US Airways Seeks Help for Warring Pilots

TEMPE, Ariz. (TheStreet) -- US Airways(LCC) said it is caught between its two warring pilot groups and it wants a federal judge to rule it will not be liable for picking one group's preferred seniority list over the other's.

In a case filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, the carrier asked for declaratory judgment regarding the seniority issue that, since the 2005 merger between US Airways and America West, has divided pilots into two warring factions.

In its filing, the airline said it is in an "untenable situation." The US Airline Pilots Association, the union dominated by pilots from pre-merger US Airways, "has made crystal clear" that it will only accept a date-of-hire seniority list, the filing said. But the former America West pilots, who are in the minority, have "made crystal clear" that they will only accept a controversial seniority list drawn up by arbitrator George Nicolau after the two groups agreed to binding arbitration.

Acceptance of the union's position could expose the carrier to tens of millions of dollars in litigation costs if the west pilots were to prevail in a court challenge, while acceptance of the west pilots position could lead to hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenues and good will if a job action followed, the filing said.

"Our worst case [scenario] would be we go through negotiations, conclude an agreement and then get sued by west pilots and they prevail, and then the [contract] we negotiated is illegal and then we have to start all over," Paul Jones, US Airways vice president of legal affairs, said Monday on a conference call with reporters. "We're asking for a declaratory judgment that tells us right now what rights and obligations we have, and what rights and obligations USAPA has.

"Rather than waiting until there is a contract in place and then have a lawsuit that might undo the contract, we're asking the court to determine what we and USAPA can legally do," Jones said. "If the court gives us what we're asking for, there would be no basis for a lawsuit once the contract is in place."