United Airlines today will begin presenting its case in a federal court to stop the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) and certain pilots from engaging in deliberate, organized and unlawful job actions that have harmed customers, employees and the company.
Today, Chief Administrative Officer Pete McDonald, who will be the company's first witness, issued the following statement.
"I have been with United for nearly 40 years, and I am proud of this company and what all of our people working together have accomplished," said McDonald. "By seeking this preliminary injunction to stop unlawful work slowdowns, we are standing up and refusing to let our customers and employees be used as bargaining chips by ALPA in their campaign to exert financial pressure on this company to open their contract early."
McDonald said repeated efforts to resolve the matter with ALPA have been unsuccessful, including increasing reserve pilot staffing and negotiating with ALPA to modify some of the work rules in the current agreement, and the company was left with no choice but to take legal action.
The lawsuit seeks a preliminary injunction against ALPA and four named pilots for organized sick leave abuse in opposition to the company's plan to reduce its fleet size and furlough pilots and to pressure United into renegotiating terms of a collective bargaining agreement that remains in effect through 2009. The lawsuit also seeks an end to a public campaign of intimidation that discourages pilots from picking up additional flying, effectively engaging in a slowdown. As a result of the slowdown, more than 300 flights were canceled in July, impacting some 36,000 customers and costing United millions of dollars in lost revenue.
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