Spirit Pilots Take First Step in Process that Could Lead to Strike

    The Last Straw: While in 'negotiations,' management blocks pilots from

taking scheduled time off in total disregard of contract



    WASHINGTON, July 16 /EMWNews/ -- Tired of management's

contempt for the pilots' existing contract and refusal to negotiate a new

one, the pilots of Spirit Airlines, represented by the Air Line Pilots

Association Int'l (ALPA), today announced they would ask the National

Mediation Board (NMB) to release them from contract negotiations. This

release could lead to a work stoppage. Spirit pilots are entering their

third year of negotiations for a new contract.



    In a letter to the company, ALPA called out management for blatantly

violating a number of crucial work rules in the current contract and for

claiming it had the unilateral right to do so whenever it wanted to save

money. One of those rules, scheduled time off after a trip, is a provision

that the pilots gave much to preserve in the last round of concession

bargaining, including taking less pay. In the current round of bargaining,

Spirit management proposed to take this benefit away in exchange for

industry-standard pay. Now it states it has the right to take it for

nothing. ALPA will not allow this to happen.



    "Management's unilateral decision to strip us of this basic

quality-of-life provision, one that we hold near and dear and paid to

preserve, has antagonized and demoralized the pilots and our families,"

said Capt. Sean Creed, chairman of the Spirit pilots' union. "Time off,

which is guaranteed by our contract after flying for several days in a row,

enables us to share parenting duties with working spouses and preserve a

reasonable life style."



    ALPA's letter goes on to say that management's recent decision to

disregard scheduled time off is the culmination of a series of recent bogus

interpretations of the contract, violating unquestioned past practices and

interpretations agreed to by both sides over the past ten years. These

include a decision to delay the time at which pilots are considered to have

blocked out for purposes of pay, a change in eligibility for per diem and

hotel accommodations during training, and a decision to change the

administrator of the pilot 401k plan without the approval of the pilots.

These actions indicate utter contempt for the obligations in the agreement,

the bargaining process, the union, and Spirit's dedicated pilots.



    ALPA has also said that it will take appropriate legal action to force

the Company to adhere to the contract and reverse this abrogation of one of

the most crucial provisions of the pilots' agreement.



    Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world's largest pilot union, representing

55,000 cockpit crewmembers at 40 airlines in the U.S. and Canada. Visit

http://www.alpa.org for more information.