March 17, 1999
ALPA, Intl
Committees
The
company called it a routine move to take pressure off its airline personnel during a
potentially chaotic period. The flight attendants, however, view the move as an attempt to
turn other employees against their cause.
The 2,400 flight attendants have threatened a program of random, last-minute strikes
against selective flights if an acceptable contract isn’t reached by 10 p.m. Friday,
when a 30-day government-ordered cooling off period expires.
Both sides are scheduled to return to the bargaining table in Washington, D.C., today
for a “supermediation session” that could run around the clock until an
agreement is reached or the deadline expires.
The suspension of pass travel affects America West employees, their family members,
travel agents, as well as employees of other airlines who are eligible to travel at a
substantially discounted fares on a space-available basis.
Steve Johnson, America West’s senior vice president of corporate affairs, said the
action was routine and taken to reduce the workload of its airport employees in
anticipation of the strike. “If there are to be disruptions, we want to make sure our
airport employees are able to focus on revenue paying passengers at a time when they will
have a lot of issues to manage,” he said. Johnson said the action affects no more
than a few hundred people a day and is routinely taken by airlines faced with possible
disruptions in scheduled service.
During the two-week pilot sickout last month, American Airlines suspended pass travel
for family members and “strongly discouraged” its employees from flying.
American spokeswoman Andrea Rader said travel agents were not affected.
Deanna Clarkson, a spokeswoman for America West flight attendants, called the
suspension an attempt to turn other employees against the flight attendants and their
cause and just another example of the company exercising its control over the workers.
“When you suspend pass travel it creates a animosity among other employees,”
she said.
While Clarkson acknowledged the flight attendants have support from other employees,
she has felt pressure to settle from some of them, particularly after the recently
announced travel suspension. “We have support from the other employees, but things of
this nature affect their lives and makes them angry,” she said. America West has
about 12,000 employees.
| AmWest Worker Travel Passes Suspended in Face of Walkout by Max Jarman, The Arizona Republic |
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| America West Airlines has suspended all employee travel passes as the airline braces for a possible flight attendant walkout Friday. The deeply discounted travel is seen as a major perk for airline employees and their family members and an offset, in some cases, to relatively low pay. |