Dec. 12--The first change that Tulsa employees might have noticed after the merger with US Airways was in the parking lot.
Under new CEO Doug Parker, who assumed leadership of American Airlines on Monday after 12 years heading US Airways, executive employees no longer get reserved, front-row parking.
"At least it shows that Doug Parker has some understanding of the little guys," said Dale Danker, president of Transport Workers Union Local 514. "For so long under the old American Airlines executives, it was them on top and us on the bottom. We're not sure yet if it will still be that way with Parker, but there is at least some hope."
Since American Airlines declared bankruptcy in November 2011, employees at its Tulsa maintenance base have been working under a cloud of uncertainty. Executives considered shuttering the entire base, shedding thousands of employees and terminating the contract with the TWU.
Now with bankruptcy over and the merger with US Airways complete, the real changes have just begun for the 6,300 employees in Tulsa at the new American Airlines Group Inc.
"We've already started to get some training and procedures in place to bring the two new companies together," said David Seymour, the new senior vice president of technical operations, who came from US Airways and will oversee all maintenance operations.
In fact, American's maintenance base workers had been adapting to new procedures, work rules and schedules since the bankruptcy filing two years ago.
"There have been a lot of new work rules and the day-in and day-out operations have gotten worse for employees," said Danker, who represents about 4,800 TWU members at the facility.
But all of those rules were instituted under previous leadership, much of which is gone and replaced with former US Airways executives.
Still, American Airlines will spend the next two years trying to combine operations on all levels, from ticketing agents and flight attendants to pilots and maintenance workers.
For American to gain a single-entity operating certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration, it needs to have uniform rules and procedures across all aspects of the company. That's why for at least the next several months, it will be hard for much of the public to tell that anything has changed at all.
Maintenance and related workers will receive an immediate 4.3 percent raise, part of a deal the union signed with American Airlines and US Airways in 2012 to support the merger. Other unions and some nonunion employees also were granted various raises.
In a few weeks, employees will also start receiving equity shares of the company, averaging $12,000 to $20,000 worth of stock for workers with about 15 years experience.
But the TWU leadership and many at the Tulsa center are worried about the long-term future of the facility. Danker said US Airways outsources about 62 percent of its maintenance work.
American Airlines has informed the union that it may need 400 fewer workers in Tulsa next year, but those potential cuts were announced under old leadership.
American's fleet revitalization project to bring in $43 billion worth of new Boeing and Airbus aircraft over the next few years could reduce work at the Tulsa base because newer planes need less maintenance during their early years. But a bigger airline will also mean more planes that could potentially be serviced in Tulsa.
US Airways will be converting to an almost entirely Airbus fleet by the end of 2014. In recent years the Tulsa plant has primarily serviced McDonnell Douglas and Boeing planes.
Then there is the future of US Airways' maintenance bases in Pittsburgh and Charlotte, N.C., as well as its greatly diminished maintenance facilities in Dallas.
"We've been told a lot of the great performance at this (Tulsa) facility and that we have been competitive with any other group in the country," said Bill Collins, senior vice president of base operations for American Airlines. "So there may be some opportunity in the future. But we really haven't had a chance to even sit down and really talk about it as a new company."
American Airlines
Maintenance & Engineering Center
Founded: 1946
Employment: 6,300
Location: 3700 N. Mingo Road.
Size: 260 acres, 3.3 million square feet
Aircraft serviced: MD-80, Boeing 757, 777 and 737
Other work: Engine overhaul
Kyle Arnold 918-581-8380
Copyright 2013 - Tulsa World, Okla.
