Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC
The contentious issue of US airline scope clauses is again heating up as US Airways renews its push to expand its fleet to 422 regional jets, while labour negotiations at American Airlines to accommodate Bombardier CRJ700s already ordered have reached an impasse.
US Airways recently reached an interim deal with the local Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) to add 35 regional jets, doubling the size of its agreed scope limit. "Seventy jets in the long term is not enough. We would like to have 400 aircraft and we'll begin talks with ALPA this month," says the airline.
Senior airline executives have again warned that US Airways will increasingly be at a regional competitive disadvantage to rivals unless a larger deal can be reached with its pilots. The airline last year issued a request for proposals for up to 400 jets, from 30 seats up to the maximum scope limit of 69 seats, to replace turboprops.
ALPA is concerned that a large influx of regional jets will be used to cut the cost of mainline flying. "We don't embrace 422 jets, we're only interested in what they really need. We want to lower the cap to 50-seat jets with a certified maximum take-off weight of 60,000lb [27,250kg]," says a union negotiator.
At the same time, scope mediation talks between American and the Allied Pilots Association (APA) have broken down. The airline wants to raise the current 67-aircraft ceiling, while APA is demanding a revision of the 45-69-seat limit and for mainline pilots flying all jets any larger than 51 seats.
American Eagle operates 50 Embraer RJ-145s and will take delivery of the first of 25 larger Bombardier CRJ700s next year. This will undermine the clause that the fleet's average seat size does not exceed 50. "We're concerned about Eagle flying 70-seat jets when American is flying Fokker 100s. There's not much difference. We see this as an erosion of the mainline fleet," says APA.
Source: Flight International
