1/22/2024 0 Comments Pilot strike spirit![]() The short-term high from a pilot strike vote actually fights against their goal of higher wages. Both Airbus and Boeing have also delayed delivery of new planes, further restricting this summer’s capacity. The limited supply is the slower build-back of capacity by the industry, in part due to staffing limits. This is because of strong demand, and somewhat limited supply. ![]() Fares Are High EnoughĪirline fares are high this year and into this summer. The biggest effect may be in galvanizing the rank and file toward a new deal sponsored by their leaders. Strike votes that have almost no impact on reality are done to scare customers, and by doing so put pressure on the airlines to step up and close a new deal more quickly. This, not picketing and strike votes, is why every pilot flying today can be comfortable that they will be paid more for their services. ![]() The result of all of this is increases in pilot wages across the industry. This has both limited the number of candidates and excluded many under-represented groups among its pool. On top of this, it has become very expensive to get the training needed to become a commercial pilot. More recently, the government increased the minimum hours requirement to be hired as a pilot, and this has caused an upheaval for pilot wages in the regional airlines initially. This created a five year pause on the need for many new pilots. In 2007, the mandatory retirement age for commercial pilots was increased to 65 from 60. military had ceased to become a major recruiting source for the commercial industry. Today, pilots are undersupplied for a number of reasons. airline industry is often shaped by the fluctuations in this market, as nicely documented in the classic book Hard Landing by Thomas Petzinger. Pilots, like all labor groups, represent a market that sometimes is oversupplied sometimes undersupplied. The point is clear - pilots strikes rarely happen because the RLA process is designed to make that true. American Airlines pilots were on strike for just over 10 minutes in 1997, but that’s because President Bill Clint0n used the PEB process to quickly get the carrier flying again. It was also influenced by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) need to reestablish credibility in advance of some bigger value deals coming soon, like those at Airtran and the then-just announced merger between Continental Airlines and United Airlines.īefore 2010, the last significant pilot strike in the U.S. I was CEO of Spirit at this time, and that strike was only partially due to disagreements between Spirit and its pilot union. The last pilot strike in the U.S.was 13 years ago, in 2010, at Spirit Airlines. The process also makes actual strikes very rare. Often, big headline-making wage improvements are biased by the fact some some of the payments are to make up for years in negotiation with no increases. The RLA process can take years, and often does. A PEB was used to avert a strike at American Airlines in 1997. air traffic, a PEB is likely though not certain. For one of the big four airlines in the U.S., who each carry roughly 20% of all U.S. ![]() The PEB compels each side to keep negotiating and does not allow any self-help action to take place. This allows the President of the United States to convene a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB). The RLA has one other feature to stop a strike. In 2005, Northwest Airlines locked out their mechanics and replaced them at this point in their negotiation process. That means the union can strike, and that management can lock out current employees and replace them. During this period, both sides can continue to negotiate knowing that if the cooling off ends without a deal, each side can resort to self-help. If it gets to this point, the mediator can “release” both sides from the mediation process and then the two sides enter a 30-day “cooling off” period. The mediation process can fail if the mediator believes that the two sides cannot reach a deal.
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