Union's pilot ready to fight American Airlines
New president hopes for accord but expects turbulence
09:17 AM CDT on Tuesday, October 30, 2007
By TERRY MAXON / The Dallas Morning News
The Allied Pilots Association overwhelmingly elected Miami-based pilot Lloyd Hill in June, and he's quickly shown he'll go to bat for pilots from an angry letter to American's top executive in September to a contract proposal last week that would raise American's pilot pay rates by more than 50 percent.
In an interview, Mr. Hill, 48, expressed a willingness to battle American to get a favorable new contract even while saying he doesn't want to hurt American. He said it's not his responsibility to decide whether American can pay for the union's contract proposal, although he says the company can well afford what the union requested.
"My responsibility is to negotiate on behalf of the people I represent to the best of my ability," Mr. Hill said. "I don't have any obligation, and under typical circumstances have very little opportunity or even desire, to look at the company books. The company management runs the company. That's their job."
Eventually, the two sides will "come to an agreement. Hopefully, it'll be with a lot less confrontation. Unfortunately, I don't hold out a lot of hope for that," Mr. Hill said.
The union has called for the airline to restore pay to at least 1992 levels, adjusted for inflation. American's negotiators, meanwhile, want to tie any additional pay to an increase in pilot productivity.
Under the Railway Labor Act, which governs airline labor relations, a strike or other job action can't occur until after the two sides submit their dispute to the National Mediation Board, a federal mediator tries to help the two sides reach agreement, and an impasse is declared.
An impasse would trigger a 30-day cooling-off period during which the mediation board would make a last-ditch effort to encourage an agreement. Only after the 30 days could either side engage in "self help," such as a strike or a company-imposed contract.
With the mediation board not involved yet, the two sides have a long way to go before travelers have to consider the prospects of a labor dispute. But, asked whether American and the union can avoid a negotiating impasse, Mr. Hill replied: "I wouldn't put any money on that."
Unintended impact
He repeated the pilots' argument that management personnel can get new jobs at any time but that the seniority system at airlines ties most pilots to the same airline throughout their careers.
"As a matter of fact, you could argue that we have a much higher interest in the product and longevity of the company," Mr. Hill said. "So the idea that we would do anything to damage the company is just not true.
"In the course of contract negotiations, there are things that might have to be done that have ancillary impact or unintended impact to get management's attention so we can get them to the bargaining table," he said.
Asked how the union could exert pressure without hurting American's business, Mr. Hill said that might not be possible.
"I'm telling you that it's not something we go out and try to do. However, it could be an ancillary impact or byproduct of things that happen," Mr. Hill said.
"I think management should be concerned about what might happen. But they do have control over it. They can step up to the bargaining table and bargain in good faith and we avoid all that stuff and get the best contract both sides can hammer out and move on," he said.
Mr. Hill has made little public comment other than messages to pilots since he took office July 1. But he, vice president Tom Westbrook and secretary-treasurer Bill Haug made headlines after their Sept. 18 letter to American chairman and chief executive Gerard Arpey became public in October.
In the most quoted paragraph, the trio told Mr. Arpey: "Enjoy your blood money and your union-busting meetings. We'll see you in court, in the newspapers, and on the picket line."
Mr. Hill said he never intended for the letter to be made public, fearing that management would think the union was "grandstanding." However, he was "absolutely not" unhappy that it eventually did become public, because the airline never responded.
"If they're not going to listen to it, maybe we have a broader audience that'll listen to it," Mr. Hill said.
Mr. Hill said he met Mr. Arpey during Mr. Hill's previous time on the pilots' union board in the late 1990s but hasn't talked to him since taking office nearly four months ago.
"I happen to think he's a nice man," Mr. Hill said. "He's soft-spoken, a relatively quiet man, from what I can remember. We've had a few words, and he seemed nice enough. But this is business, and I represent my constituents, and I'm going to get what they want to the best of my ability."
'Radical'
The San Diego native, who learned to fly during high school and got his first airline job in 1981 with L.A.B. Flying Services Inc. in Juneau, Alaska, went to work for American in 1986. He is an international captain for American, flying the Boeing 767.
In his previous tenure on the APA board, he represented the Miami base, but he was off the board in 2003, when the pilots and American's other unions agreed to steep pay cuts and other concessions as the company threatened to file for bankruptcy.
In 2006 and '07, top executives and other "key employees" received AMR stock worth about a quarter-billion dollars as part of an executive and management bonus plan. That angered the unions, which said rank-and-file employees were still toiling under the concessions while the people at the top took advantage of the company's financial recovery.
Mr. Hill and the other union candidates tapped into that resentment, getting a majority at every pilot base and sending incumbent Ralph Hunter and the other two national officers packing.
Opponents tried to paint him as a radical. That definition is acceptable if it means that he's someone who is "aggressive and passionate about getting what the membership wants," Mr. Hill said.
"When somebody says 'radical,' I think the connotation they were intending is someone who has no plan, hair on fire, runs into a room, spreads out gasoline, lights the match, runs out of the room and talks to the survivors.
"That's not my personality at all," Mr. Hill said.
"I would really like to get the hammer down, get an agreement and not do that kind of stuff. Am I comfortable with doing whatever it takes to get this agreement? The answer would be yes.
"It would be unpleasant, but for those that may have portrayed me as a radical, that side of me may get seen if we take this thing further than anybody wants it to go," Mr. Hill said.
