As summer begins, trouble in the US airways

Labor dissatisfaction could be a key factor in how the summer travel season goes.

from the May 23, 2007 edition

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"[The contracts are] a value to the company," he said. "We're looking forward to continuing dialogue individually with all of our unions on a regular basis to address issues that we can address."

The response infuriated many employees who had consciously decided to make sacrifices and sign a six-year contract to assure the banks that United would be stable in its effort to emerge from bankruptcy. "There was shared sacrifice, and we were hoping for shared reward," says one pilot, who asked not to be named. "It's just not fair. It offends basic human sensibilities." This employee, like others, also contends that United continues to be poorly managed. In the pursuit of cost cutting, Tilton's team has stripped the carrier to the bone, they say, leaving no flexibility or surge capacity to deal with potential problems.

"Regardless of whether there was labor unrest or not, if they start having thunderstorm problems this summer, they don't have enough people to staff this or most other airlines," says the employee. "And because of the labor unrest, people may be less willing to twist themselves into a pretzel and forgo a family event to help the airline cover a trip."

Many aviation analysts agree with that assessment. They say that while there will probably not be the work-to-rule slowdowns by unions that marked the summer of 2000 during contract negotiations, there could still be significant problems. The combination of management's large bonuses, staff burnout, and labor shortages could create a similar scenario – delays, delays, and more delays.

"You've got people who've worked hard, given up their pensions, given up their pay, and in some cases given up their future, and you have these executives feasting on the companies. Would you go the extra mile?" says Michael Boyd, president of the Boyd Group, aviation consultants in Evergreen, Colo. "We have a situation where everything is full, so if a flight cancels for whatever reason, there are [no extra planes] to put those passengers on because there's no slack."

Analysts like Mr. Mitchell of the Business Travel Coalition say that management should have been more sensitive to employee morale as they passed out bonuses this year. At the same time, he warns that if employees express their dissatisfaction by not going the so-called "extra mile," they do so at their own peril.

"You push the envelope this time around, and when we go into the next downturn, it could be lights out, game over for some of these carriers," says Mitchell.

Labor troubles aside, even the big airlines' lobbyist, the ATA, suggests that passengers be prepared for potential complications this summer.

"Absolute patience and flexibility where possible," says David Castelveter of the ATA. "There are full airplanes, which means when there is disruption, the carriers don't have the luxury of having a $30 million or $40 million aircraft waiting around [to take up the slack]. The carriers just don't have the space to get passengers quickly to their destination."

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