As the daughter of an American Airlines pilot, the recent headlines due to an increased number of cancelled flights this month hit close to home. According to nbcnews.com, the cancellations occurred just days after American imposed new cost-cutting terms such as outsourcing flying jobs to other airlines and terminating one of the pilots’ retirement programs, and speculation has arisen that these maintenance checks are being used as a form of protest against the recent abdication of pilots’ contracts. Foxnews.com reports that these cancellations are a result of pilots filing bogus or insignificant maintenance reports such as loose seats, but some, such as the Executive Director of FlyersRights.org, Kate Hanni, believe that these cancellations are an “inside job” orchestrated by pilots to drive the airline into the ground. Bruce Hicks, a spokesperson for American Airlines management, has supported these claims that “broken coffee pots and reading lights, torn seat pockets and precautionary maintenance checks that lead to nothing wrong…are slowing American flights,” reports CNN.com.
American Airlines management’s accusations that pilots are filing insignificant maintenance requests in order to disrupt flight schedules were addressed by the Allied Pilots Association, the certified collective bargaining agent for the 10,000 American Airlines pilots. In a Sept. 28 press release, APA President Keith Wilson said, “Federal aviation regulations and American Airlines’ policies and procedures require that all known mechanical discrepancies be entered into the aircraft’s maintenance logbook for corrective action. Failure to place a mechanical discrepancy in the maintenance logbook can result in a revocation of a pilot’s license by the Federal Aviation Administration, not to mention the fact that it could result in a serious safety risk.”
First Officer Tom Bloom, who has been a pilot for American for just over 23 years (and so happens to be my dad) said, “It’s no secret that the pilots are upset with the abdication of the contract, but sabotaging flights or lying about safety issues just doesn’t happen. It costs the company money, and the union has instructed pilots not to engage in activity that could be damaging to the company.” According to him, these supposedly minor loose seats are more than just an annoyance—they really are a safety hazard. A broken seat could injure the occupant or anyone sitting nearby. “This is not a bus we’re driving—turbulence could be dangerous if a seat isn’t secured correctly. It’s a pilot’s job to keep passengers safe, and if you don’t write up anything, it doesn’t get fixed.”
As far as the loose seats are concerned, The Transport Workers Union of America, representing aircraft mechanics at American Airlines, released a press statement on Oct. 2: “Statements by some in the media and by self-appointed ‘experts’ linking the seat problem to labor issues are without any basis in fact. The facts are that TWU had ratified agreements with agreements with the airline in recent weeks for all its members. Problems related to seats are less likely a labor problem, but rather a management issue related to outsourcing work to third-party facilities.” Usatoday.com reported in August that American was fined $156.5 million dollars by the FAA for maintenance problems. Over the past year, according a press release made by the APA, American has racked up a record in FAA fines, totaling $162 million for improper aircraft maintenance procedures. These safety issues range from broken pilot oxygen masks to hydraulic leaks in the landing gear to fuel seepage onto the ramp. Recent in-flight emergencies include a wheel well fire indication which forced the B-737 aircraft to declare an emergency and return to the ground, as well as a B-767 experiencing multiple landing gear indication malfunctions after takeoff, also forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing. “The maintenance situation is not going to get better any time soon, since management announced plans to outsource many maintenance operations. When maintenance operations are shipped overseas, quality control and FAA oversight only become more difficult,” says APA President Keith Wilson.
I had the opportunity to speak with Capt. Jim Condes, interim vice-chairman of the Chicago Domicile APA, who explained to me that at present, American Airlines, under Mr. Bob Reding as Executive Vice president of Operations, is attempting to save money by purchasing aircraft parts from cheaper vendors, often opting for refurbished parts instead of new ones. Because these parts are more prone to breakage, they are also prone to need replacement more frequently—putting aircraft out of service more often for repair.
The problem with American Airlines is not with its unionized employees, but with its management. Pilots at American have been working without a contract since 2003, when major concessions were made in order to keep the company from filing for bankruptcy. During a recent interview on the radio show “The Wells Report,” Capt. Tom Hoban of the Allied Pilots Association mentioned that pilots took 20 to 50 percent pay cuts, while the interviewer John Wells points out that “the pilots have worked as hard as possible to keep the airline in the air, only to watch hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses being paid to executives that have done nothing in comparison.” According to Wells, American Airlines employees are working well under the industry standard in comparison to other airlines.
As far as the aircrafts currently in use, the average age is around 20 years—the oldest fleet in the industry, according to Capt. Hoban. As is the case with any piece of machinery, with age comes the need for more frequent repair. With seat-check jobs being outsourced in order to save the company money, the reliability of the maintenance is less than it used to be, says Hoban. He believes that the fleet replacement should have begun 10 years ago, when the rest of the industry was upgrading to more fuel-efficient aircrafts. Now, with the company filing bankruptcy, the FAA is doing a lot more personal oversight. Capt. Hoban compares it to driving in front of a policeman, “You’re going to live within the letter of the law.” Pilots are reporting maintenance issues in order to avoid getting into trouble with the FAA, and in order to protect the safety of their passengers—to make allegations that these maintenance issues are somehow the fault of the pilots is unfounded.
The APA believes that the best solution for the pilots that are currently unhappy with the American Airlines management is a merger with US Airways. In an April press release, the APA stated that “a merger between American Airlines and US Airways would be the best possible course of action for both our profession and the future of the airline.” I contacted APA spokesman Dennis Tajer, who discussed this claim. “This merger is endorsed by every airline analyst on Wall Street as a solution,” says Tajer. “In an interesting twist, labor is unified completely with US Air, and the US Airways management team is a key component. They are the answer to the current operational issues.” Without the US Airways management, Tajer says that the merger won’t carry as much value. “We continue to believe that a more competitive and more reliable American Airlines will happen when an American Airlines/US Air merger occurs with the US Air management team running the combined companies.”
Samantha Bloom can be reached at samantha.bloom@spartans.ut.edu