Just ahead of what may very well be a record summer travel season, pilots from one of the country’s biggest airlines marched in pickets at major airports on Friday demanding higher wages.
United Airlines pilots have been working and not using a raise for greater than 4 years as they negotiate a latest contract with airline executives.
Nonetheless, the pilots are unlikely to strike anytime soon.
Federal law makes it very difficult for unions to strike in the airline industry, and the last strike at a US carrier was greater than a decade ago.
United’s coast-to-coast protests by United pilots come on the heels of overwhelming votes to permit pilot strikes at American Airlines and Southwest Airlines.
United pilots may very well be next in the vote, based on union officials.
The pilots of all three carriers wish to match or beat agreement entered into by Delta Air Lines with its pilots earlier this yr, which has increased pay rates by 34% in 4 years.
United’s top scale for a captain is $369 an hour on double-aisle planes, often known as “wide-body” planes, which are commonly used on international flights, and $297 an hour on “narrow-body” planes, resembling Boeing 737s. Based on the Department of Labor, airline pilots fly a median of 75 hours a month.
![United Airlines pilots have been working without a raise for more than four years as they negotiate a new contract with airline executives.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/2023-05-12T191246Z_283760368_RC26X0AETVE0_RTRMADP_3_UNITED-ARLNS-LABOR.jpg?w=1024)
United have offered to match Delta’s height, but that might not be enough to secure a deal.
“We still have a protracted solution to go to resolve some issues,” said Garth Thompson, president of the United Wing of the Air Line Pilots Association.
Thompson said pay discussions had been placed on hold while the two sides were negotiating a timetable, including the union’s want to limit United’s ability to force pilots to work on holidays.
United spokesman Joshua Freed said: “We proceed to work with the Airline Pilots Association on the industry-leading agreement we have now presented to our world-class pilots.”
![Pay discussions have been put on hold while the two sides are negotiating a timetable, including the union's wish to limit United's ability to force pilots to work on holidays.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/1489508028.jpg?w=1024)
Pilots say United should reward them for helping them weather the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have made rather a lot of sacrifices during the pandemic, and we feel it is time for the company to rise to the occasion and provides us a contract recognizing the sacrifices and contributions we have made,” pilot Arzu Delp said as he picketed San Francisco International Airport.
The Delta contract, which United pilots use as a place to begin, will cost Delta $7.2 billion over 4 years.
All airlines face rising labor costs, which might be reflected in the fare, but fares are also driven by supply and demand, notes Blaise Waguespack, who teaches airline management and marketing at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
![United have offered to match Delta's offer, which has increased wage rates by 34% over four years, but that may not be enough for a deal.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/2023-05-12T191509Z_1566257523_RC26X0ATES1V_RTRMADP_3_UNITED-ARLNS-LABOR.jpg?w=1024)
Giselle Ascione, a United passenger in San Francisco, said airlines make rather a lot of money and “pilots and staff must be paid. It is common sense.
Even when airlines and their unions fail to succeed in an agreement quickly, strikes are unlikely in the next few months – when hundreds of thousands of Americans hope to fly during their summer holidays.
Under U.S. law, airline and railroad staff cannot legally go on strike, and corporations cannot lock them out until federal mediators determine that further negotiations are pointless.
The National Mediation Board rarely declares a negotiation dead end, and even when it does, there may be a non-strike “cool-down” period during which the White House and Congress can block a strike.
![Even if airlines and their unions fail to reach an agreement quickly, strikes are unlikely in the next few months - when millions of Americans hope to fly during their summer holidays.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/1489508169.jpg?w=1024)
That is what President Bill Clinton did minutes after the pilots began hitting Americans in 1997.
In December, President Joe Biden signed laws that, amongst other things, Congress passed to impose the terms of the contract on rail freight staff, putting an end to the threat of a strike.
The last strike at an American carrier took place at Spirit Airlines in 2010.
Thompson, the union leader at United, said his pilots “will proceed to work in 2023” despite challenges including an “aggressive” summer schedule.
![Pilots say United should reward them for helping them weather the coronavirus pandemic.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/1489508049.jpg?w=1024)
Over the years, airline staff have run labor actions that did not result in a strike but disrupted flights anyway.
federal judge fined the American Airlines pilots’ union $45 million for the 1999 illness that crippled the airline’s operations, although the amount was later reduced.
In 2019, a federal judge ordered unions representing US aircraft mechanics to stop what the airline described as an illegal slowdown.
Arthur Wheaton, director of labor studies at Cornell University, said Congress wouldn’t authorize an airline strike because of the economic damage it will cause, but disgruntled pilots could still cause disruption in other ways.
“They all the time have ‘jobs to rule’. They may have said, “We’re not working additional time,” Wheaton said. “I do not expect pilots to intentionally attempt to screw up travel for everyone, but negotiating is all about leverage and power… having that ability is usually a negotiating tactic.”
Airlines are vulnerable to protests because they depend on finding pilots and stewards to tackle extra shifts during peak travel periods.
Regardless of legal obstacles to strike, unions consider that strike votes give them a bonus in negotiations, and so they have develop into more common.
The shortage of pilots also puts these unions in a very strong bargaining position.
![Airlines are prone to protests because they rely on finding pilots and stewards to take on extra shifts during peak travel periods.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/1489508035.jpg?w=1024)
Chicago-based United has about 14,000 pilots, and the union expects a minimum of 2,000 to picket Friday at 10 airports from Newark, NJ to Los Angeles.
The union also distributes flyers that highlight pilots’ desire for a greater work-life balance of their schedules, but make no mention of pay.