Wasatch CFI
Katana Conquistador
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2002
- Posts
- 26
The Wall Street Journal reported today that Delta pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), lost an arbitration proceeding that challenged Delta’s furloughing of hundreds of pilots following the Sept. 11 terror attacks, despite a no-furlough clause in their labor contract.
The decision is the first ruling to be rendered over an airline’s use of so-called force majeure provisions in labor contracts post Sept. 11, and may shape the outcome of similar proceedings at other carriers.
Force majeure provisions allow an airline to bypass usual contractual protections in the event of circumstances beyond its control. Defining what constitutes such circumstances was the crux of the ALPA-Delta discord.
Delta maintained that the terror attacks constituted a compelling example of "circumstances beyond the company’s control," thus justifying reducing flight operations and furloughing pilots. However, ALPA argued that the provision allows the company to break the contract strictly because of an inability to operate. The union maintains that the pilot furloughs are voluntary acts by Delta, driven by the state of the economy and the carrier’s financial state.
The decision is the first ruling to be rendered over an airline’s use of so-called force majeure provisions in labor contracts post Sept. 11, and may shape the outcome of similar proceedings at other carriers.
Force majeure provisions allow an airline to bypass usual contractual protections in the event of circumstances beyond its control. Defining what constitutes such circumstances was the crux of the ALPA-Delta discord.
Delta maintained that the terror attacks constituted a compelling example of "circumstances beyond the company’s control," thus justifying reducing flight operations and furloughing pilots. However, ALPA argued that the provision allows the company to break the contract strictly because of an inability to operate. The union maintains that the pilot furloughs are voluntary acts by Delta, driven by the state of the economy and the carrier’s financial state.