American Airlines pilots union have voted for Operations Managers replacement after summer breakdowns
Leaders of American Airlines’ pilots union have voted to call for replacement of the airline’s operations management team, citing the airline’s shortcomings including breakdowns following summer storms.
Meeting Thursday in Dallas, the 20-member board of directors of the Allied Pilots Association voted 17-2, with one abstention, to endorse a resolution passed on Sept. 7 by its Philadelphia domicile.
Thursday’s resolution declares, as its key conclusion, that, “the APA board of directors believes it is in the best interest of the American Airlines shareholders, employees, the communities it serves and the traveling public for the management team members who control the American Airlines operation be replaced.”
Additionally, the board directs the APA president to ensure that potential new hire pilots are informed that “current scheduling uncertainties and reassignments affect their quality of life if they decide to accept a flying position at American Airlines.”
The resolution, which closely follows the wording of the earlier Philadelphia resolution, refers to about two dozen operational sore points, including unfavorable comparisons with Delta’s operational performance, mentions of various rankings of airline’s operations, a citation of a 2019 comment by CEO Doug Parker that “When we run a bad airline it affects morale,” and a mention of the 2021 Father’s Day weekend when more than 60,000 passengers were impacted by cancellation.
“There were several additional post weather recovery failures in July and August,” the resolution said. “Throughout the summer of 2021, middle management chose to advance cancel hundreds of flights, disrupting thousands of travel plans while at the same time damaging the American Airlines brand.
“Upper middle management’s actions and resulting unreliable operation requires American Airlines to carry a much higher percentage of reserve pilots (as compared with other airlines) to support their unpredictable operation,” the resolution said. “That policy “is highly inefficient, and adds more hours of flying on the remaining pilots creating less scheduling flexibility causing record reassignments and pilot fatigue.”
APA spokesman Dennis Tajer noted the resolution is targeted not at senior management, but rather at upper middle managers at American headquarters and at the integrated operations center in Fort Worth.
“They are tasked with assuring that American Airlines operation is reliable, not only for our pilots but most importantly for our passengers,” Tajer said, noting that CEO Doug Parker and President Robert Isom “say the right things, but the job is not getting done below them.”
“We don’t need an upper middle management team good on running an airline on sunny days, we need one that can manage when mother nature creates storms in our hubs,” he said. “That’s where the challenge is. We’ve got to get this fixed before the holidays.”
As for new hire pilots, Tajer said, “We have to be honest with them. They are coming here to spend their 30-year careers.”
The pilots’ contract became amendable in January 2020, but talks have preceded slowly. APA represents about 14,000 pilots. APA has scheduled informational picketing at Miami International Airport on Oct. 19, with subsequent events in Dallas and possibly Charlotte.
The Philadelphia domicile represents about 900 pilots. The APA board’s 20 members include two from Philadelphia.
Tajer said American keeps about 30% of its pilots on reserve, compared to an industry average of about 15%
An American spokesman declined to immediately comment late Thursday. but in a September 3rd letter to pilots, Chip Long, vice president of flight, offered pilots thanks for “the professionalism and commitment you’ve shown this summer as we experienced the largest operational ramp-up in our company’s history.”
Long said American had “a challenging stretch in June due to weather, vendor staffing and temporary pilot training challenges.” But he noted that during the third quarter, operating performance was comparable to previous years. www.forbes.com