{"id":16065,"date":"2012-10-05T09:49:18","date_gmt":"2012-10-05T13:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/?p=16065"},"modified":"2012-10-09T09:45:54","modified_gmt":"2012-10-09T13:45:54","slug":"enough-is-enough-cfif-launches-talktoyourpilot-com-for-travelers-frustrated-by-pilot-union-misbehavior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/16065\/enough-is-enough-cfif-launches-talktoyourpilot-com-for-travelers-frustrated-by-pilot-union-misbehavior\/","title":{"rendered":"Enough Is Enough: CFIF Launches TalkToYourPilot.com for Travelers Frustrated by Pilot Union Misbehavior"},"content":{"rendered":"

Enough is enough. \u00a0It\u2019s time to shine a brighter spotlight on pilot union attempts to sabotage American Airlines. \u00a0That\u2019s why CFIF is launching TalktoYourPilot.com<\/a> \u2013 to ensure that travelers know who\u2019s to blame for their frustrations. \u00a0No surprise \u2013 it\u2019s the pilots\u2019 union, the Allied Pilots Association (APA).<\/p>\n

From time to time over the last five months, Jeff Mazzella, Renee Giachino and I have written about the APA\u2019s antics. \u00a0You can read most of those things here<\/a> or read my op-ed in the Washington Times<\/em><\/a>. \u00a0In those commentaries we\u2019ve made each of the following points:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The airline industry has changed dramatically over the last couple of decades, forcing every single legacy carrier to reorganize under bankruptcy. \u00a0American was the last to do so, holding out until last year. \u00a0The cause was simple: With the highest labor costs in the industry (bar far), American needed to do something to become more competitive.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Accordingly, American went about negotiating with each of their nine separate labor unions, representing flight attendants, mechanics and pilots. Eight of those nine unions ratified new contracts to help their employer and provide stability for their members.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The lone exception of those nine unions?\u00a0 It was the APA \u2013 the primary pilots\u2019 union. The APA rejected a generous offer that included pay raises and an equity stake valued at $187,500 for each of the 8,000 union pilots (13.5% of the company\u2019s value).<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 At the same time, the APA used US Airway\u2019s CEO, Doug Parker, to improve their leverage with American. \u00a0The APA cut a deal with Parker in case American and US Airways were to merge \u2013 even though Parker\u2019s own US Airways pilots have gone seven years<\/em> without a contract. (Parker has said that everyone will have their cake and eat it too if he combines the airlines. \u00a0That\u2019s unrealistic and disingenuous, but it\u2019s a matter for a different day.) \u00a0For more on this, read my interview in the Phoenix Business Journal<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ultimately, if American\u2019s pilots stubbornly refuse to accept a new contract, they\u00a0could effectively send their employer, or perhaps the entire airline industry, the way of the auto industry. \u00a0The difference\u00a0this time would be that taxpayers won\u2019t be so enthusiastic about bailing them out.<\/p>\n

Words are no longer enough. Thousands of travelers have been disrupted by the holdout pilots\u2019 union, and we want to afford those inconvenienced travelers an opportunity to give the pilots a piece of their mind.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we built TalktoYourPilot.com<\/a> \u2013 to give consumers<\/em><\/strong> a chance to tell the pilots to settle their disputes without inconveniencing the rest of us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Enough is enough. \u00a0It\u2019s time to shine a brighter spotlight on pilot union attempts to sabotage American Airlines. \u00a0That\u2019s why CFIF is launching TalktoYourPilot.com \u2013 to ensure that travelers know who\u2019s to blame for their frustrations. \u00a0No surprise \u2013 it\u2019s the pilots\u2019 union, the Allied Pilots Association (APA). From time to time over the last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3856,3524,3855,3854,3857],"class_list":["post-16065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-posts","tag-allied-pilots-union","tag-american-airlines","tag-apa","tag-pilot-union","tag-talktoyourpilot-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16065"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16067,"href":"https:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16065\/revisions\/16067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cfif.org\/v\/freedom_line_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}