|
United, pilots reach accord
|
 |
August 26, 2000: 9:19 p.m. ET
Airline reaches preliminary contract agreement with striking pilots
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - United Airlines reached a tentative contract agreement Saturday with the union representing its 10,000 pilots, just in time for the high-traffic Labor Day weekend.
Representatives of the Air Line Pilots Association and United, the world's largest airline, spent the last two days negotiating around the clock to strike the deal, which now is subject to ratification by the pilots.
"Both sides worked hard in complex negotiations to create an industry leading contract for pilots while providing a strong base for the company's future growth and success," United Chief Executive Officer James Goodwin said in a statement.
United's pilots have been working without a contract since April and many have refused to work overtime leading to flight delays and cancellations throughout the airline's network. That, in turn, caused UAL (UAL: Research, Estimates), the airline's parent company, to warn investors last week it would not meet earlier earnings estimates.
"Although booking patterns remained strong through early August despite poor operating performance, booking levels have since fallen on the adverse publicity surrounding the cancellations that occurred in early August," said Jim Goodwin, the chairman and chief executive of the company at that time.
"While our operating performance has improved somewhat, the reduced booking levels continue, and as a result, revenues are not as strong as we had previously anticipated."
Shares of UAL finished up 2.19 Friday at 50.38.
|
|
VIDEO
|
|
|
|
As of Friday, talks between management and the pilot's union were down to the contentious issues of pay and scope of work performed by union members, said Herb Hunter, a United captain and a spokesman for the union.
No details of the tentative contract reached Saturday, which will have to be voted on by the pilots and is retroactive to April 12, were immediately available.
"We are pleased that the recent intensive negotiations have produced a tentative agreement for pilots at United Airlines," Capt. Rick Dubinsky, the chairman of the UAL master executive council, said in the statement.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater said earlier this week that the two sides were likely to strike a deal by Sept. 4, the Labor Day holiday when millions of Americans take to the skies to squeeze in one last summer vacation.
Additionally, United also said it is continuing to negotiate with the union representing the airline's 15,000 mechanics.
The airline has backed away from trying to impose forced overtime on mechanics at six airports, who are represented by the International Association of Machinists (IAM), the largest union at the carrier. While a spokesman said the carrier maintains the right to demand overtime to meet service needs, it said it agreed to drop an emergency order at the airports in an effort to keep separate negotiations with that union on track.
"We're committed to working cooperatively with the IAM," said Joe Hopkins, an airline spokesman. He said that the use of forced overtime was relatively limited even before the company and IAM officials reached an agreement.
Much of it was centered in Los Angeles, where Hopkins said 31 mechanics had been placed on leave pending hearings for participating in a sick-out that cancelled flights during last week's Democratic National Convention.
Neither set of negotiations are close to an impasse being declared, so there was no threat of a strike at the carrier. But the refusal by employees, especially pilots, to work extra days had forced United to cancel about 3 percent of its flight schedule in recent weeks.
- from staff and wire reports. 
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
