participate in industry consolidation as we (meaning himself & the board) see fit”
CFO Jake Brace was quoted that the company’s efforts to sell off its maintenance division & frequent flier plan are still proceeding even as it plans for possible consolidation.
As rumors swirl that a Northwest/Delta merger is all but done, rumors of a United/ Continental merger have picked up steam. The IAM is on the brink of launching an organizing campaign on Continental which fuels such rumors even more. One major stumbling block in a United/ Continental merger is where headquarters would be located, Houston or Chicago. It was just two years ago that United promised to remain on Wacker Drive in downtown Chicago, keep it staffed with no fewer then 325 fulltime workers for at least 10 years. In return United received $5.5 million in financing to enhance office space along with as much as $10 million in fuel tax relief.
Ironically Northwest holds a “Golden Share” of Continental which would allow them to nix virtually any merger deal. However Continental has the right to buy back control of its own destiny for $100 if and when Northwest merges with another airline.
IAM News
The over 500 IAM members that work at Amtrak seem to be able to see some light at the end of the tunnel as a tentative agreement has been reached. Some of the provisions include wage increases that average 35.2% over the life of the January 1, 2000 – December 31, 2009 potential agreement. If ratified retroactive pay averages nearly $13,000 per member.
Transportation Vice President Robert Roach, Jr this week sent letters to the CEO’s of United, Northwest & Delta demanding that the carriers include the Machinists Union in any potential merger discussions. Its clear VP Roach has protecting member’s jobs, seniority & benefits at heart with these letters along with our new pensions.
He went on to say the Machinists Union will partner up with congress and other Labor organizations to protect that our members are not adversely affected in any merger even if it means the merger ultimately fails.
On an interesting side note United Mechanics will begin a representation election on Feb. 26. The process will decide if United’s Mechanics will continue to be represented by AMFA or have new representation through the Teamsters union. There are about 9,300 employees of which 3,700 are on furlough. If 50 % + 1 of the membership doesn’t vote the mechanics run the risk of being decertified and will have no representation at all. The vote will go on for over a month and end March 31.
Other Airlines
American posted its first loss in six quarters when they announced a $69 million deficit for the fourth quarter of 2007- due to jet fuel expenses.
Presidents report Jan ‘07
United News
United’s 2% profit margin over the past 12 months is one of the thinnest in the airline industry. It’s not even half of US Airways 4.4 % or a third of South West 6.1%. That didn’t stop them from paying their share holders a pretty $2.15 dividend per share this past month.
The Union coalition strongly opposed the idea of a stock dividend, stating that before United embarks on a journey to reward its share holders it should first recognize its employees. A United spokesperson (No-Name given) put up a pathetic defense of the idea by claiming the share holders were impacted during United’s restructuring when the shares were wiped out. Guess this spokesperson never heard of ESOP. Another example of how little respect UAL’s board of directors has for its front line workers.
Through Jake Brace United announced its intentions to expand about 15% internationally with no interest to expand domestically. In the same interview Brace echoed the sentiments of CEO Glenn Tilton in regards to consolidating stating, “ We’re not sitting around waiting for it to happen” and followed that up with, “ I believe the Airline industry will look very different in 5 years and United is well positioned to thrive in that industry.”
United has 460 jets and does not plan to expand on that number until 2015 or 16. Which would lead us all to believe that the rumors that continue to circulate about a merger are not a question will United merge with someone but with whom and when? Alpa told its membership over at Delta that it will do everything in their power to derail a United/Delta merger.
Union news
President Bush appointed a 5 member P.E.B. to investigate the dispute between Amtrak and its Union workers. On December 11th the PEB listen to day and a half arguments for each side over the 8 year battle. Now the board is in the middle of a 30 day period in which it will decipher the information from both sides’ arguments and present recommendations to President Bush himself. After that there will be yet another 30 day “cooling off” period where if both sides can still not reach an agreement the Company is free to lock the employees out and the Union is free to strike.
Teamsters handed out leaflets this past month in an attempt to organize the United mechanics. Rumors have it they have enough cards to file for a representation election.
Virgin Atlantic cabin crews apparently will stage a pair of 48 hour strikes next week over their displeasure with the lack of pay increases. January 9th is the first scheduled day followed by Jan.16th both 48 hour strikes will began at 6:00 am on the aforementioned dates.
Other Airline News
Lufthansa paid 300 million dollars to acquire a 19 % stake in Jet Blue.
US Transportation Secretary Mary Peter is expected to recommend reinstating flight limits at JFK or a “Flight Cap” if you would. Hourly flight limits already exist at LGA and are likely to be added at EWR as well.