The Negative Analysis Of Alaska Airline Pilots At Alaska Airlines

This growth in combination with the growth from the acquisition of AirTran has put a strain on the airlines employees. This strain has had an effect on service “Southwest was last in on-time performance among major airlines and last among big airlines in baggage handling” (McCartney, 2014, p. 16). “Employees resist change for a variety of reason,” (Parnell, 2014, p.294). It has also had a negative impact on labor union contract negotiations (McCartney, 2014). “Southwest is 85% unionized,” (Parnell, 2014, p.389).

The causes of the latest calamity, which some say is already here, are several and include: retirement of Vietnam-era pilots, reduction in the military pipeline, increased air travel and a law demanding co-pilots achieve 1,500 flight hours and an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate--only to be met with a "you-want-fries-with-that" pay scale in spite of these costly attainments. The pilot shortage is headlining the Regional Airline Association 's convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, May 9-12. He also reflects on the cost and cheap commercial airfares. Stating that “As with the commercial pilot crisis, money is a major factor. Owning and operating a light aircraft can be expensive. A new Cirrus SR22 costs $500,000; monthly hangar rent can run $350-1,000 or more; avgas averages $6 per gal.

Because of that more pilots are leaving the profession than entering causing a deficit. Most people might say, “What does this have to do with me?” or “I haven’t noticed any changes”. However, there will be effects sooner rather than later.

Established airlines faced heavy financial strain from new competition boasting their lower cost structure. When an airline is looking for ways to save money, often, labor expenses is the easiest to control. Therefore, labor expenses are many times the hardest hit. Also, the threat of bankruptcy and liquidation caused airline union groups to take concessions on pay, work rules, retirement and other fringe benefits. In my opinion, pattern bargaining, what once helped unions obtain better contracts, was not being used by management to enforce concessions. When one airline reduces wages and benefits, competing airlines would see this action and justify lowering wages and benefits at their company. While this seemed to work in the short term, many companies continued to fall into bankruptcy. Additionally, airline employees suffered losses in the form of retirement pensions, wages and employment. Essentially, these airlines were participating in a race to the

Despite both parties agreeing on minor issues, there were three major issues that threatened to disrupt air travel nationwide and hit the economy hard. Those issues were pay/wages, stock options, and job security. The Allied Pilots requested an 11 percent pay increase within the first 4 years, 7.25 million shares of the company at $10 below market value, as well as demanding that all of their unionized pilots be the only pilots to fly the new 50-70 passenger aircraft, which were being purchased. However, American Airlines offered only 6.1 percent pay increase over the term of the contract, 5.75 million shares of stock at market value and only a small amount of pilots would fly the newer aircrafts, leaving close to 67 new planes to be flown by regional pilots who’s pay was $80,000 less then, unionized pilots, whose salary was $120,000 or more. Because neither party agreed to the terms laid before them, a request for mediation was issued by the union to the National Mediation Board on January 16, 1996, to which mediation began on February

The airline industry has been divided into labor unions which include several types of unions such as the Flight Attendants' Unions, the Machinists' Unions, and the Pilots' Unions. The majority of the employees are part of such unions which has led to an increase in labor costs for the entire airline industry. TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS Fuel efficiency is increasing. Aircrafts that are more fuel efficient are being developed and the engines are being redesigned to cater to this change.

Give a brief summary of the current state of union relations in the airlines industry in the United States. Then answer the following in a well-organized 4- to 5-page paper: There are several different airlines that operate in the United States and the unions that represent the employees of these airlines seem to always be in the spotlight. There are several articles describing the affects these unions have on the employees, the employers, and the economy overall. I will discuss the current state of union relations in the airline industry. Further, I will discuss why the American Airlines Allied Pilots Association would risk the future of the airlines with their demands. Additionally, I will give an update where we are currently with American’s situation and how the recent updates I’ve found affect American Airlines employees. Finally, I will give my opinion of the changes I believe are needed in labor laws in the United States to help stop unions from hurting business.

United States airlines are currently enjoying a boom due to streamlining over the past few years, streamlining that included mergers and acquisitions. The streamlining was because of many carriers going bankrupt in the last decade, a situation that was attributed to generous base pay rates and work rules negotiated by the unions as a result of previous good profits. The current boom is also tempered by fractious labor relations between the airlines and staff. Delta Airlines suffered from their pilots picketing in 2016. Southwest pushed back purchase of new airplanes partly because of tensions with its pilots. This is despite the two airlines having a history of good labor relations where they have awarded good remuneration to their workers, relations that have made them some of the most financially successful airlines in the world (Bhaskara, 2016).

