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July 31, 2008

United Tells Pilots Union: Stop the “Slowdown”

Filed under: Pilots, United — Rick Seaney @ 12:45 pm

Actually, it’s an “alleged” slowdown, but real enough to United that they’ve asked a federal district judge for an injunction against it.

So far, the pilots union (Air Line Pilots Association) isn’t talking, but United claims the union is “encouraging sick-leave abuse” — according to the carrier, sick-leave among first officers is up 103% this summer.

United thinks the pilots’ alleged actions are “absolutely irresponsible” and due to unhappiness with some of the “unprecedented actions” the carrier is taking to “offset record fuel costs”.

Of course, one “action” is United’s plan to furlough nearly 1,000 pilots.
« American Airlines: Whew! Baggage is Back to Normal at JFK   Apples and Oranges: Check Airline Fees (and We’ve Got the List) »

2 Comments »

  1. Perhaps United should look at employee’s “sick rate” during the process of deciding who to lay-off. I’m not sure those pilots who can’t seem to make it to work should be keeping their jobs.

    Comment by Gregg Marshall — July 31, 2008 @ 1:11 pm

  2. You can’t cut back on labor compensation and expect there to be no reaction by labor. You pay either in resentment, minor disobedience like this, or outright unrest.

    Some airlines treat their employees well when things are going well (WN and CO, for example), so when cutbacks must be made, there is a little more of a team/loyalty feeling and less resentment. I’m not surprised that United’s pilots are pushing back.

    Comment by mwarden — July 31, 2008 @ 3:10 pm

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