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AirTran pilots to vote on leaders, contract
By RUSSELL GRANTHAM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/16/07
In twin ballots spawned by continued troubles getting a new labor contract, the pilots union at AirTran Airways will vote this month on whether to recall its top leaders and whether to accept the airline's latest offer.
Union leaders decided last week to authorize a vote on whether to recall President Allen Philpot and Vice President Michael Surapine. The leaders also set a ratification vote on a revised tentative agreement based on the company's recent final offer, but recommended a "no" vote.
"There's not much confidence right now in the leadership," said David Sabby, an AirTran captain who organized the recall effort. Sabby, who plans to run for vice president of the union, said members were unhappy about a "horrible concessionary" tentative agreement that the union's leaders initially supported.
"They didn't like the [earlier agreement] and they were out for blood, and I'm an easier target than the company," said Philpot, who has headed the union almost three years. "I think it's a bad time to be replacing leadership when you're in the middle of negotiations and the middle of a merger."
Indeed, the latest chapter after more than two years of contract talks with the National Pilots Association comes as AirTran is also pursuing a buyout bid for Midwest Airlines.
Steve Kolski, AirTran's vice president of operations, fears negotiations will continue to drag out if pilots vote down the company's latest offer.
"We're disappointed that it's turned out this way," said Kolski. "We managed to resolve about 90 percent of the issues."
AirTran thought it had cinched a pilot deal almost three months ago. Union leaders partly endorsed an agreement, then shelved it in June when they concluded that it wouldn't be ratified. AirTran and the union resumed talks under the National Mediation Board's supervision.
The recall effort soon followed. At least 300 pilots in the 1,600-member union signed the petition. The earlier deal would have bumped senior captains' pay to about $160,000 vs. $152,000 now.
"It's not about money," said Sabby, although he said co-pilots are underpaid. He said many pilots are unhappy with work rules in the previous and new proposals.
Co-pilots make substantially less money under the airline's seniority-based pay scale. A co-pilot with two years at the company will see a pay boost from about $55,000 to $65,000.
In an interview Wednesday, Philpot said AirTran's revised labor proposal has better terms than the earlier tentative contract, but still falls short of what the union wanted.
For example, he said some pilots don't like a change AirTran wanted that would allow it to pay pilots based on the greater of the actual time they fly a particular trip or the average time. The union wants to keep the current method of calculating pay, which is based on the greater of either the scheduled time or actual flying time.
AirTran wanted the contract change to give it more flexibility to deal with chronically late flights by increasing scheduled times without also boosting pilots' paid hours.
The union said voting on the latest contract proposal and the union recall will close Sept. 5.
By RUSSELL GRANTHAM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/16/07
In twin ballots spawned by continued troubles getting a new labor contract, the pilots union at AirTran Airways will vote this month on whether to recall its top leaders and whether to accept the airline's latest offer.
Union leaders decided last week to authorize a vote on whether to recall President Allen Philpot and Vice President Michael Surapine. The leaders also set a ratification vote on a revised tentative agreement based on the company's recent final offer, but recommended a "no" vote.
"There's not much confidence right now in the leadership," said David Sabby, an AirTran captain who organized the recall effort. Sabby, who plans to run for vice president of the union, said members were unhappy about a "horrible concessionary" tentative agreement that the union's leaders initially supported.
"They didn't like the [earlier agreement] and they were out for blood, and I'm an easier target than the company," said Philpot, who has headed the union almost three years. "I think it's a bad time to be replacing leadership when you're in the middle of negotiations and the middle of a merger."
Indeed, the latest chapter after more than two years of contract talks with the National Pilots Association comes as AirTran is also pursuing a buyout bid for Midwest Airlines.
Steve Kolski, AirTran's vice president of operations, fears negotiations will continue to drag out if pilots vote down the company's latest offer.
"We're disappointed that it's turned out this way," said Kolski. "We managed to resolve about 90 percent of the issues."
AirTran thought it had cinched a pilot deal almost three months ago. Union leaders partly endorsed an agreement, then shelved it in June when they concluded that it wouldn't be ratified. AirTran and the union resumed talks under the National Mediation Board's supervision.
The recall effort soon followed. At least 300 pilots in the 1,600-member union signed the petition. The earlier deal would have bumped senior captains' pay to about $160,000 vs. $152,000 now.
"It's not about money," said Sabby, although he said co-pilots are underpaid. He said many pilots are unhappy with work rules in the previous and new proposals.
Co-pilots make substantially less money under the airline's seniority-based pay scale. A co-pilot with two years at the company will see a pay boost from about $55,000 to $65,000.
In an interview Wednesday, Philpot said AirTran's revised labor proposal has better terms than the earlier tentative contract, but still falls short of what the union wanted.
For example, he said some pilots don't like a change AirTran wanted that would allow it to pay pilots based on the greater of the actual time they fly a particular trip or the average time. The union wants to keep the current method of calculating pay, which is based on the greater of either the scheduled time or actual flying time.
AirTran wanted the contract change to give it more flexibility to deal with chronically late flights by increasing scheduled times without also boosting pilots' paid hours.
The union said voting on the latest contract proposal and the union recall will close Sept. 5.
