Allegiant pilots working to clear path to strike
Allegiant Air pilots are taking another swing at being released from mediated negotiations with the airline through the National Mediation Board. If they succeed, it could start the clock on a strike.
At issue in negotiations ongoing since December 2012 are pay and pilot work rules involving seniority and scheduling. The union contends that Allegiant is the nation’s most profitable airline but that pilots are underpaid.
International Brotherhood of Teamsters Airline Division director David Bourne personally delivered the pilots’ request to the three-member mediation board and its staff earlier this week.
Allegiant executives quickly responded that significant progress has been made toward what would be the first union contract for the airline.
If the board declares an impasse and grants the release request, a third-party arbitrator could be appointed to hear the disputes and make a binding decision. However, if either side declines arbitration, a 30-day “cooling off” period would be triggered, and pilots could strike after it expires.
In January, pilots voted 465-8 to approve a walk-out if negotiations fail. After that strike vote, they asked the Mediation Board to proffer arbitration, but the board refused to release them.
On April 1, pilots called a strike at the height of spring break travel season, but Allegiant successfully obtained a court ruling blocking the action. That led to a two-week court battle that resulted in U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Gordon’s injunction that blocked a strike.
The union lost in its appeals, but members said they would seek release from negotiations without progress at the bargaining table.
Pilots say they’re frustrated at the lack of a deal after nearly three years of talks. The timing of the action would land a potential strike in the middle of the holiday travel season.
Daniel C. Wells, president of Teamsters Local 1224, which is negotiating on behalf of the airline’s 500 pilots, said tactics used by Allegiant CEO Maurice Gallagher “are the definition of bad-faith bargaining.”
“He has every intention of running off the union,” Wells said. “From the very beginning, he’s said he’d never sign a deal with the Teamsters or any third party.”
Wells said the request of the board is no different than the one that occurred in January, other than it’s now nine months later. He said the board never gave the union a direct answer on the original request and the union felt it was time to make it again.
But the airline on Thursday said 14 of 26 sections of the contract have been agreed to, with nine approved this year.
In a letter to employees, airline chief operating officer Steve Harfst outlined the airline’s position.
“Allegiant wants to reach an agreement with its pilots as soon as possible,” Harfst wrote. “We are moving forward at the bargaining table and we are nowhere near impasse. This request by the Teamsters is simply their latest scheme, without substance, which is aimed at putting economic negotiating pressure on Allegiant.
“We expect this ploy by the (Teamsters) to fail, just as it did the last time they attempted this ploy with the (National Mediation Board) in January,” he said.
The union request comes at a time when Allegiant is dealing with a flurry of maintenance issues and flight diversions. Since the beginning of 2015, there have been 19 incidents on Allegiant flights, including two last week involving engine fires that occurred on takeoff. No one has been injured in the incidents, but hundreds of travelers have been inconvenienced by late departures or landings in cities other than the flight’s destination.
Through those incidents, flight bookings have remained high for the Las Vegas-based carrier.
Allegiant is scheduled to release its third-quarter earnings next week.
Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter. Contact reporter Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893.
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