American Airlines may finally see a significant loosening in its pilots¹ scope clause agreement if the carrier¹s 10,500 pilots ratify a tentative agreement reached between the Allied Pilots Association (APA) and management.
The wide-reaching agreement would represent a breakthrough for American, because it would lift current restrictions on the amount of regional jets with 50 seats or less that its regional subsidiary American Eagle Airlines can own and operate.
It would mean that American could continue to bolster its fleet of Embraer ERJ-135 and ERJ-145 aircraft, allowing the carrier to compete more aggressively with other major carriers and their regional affiliates.
However, the agreement would also appear to represent a real coup for the carrier¹s mainline pilots. American has made an unprecedented decision that if it acquires jets with more than 50 seats in the future, American pilots and not Eagle pilots will fly those aircraft.
The APA says that recapturing "all aircraft with more than 50 seats for the pilots of American Airlines is a major enhancement to our current job protections".
But the deal goes further to protect the mainline pilots. Under its terms, Eagle would also not be able to fly any route that American can fly profitably, and there are furlough and numerous other downside protections in the event that American¹s fleet shrinks.Eagle¹s total fleet size would be tied to the size of American¹s fleet, and would increase proportionately from 40% to 56% as American grows. And, its growth rate would accelerate as the mainline grows.
The airline insists, however, that any speculation that the agreement is related to a possible merger is "unfounded".
Source: Flight Daily News
