Judge lets American Airlines toss out its pilots contract

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Apparently a "terse" writer
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Welp.

It's gonna get crazy at AMR...

Judge lets American Airlines toss out its pilots contract
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By tmaxon
tmaxon@dallasnews.com
4:17 pm on September 4, 2012 | Permalink
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane ruled Tuesday that American Airlines can abrogate its collective bargaining agreement with the Allied Pilots Association.

The judge rejected the APA’s arguments that American hadn’t made its case that it needed to toss out the contract to proceed with its bankruptcy reorganization.

Section 1113 of the federal bankruptcy code allows companies to throw out its collective bargaining agreements if it meets a number of requirements. The judge ruled that American had met those requirements.

“We appreciate Judge Lane’s thoughtful consideration of our renewed Section 1113 motion regarding the pilot contract,” American spokesman Bruce Hicks said after the hearing.

“But, there is no sense of accomplishment in this outcome. We worked very hard to reach a consensual deal with our pilots, just as we did with each represented employee group. However, the pilots rejected the tentative agreement on August 8, so it is time to move forward,”

“Judge Lane’s ruling is very important because it will allow us to implement the changes that are necessary for our successful restructuring. We will be sharing the implementation plan with the APA, and will communicate details of the plan to pilots in the coming days.,” he said.

“Our goal remains to reach a consensual agreement with our pilots, and we are resolute in our efforts to put American Airlines in a position to win and create new opportunities and a brighter future for our people,” Hicks said.

The judge encouraged both sides to get a consensual deal, noting that he can’t do it for them.

“That’s something that you will have to do. I have a lot of sympathy for employees, the pilots, just as I did when we had the original trial… I wish you good luck in working out an agreement,” Judge Lane said after issuing the decision.

He indicated he will sign an order on his decision Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning.
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Sent from my TRS-80
 
This is another dark chapter in the history of the airlines -- the bankruptcy gutting contracts era.

I was hoping that the initial ruling from the judge might at least have one exception to the rule....but, no.

To everyone who thinks that re-regulation is the saviour for the 121 world, this is further evidence that such decisions from people in positions of legal power rarely benefit pilots.
 
Although I'm sure a merger with US would be a complete monkey-crap fight, here was an interesting post from an AA pilot from over at APC regarding AA guys voluntarily wanting to wade into the West/East feud:

ForeverFO;1256005 said:
You have to understand the depths of our raw hatred for AMR and the officers of the last decade to understand how we can view anybody, Parker included, as somewhat of a savior.
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Pretty disgusting, though what happens after 'Merican leaves BK? Doesn't the BK contract go away? Also at least the pilots kept they're normal pay for this long... Just trying to find a silver-lining in this misery. :(
 
HVYMETALDRVR said:
Pretty disgusting, though what happens after 'Merican leaves BK? Doesn't the BK contract go away? Also at least the pilots kept they're normal pay for this long... Just trying to find a silver-lining in this misery. :(
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Haven't they been in a post-9/11 concessionary contract all this time? Hardly "normal".
 
It's sad. The unions might win a battle every now and again, but they'll never win the war. How many times has this happened now? I can start whith my dad and CO in '83. No he didn't stay, told ALPA and CO to suck it and was the first one to quit. Maybe that's where my disdain for airline unions come from. They're great at protecting the individual pilots job, not so great at keeping everyone's job or pay rates intact.
 
Im new to this industry and still learning the ropes. Can someone break it down to me like Im 5? From what Ive gathered the company essentially has free reign on what to impose on the pilots?
 
I get corporate greed, but the company loses a quarter of a billion dollars a quarter. It boggles my mind that AA is even still around.
 
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