Pinnacle Airlines alleges bad-faith bargaining in the lawsuit it filed against the Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA) in US District Court.
This is the second lawsuit between the parties, which have been negotiating for a new contract since February 2005, and have been in federally mediated negotiations since September 2006.
The dispute has cost Pinnacle flying opportunities.
“The failure of ALPA to reach an agreement with Pinnacle resulted in the loss of 17 of our 50-seat jets and a chance to fly 76-seat jets for Northwest Airlines,” Pinnacle vice president and general manager Clive Seal says in a statement.
A provision in the regional’s airline services agreement (ASA) with Northwest Airlines permitted the US major to reassign 17 additional Bombardier CRJ200s – including 15 placed into service in the first quarter and two operated by Northwest subsidiaries Compass Airlines and Mesaba Airlines – if Pinnacle failed to reach a new contract with pilots by that date. When Pinnacle missed its deadline, Northwest announced it is reassigning CRJ200s to Mesaba.
“On another occasion, one new customer removed Pinnacle from consideration for 25 new regional jets,” Seal says. “We let the union know what was at stake on both occasions and that it was imperative that we achieve a new contract in a timely manner. The union’s response was that ‘it’s your problem.’ We have a different view. This would have meant hundreds of new jobs for all of our people, including 200 new pilot jobs and immediate upgrades for 110 first officers. Success in this industry is based on growth, and we’re offering a deal with that in mind.”
In October, the union filed suit in US District Court claiming that Pinnacle violated the Railway Labor Act (RLA) - the federal statute that governs contract negotiations in the airline industry - when it unilaterally implemented pilot bonus programs by changing the status quo pay and working conditions of the pilots without first bargaining and reaching agreement with ALPA.
Source: flightglobal.com's sister premium news site Air Transport Intelligence news
Source: FlightGlobal.com
