State of the Unions
Extra Pay for Ultra-Long Range Flying
- Qantas took another step toward ultra-ultra-long range flying by securing a tentative agreement with the Australian and International Pilots Association. It includes a 3% wage hike in exchange for unspecified productivity improvements. Pilots will vote on the terms this month. In the meantime, pilots and ground workers at the group’s Jetstar unit staged a brief strike last month, clamoring for higher pay. That matter remains unresolved.
- A British Airways pilot dispute is now settled. Members of the BALPA union voted yes to a compromise, quelling anger about management’s refusal to share more of its bountiful profits. Incidentally, BA’s labor peace through much of the 2010s, notwithstanding a damaging September pilot strike, was a key reason for those bountiful profits. Air France/KLM and Lufthansa by contrast, lost hundreds of millions of euros from strikes last decade.
- Speaking of which, Lufthansa suffered from holiday season labor disruption at its Eurowings affiliate. Flight attendants staged a three-day strike that led to the cancellation of roughly 200 flights. The dispute involves pay, pensions, and work rules.
- A major area to watch in 2020 is the progress of U.S. pilot contract talks. Delta, United, and most recently American already are operating with contracts past their amendable dates (by law, U.S. airline contracts never expire, they just become open for renegotiation at a certain point). American’s independent pilots union says the two sides are far apart on a new deal. Alaska’s pilot agreement will become amendable in April, followed by Southwest’s in September, and Sun Country’s in November. This won’t be an issue for Allegiant until next year, Hawaiian and JetBlue until 2022, and Spirit and Frontier until 2023. Note that it’s not uncommon for U.S. labor negotiations to drag on for years past a contract’s amendable date. ◄