09/02/12, 19:52:58 EST

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US Airways Pilots Sue Airline

thestreet.com

Pilots at US Airways have sued the airline, charging that their contract is being violated in the company's haste to merge predecessors America West and the old US Airways.

The suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, said the carrier plans to eliminate America West's "HP" designator code from reservation systems on Sunday morning, enabling it to list all flights as US Airways flights. The lawsuit contends that integration plans must be halted until the airline signs a single pilots' contract, as required by the Railway Labor Act and the transition agreement negotiated in September 2005 with Air Line Pilots Association chapters at both previous carriers. The two carriers combined when the former US Airways emerged from bankruptcy protection that month. "The only road to a real merged airline is through a single contract," said Jack Stephan, chairman of the US Airways pilots, in a prepared statement. "Our pilot group will not tolerate management attaining synergies they haven't paid for or negotiated." The two sides have been negotiating for a year and a half but have made little progress. "Instead of focusing on productive negotiations, management is trying to grab operational efficiencies they can't legally have," added John McIlvenna, chairman of the America West pilots. An airline spokesman declined to comment in advance of seeing the lawsuit.

 Printable Version  | published Feb 28, 2007