Atlantic Southeast Airlines Pilots Fed Up With Managers

After three years of inconclusive contract talks, negotiators representing Atlantic Southeast Airlines pilots have voted to express no confidence in the senior managers of the airline.

ASA, the Atlanta-based subsidiary of SkyWest Inc., and its 1,700 pilots have been in negotiations since September 2002, when the pilots' contract became amendable. Although progress has been made on routine matters, the two sides still haven't discussed contentious issues such as wages and benefits, and the pilots are angry.

"They are pulling all the strings to try to draw attention to their contract negotiations. They've been going on for three years, and they've made little progress," John Perkinson, a spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), said Tuesday.

St. George-based SkyWest bought ASA from Delta Air Lines on Sept. 7, one week before Delta filed for bankruptcy in a New York court. The $ 425 million deal turned SkyWest into the largest regional airline company in the country. It operates ASA and SkyWest Airlines as independent subsidiaries.

ASA declined to provide a representative to respond to the vote, which took place last week. In a statement, the company said it wants an agreement that "recognizes the current economic conditions facing the airline industry and positions ASA for further growth and success."

The current pilot contract was negotiated in 1999, when ASA was a different airline, flying smaller aircraft along shorter routes. Six years later, pilots want a raise but are more eager to amend contract language spelling out work rules that ASA has distorted in order to cope with pilot shortages, Perkinson said.

And that has pilots perplexed. Negotiations are drifting, even though pay apparently isn't a big issue. The previous talks were in October, and no new discussions are planned, Perkinson said.

"We are negotiating at a snail's pace. The contract issues that we dealt with at the beginning of negotiations are for the most part boilerplate within the industry, and they are being scrutinized by management in ways we wouldn't have anticipated. We're not sure why," he said.

Adding to the confusion: ASA said at the previous meeting that it had not conducted an adequate cost analysis of parts of a new contract where there is agreement, and it might have to amend those agreements.

"Given the time and effort invested in these negotiations, this behavior is unconscionable," said Bob Arnold, chairman of ALPA's ASA master executive council.

After almost two years of fruitless negotiations, pilots and the company turned to the National Mediation Board in May 2004. Since then, the sides have tentatively agreed to slightly more than a third of the terms for the next contract.

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