Things in the Sky

The USAPA (US Airways Pilots Association) issued a press release expressing distaste with management for mishandling the merger between US Airways and America West.

September 27^th marked three full years in which US Airways Management has failed to complete the US Airways/America West Merger. The US Airline Pilots Association (USAPA) notes that the airline is entangled in labor disputes, law suits, and customer service issues and Management so far seems incapable of getting the merger completed.

And then later on…

USAPA believes that merging US Airways and America West into a single airline, with a single Pilot Collective Bargaining Agreement, would allow Management to capture synergies that would benefit US Airways’ passengers, investors and employees alike and go a long way towards positioning the airline for a secure future.

Now, talking about US Airways’ rankings in terms of complaints and such is perfectly valid, but blaming management for labor disputes is a bit misguided. Am I saying that US Airways management did a perfect job? No, but USAPA can blame itself for plenty of the labor issues.

When ALPA made a decision about the merged seniority list for the new airline, the US Airways East pilots weren’t happy. So they decided to form USAPA, a new union. The new organization was voted to replace ALPA as the union for US Airways pilots, though supposedly it was mainly the East pilots who voted for it (there are more East pilots than West pilots). USAPA claims to represent the entire new airline. They technically do, but that doesn’t mean the relationship is rosy between the West and East pilots. For example, after the USAPA was formed as the union, the AWAPPA (America West Airlines Piliot Protective Alliance) was formed. And then, USAPA decided to sue that group – if you’re interested PlaneBuzz has a great article on it.

USAPA shouldn’t just be blaming management – they should be blaming themselves, too.