Tag Archives: SWAPA

Sun Country’s pilots picket at Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport

Sun Country Airlines (Minneapolis/St. Paul) could be facing a strike by its pilots represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). The pilots of the airline yesterday (April 24) picketed for higher wages outside of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. ALPA states they are the lowest Boeing 737 scheduled airline pilots in the country. The pilots have authorized a strike if necessary.

The union issued this statement:

Sun Country Airlines Pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association Int’l (ALPA), conducted informational picketing Friday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, saying the company’s current pay proposal would keep SCA pilot wages near the bottom of the industry for another five years.

Already the nation’s lowest-paid scheduled service airline pilots for their aircraft type, management’s recent proposal would provide only minimal increases. Sun Country pilots last received a pay rate increase in 2005.

“Our current pay is 30 percent below the midpoint for our peers. We’re seeking a contract that gradually gets us closer to the industry average. The company offer keeps us from realizing that goal throughout the life of a new contract,” said Capt. Brian Roseen, chairman of Sun Country’s ALPA Master Executive Council.

Virtually all of Sun Country’s 247 active ALPA pilots not flying or in training marched in shifts outside MSP’s Terminal 2, joined by supporters from United, Delta, FedEx Express, Compass, Endeavor Air, and other ALPA pilot groups.

ALPA and Sun Country have been in negotiations for five years, and in federal mediation since 2012. In February pilots voted 100 percent to authorize ALPA to declare a legal strike if later allowed to do so by the federal government. Before any strike could occur, the National Mediation Board would have to release the pilot group from mediation and the group would have to complete a 30-day cooling off period.

“Under our new ownership Sun Country has been profitable and more than doubled in size. It’s time for them to invest in people the same way they’ve invested in airplanes and facilities,” Roseen said. “We want to negotiate. We’re 100 percent ready to do everything the law allows to lift ourselves up from the bottom of the industry.”

Meanwhile the pilots of Southwest Airlines (Dallas) came to the aid of its fellow pilots at Sun Country. SWAPA issued this statement:

As the pilots of Sun Country (SCA) picket on Friday outside of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, the Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association (SWAPA) announces support of the SCA pilots’ efforts to obtain an improved contract. Sun Country Airlines pilots are the lowest-paid Part 121 B-737 pilots in the country and have been in contract negotiations for more than five years. In February, the SCA pilots voted nearly unanimously to authorize ALPA to call a legal strike if necessary, upon a release from mediation by the National Mediation Board and the expiration of a cooling-off period.

“Sun Country pilots have the lowest 737 pay rates for scheduled carriers and are about 30 percent below the industry average pay for this equipment,” said SWAPA President Capt. Paul Jackson. “Low fares do not have to equal low wages in our industry and we fully support our friends at Sun Country in seeking a fair agreement.”

Sun Country management has failed to offer industry-standard fair compensation to pilots despite doubling the number of aircraft and profitability in recent years under new ownership. The company’s most recent contract offer would still leave the SCA pilots at the bottom of 737 pilot pay rates for another five years. The SCA pilots’ union leadership is proposing gradual increases toward the industry average, with the goal of reaching middle ground by the end of the contract term.

Top Copyright Photo: Ken Petersen/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-8Q8 N804SY (msn 30689) prepares to touch down at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport.

Sun Country Airlines aircraft slide show:

Southwest Airlines’ pilots file for mediation with the NMB

Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association-SWAPA (Dallas), representing the pilots of Southwest Airlines (Dallas), filed for mediation with the National Mediation Board (NMB). The union issued this statement:

In order to facilitate movement in contract negotiations, the Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association (SWAPA) today officially filed for mediation with the National Mediation Board (NMB), the federal agency that oversees contract negotiations in the airline industry. After two-plus years of negotiations both sides are currently too far apart to realistically expect an agreement outside of a mediated process.

“This is certainly not a step either side wants to take during negotiations, and certainly not a typical step in the pilot and management relationship at Southwest Airlines,” said Mark Richardson, SWAPA President. “But times have certainly changed.”

