PHOENIX – The pilot
group at America West Airlines is sharply critical of published comments by America West
President Richard Goodmanson.
“Blaming the Teamsters for the
airline’s operational problems demonstrates a genuine head-in-the-sand approach to
management,” said Donald Steinman, chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association unit
at America West. According to Goodmanson’s comments in a Sept. 4 Arizona Republic article,
the company blames its operational problems on “protracted” negotiations with
the International Brotherhood of Teamsters who represent the airline’s mechanics.
Steinman said that Goodmanson’s
comments only further the perception that America West management is unwilling to address
the airline’s operational problems. “After receiving the largest fine ever assessed
against an airline by the FAA, the company now shows the poorest on-time record in the
industry. Employee and consumer confidence in America West are at an all-time low,”
said Steinman.
“The company is at a crossroads.
Years of cost-cutting have taken their toll on the airline’s infrastructure,”
Steinman continued. “Until management publicly commits to a major course correction
in the way we do business, the airline will continue to alienate not only its employees,
but the business traveler as well.”
America West’s 1,500 pilots are
industry veterans, many of whom have been at the carrier since its founding in 1983.
“America West pilots helped fly the airline out of bankruptcy in 1994, and our
professionalism will help the company survive its present crisis,” said Steinman.
“But the employees can’t do it alone. Management must commit the resources needed to
put quality back into our operation.”
The Air Line Pilots Association is the
world’s oldest and largest pilots union, representing 50,000 pilots at 49 airlines in
the U.S. and Canada, since 1931.
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| America West Pilots Criticize Comments by Company President |
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| September 4, 1998 |