Delta should implement a ‘no furlough policy’ similar to Southwest, which has never permanently laid-off an employee. Also, employees need to become more educated about the economics of the industry so they can understand why certain benefits are been taken away. Bonuses should be based solely on performance. Delta should propose a cut of 20% across the board for all pilots effective immediately. Though Delta’s pilots ‘union may be hesitant to accept these reductions, Delta should also offer its’ pilots a 3% increase in profit-sharing packages, an additional signing bonus of 100 shares of company stock and maybe a seat on the board of directors for their top performing pilots who stays with the

Everyone had a childhood dream. Whether it was being an astronaut, a princess, a firefighter, or a pilot. Not everyone got to be what they wanted as a child, because of a change in plans or just harsh reality, although some do. As for Bradley Tilden, he got into the airline industry because of his childhood dream. He went to high school a few short miles away from the company’s headquarters where he could watch the planes take off and land. During his college years at Pacific Lutheran University, he had a job with Amtrak that was able to provide him with a little more money than he needed for the schooling. With that money he learned to fly, but he thought he could never become a commercial pilot, so he became an accountant. Unexpectedly one of his friends needed to need to leave Alaska Air Group to have a baby, and he was given the opportunity of a lifetime. Since May 15, 2012 Brad has been the chief executive officer of Alaska Air Group. Alaska Air Group contains Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. Brad has been the president of Alaska Airlines since December of 2008. He had been the chief financial officer of Alaska Air Group from 2000 to 2008 and was the executive vice president of finance and planning from 2002 to 2008. Alaska Air Group has about 13,000 people employed making it the seventh-largest airline in the United States for passenger traffic, and the top airline for the west coast (Brad Tilden: Keeping an Airline Flying).

pays an average C average of $21.^2hourly wage of $18.07. ^^^^ second pays an an hour. Assuming that other directemployment costs, such as benefits, are the same for the two groups, which group has the higher labor eosts^ • • • • An airline is seeking to compete in the low-cost, low-frills segment of the U.S. market where, for obvious reasons, labor productivity and efficiency are crucial for competitive success. The company pays virtually no one on the basis of individual merit or performance. Does it stand a chance of successl • • • • A company that operates in an intensely competitive segment of the

Internally, Alaska Airlines continues to struggle with overworked employees due to low staffing levels. The number of Alaska Airlines employees decreased from 15,859 employees in 2016 to 12,295 in 2017, cutting costs tremendously (“Performance and Methodology, 2016;”Company Information", 2016). To make up for the loss of 3,564 employees, the remaining staff has been stressed to compensate (Phillips, Don, 2000). This has led to incomplete or incorrect safety regulation reports. Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air were charged with over $655,000 due to civil penalties; Alaska Airlines failed to report alternative safety measures and install danger tags, which are crucial to account for in order to prevent airplane and mechanical issues on ten separate occasions between June 19th, 2010 and January 13th, 2011(Shrestha, 2012). It was found that these documentation errors were a result of assigning only a few supervisors to complete the job (“Alaska Airlines Audited", 2017). As a result, Alaska updated its maintenance manual and initiated a new training program for aircraft technicians, with the hope that documenting alternative safety procedures will become a simpler and easier task for employees to follow (Shrestha, 2012).

People who work as aviation professionals seek devices with very specific set of features. These devices need to be light weighted and there should be no communication problems as these professionals need to communicate with the base. In addition to that, this communication takes place at regular intervals. Thus, the voice clarity provided the headset needs to be nothing less than exceptional. Aviation professionals need to wear the device for long spans of time whether they are pilots or working in any other sector of this industry. They require the device to be highly comfortable to wear so that they do not feel any kind of irritation during flights.

In the last decade, Continental Airlines has had a spotty track record. The airline twice filed for bankruptcy, realized diminished performance culminating in a $613 million loss in 1994, and was ranked dead last in industry indicators such as on-time performance among the major carriers. During these years, employees at Continental had undergone several series of layoffs and withstood both wage cuts and delayed wage increases in an effort to slash Continental’s costs. The result of these efforts was a demoralized workforce and a corporate reputation that put Continental near the top of Fortune’s list of “least admired” companies.

Labour costs: “ For most airlines wage costs and associated social security and pension payments for staff represent the largest single cost element” (Doganis, 2002, p.115). Appendix C gives an overview of the great differences in average annual remuneration. In the low cost business it is normal to get lower wages by higher duty times for the crews as low cost carriers aim to make the pilots most productive. “The average Southwest Pilot produced 800 block hours in 2000. In comparison, the average United Airlines’ pilot produced only 54% of the output produced by the average Southwest pilot” (Gillen & Lall, 2004, p.44). Despite this fact the staff of Southwest is highly motivated. For instance