SWAPA has focused their negotiations on improvements in areas that address the airline’s flat fleet growth, stagnant career advancement, and compensation. Over the past four years the pilots have sacrificed when asked by the Company. This facilitated Southwest reaching their financial goals, including a stated goal of 15 percent ROIC. Those goals have been accomplished, and furthered, with an announced ROIC total of 19 percent for the trailing 12 months, and a Wall Street expected 21 percent ROIC for fiscal year 2014. Southwest Airlines is on pace to enjoy almost $2.5 billion in operating profit for 2014.

“Our asks continue to be reasonable so that our highly productive pilots can enjoy marginal improvements in their schedule, pay, and especially retirement – an area where Southwest pilots lag significantly compared to our peers at other airlines,” continued Richardson. “Filing for mediation is the next step in the process toward a new contract. We are trying to avoid the destructive and combative relationships that have plagued our industry.”

SWAPA becomes the third Southwest Airlines labor group to request national mediation in order to finalize a new contract in this current round of negotiations.

Located in Dallas, Texas, the Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association (SWAPA) is a non-profit employee organization representing the more than 7,500 pilots of Southwest Airlines and 500 pilots of AirTran Airways. SWAPA works to provide a secure and rewarding career for Southwest pilots and their families through negotiating contracts, defending contractual rights and actively promoting professionalism and safety. For more information on the Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association, visit http://www.swapa.org.

Copyright Photo: Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-76N N7705A (msn 32744) arrives in Los Angeles.

Southwest Airlines aircraft slide show:

Southwest’s pilots applaud the DOT decision concerning the application of Norwegian Air International

Southwest Airlines‘ (Dallas) pilots, represented by SWAPA, have issued this statement:

The Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association (SWAPA) commends the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) for denying Norwegian Air International (NAI) a temporary foreign air carrier operating authorization. NAI is a subsidiary of Norwegian Air which is located in Norway. NAI has sought to operate service to the U.S. as an Irish airline where it has no operating flights or history of operations.

“The denial of a temporary operating authorization is applauded by the pilots of Southwest Airlines,” said SWAPA Governmental Affairs Chair Captain Paul Jackson. “We agree with Secretary Foxx’s assertion that the application of Norwegian Air International is not in the public interest.”

This denial is only for the temporary application and is not a denial of the full application approval for a foreign carrier exemption with the DOT by NAI. The pilots of Southwest Airlines have opposed the application of NAI from early in the process due to the company’s “flag of convenience” strategy that locates the airline away from their home country of Norway. The NAI application for a foreign carrier operating authorization has been on file with the DOT since early this year. It is opposed by airline employees and management across the U.S. and the EU.

“We encourage Norwegian to join the marketplace under the labor laws and rules of their home country and not seek a scheme to avoid them,” Captain Jackson continued. “We strongly believe that our product and the work of our industry can stand up to any competitor if they play by the rules in place and do not seek to lower costs at any price.”

Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-7H4 N953WN (msn 36668) taxies to the runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Southwest Airlines Aircraft Slide Show: CLICK HERE

SWAPA applauds the Dreamjet decision by the DOT but still opposes the Norwegian Air International application

The Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association (SWAPA) (Dallas), the union representing the pilots of Southwest Airlines, issued this statement:

The Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association (SWAPA) commends the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) for granting an exemption to Dreamjet, a startup airline, based in France within the European Union (EU).

“The rapid approval of Dreamjet’s application is applauded by the pilots of Southwest Airlines,” said Captain Paul Jackson, SWAPA Governmental Affairs Chairman. “We agree with the DOT that Dreamjet is fit to serve the EU-US market under the terms of the Open Skies agreement.”

This approval for Dreamjet is in contrast to the application for a foreign carrier exemption on file with the DOT by Norwegian Air International (NAI). The pilots of Southwest Airlines have opposed the application of NAI from early in the process based on their flag of convenience strategy and usurping of labor laws with the offshoring of crews.

“We continue to oppose NAI and at the same time applaud the DOT for recognizing EU carriers that comply with the rules and grant them entry to a fair and equitable market,” Jackson continued.

Dreamjet is set to launch five weekly flights between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Newark Liberty Airport on July 11 with a Boeing 757-200 configured with 74 business class seats.

Note: Dreamjet has now been renamed La Compagnie.

Southwest Airlines’ pilot union opposes the application of Norwegian Air International

Southwest Airlines‘ (Dallas) pilots, represented by the Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association (SWAPA), issued this statement today in opposition to the application to the DOT by Norwegian Air International of Ireland:

The Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association (SWAPA) is joining numerous pilot groups across the United States along with Airlines for America to battle against Norwegian Air International’s application to the Department of Transportation that would provide them the ability to circumvent labor laws of their home country.

SWAPA’s opposition is contradicted by the Washington Airports Task Force who have chosen to support the Norwegian Air International (NAI) application. SWAPA has written to the Task Force to rethink their position and not oppose the many D.C.-area Southwest Airlines pilots.

NAI is an attempt by a Norwegian-owned entity to capitalize on the EU’s loose labor and aviation oversight regulations. They have applied for – and received – an Operating Certificate from Ireland although not one of their aircraft will operate from there. They have also contracted a Singapore-based company to staff their cockpits with Bangkok-based contract pilots (to evade EU labor and tax provisions).

“This ‘Flag of Convenience’ strategy is one that has decimated the U.S. Maritime industry,” said Captain Paul Jackson, Chair of SWAPA’s Governmental Affairs. “That industry was once robust and employed over 200,000 U.S. workers. Today the number of jobs has been reduced to around 2,500 due to the offshoring of work through foreign flag registrations of ships seeking the lax labor laws of those countries. Southwest pilots will not stand by and let this happen to the U.S. airline industry.”

“We are not opposing the entrance of an airline that competes fairly and doesn’t use the lax EU laws to drive out labor protections, bringing a questionable level of oversight to their operation,” continued Jackson. “We strongly believe that our product and the work of our industry can stand up to any competitor if they play by the rules in place and do not seek to lower costs at any price.”

Located in Dallas, Texas, the Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association (SWAPA) is a non-profit employee organization representing the more than 6,800 pilots of Southwest Airlines. SWAPA works to provide a secure and rewarding career for Southwest pilots and their families through negotiating contracts, defending contractual rights and actively promoting professionalism and safety.

Copyright Photo: Jay Selman/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-5H4 N527SW (msn 26569) completes its final approach for the runway at Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport.

Southwest Airlines:

SWAPA opposes pre-clearance at Abu Dhabi for Etihad Airways’ flights to the USA

Southwest Airlines‘ (Dallas) pilots, represented by the Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association (SWAPA) have issued this statement opposing the Customs and Border Patrol’s new Pre-Clearance located at the Abu Dhabi International Airport:

Today (January 24) marks a sad day for the U.S. airline industry, as the Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association (SWAPA) learned that the first flight from Abu Dhabi to the United States was operated utilizing the Customs and Border Patrol’s Pre-Clearance facility located at the Abu Dhabi airport.

Both the U.S. airlines and their associated labor groups opposed the investment of U.S. taxpayer money into a facility that will only benefit foreign carriers. No U.S. airline presently operates a single flight at Abu Dhabi, and the lone benefactor from this is the state-owned Etihad Airlines. The traffic rate at the Abu Dhabi airport for U.S.-bound passengers is less than 200 per day on average, making this a poor investment of U.S. taxpayers’ increasingly limited resources.

The facility was funded earlier this month through the $1 trillion-plus omnibus spending bill, a gigantic measure which received very little debate. The Abu Dhabi facility provision received very little attention — let alone the scrutiny it deserves — particularly while there remains pending legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that would block funding for this facility. H.R. 3488 introduced by Rep. Patrick Meehan [R-PA7] has 142 bipartisan co-sponsors. With this measure in motion and despite an increasing throng of voices in opposition, the Department of Homeland Security still opened operations with this first flight today.

“Southwest pilots stand together with industry and labor partners to express our dismay at the federal government’s regrettable actions in choosing to open this unnecessary pre-clearance facility at Abu Dhabi,” said Captain Mark Richardson, SWAPA President. “We are more than willing to compete against any airline in the world, including state-sponsored Middle East entities. However, Middle East entities that already enjoy generous state sponsorship should not receive additional government support from the U.S. taxpayer. We oppose our own government tilting the playing field further against U.S. airlines.”

Southwest Airlines: