US Airways Pilots Yearn For a Contract

"The company is in the untenable position of having to continue negotiations with USAPA and inevitably having to take one side or the other [on seniority] and that's something we're just not willing to do," said Johnson. Without a court ruling, the company will be sued by one side or the other once a long negotiation process is completed, he said.

USAPA asked that the airline's case be dismissed, while the former America West pilots agreed it should move forward. Johnson said the request creates delay in the company's effort to find resolution. A court battle over whether to hear the case looms.

Meanwhile, USAPA is looking ahead to negotiations and to what may come afterwards. On Labor Day, the union said it had formed an alliance with the Teamsters. "They are true trade unionists and they have a lot of influence in Washington," Cleary said. During a 17-day strike by Teamster pilots against Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based cargo airline Amerijet last summer, Cleary and other USAPA officials walked the picket line and became acquainted with union leaders.

"They had influence over fuelers, cargo handlers and other functions and those multiple points of pressure proved to be deciding factors in the strike," Cleary said. "A similar level of support during [our] negotiations could prove similarly invaluable." About 150 pilots manned the picket line in Philadelphia.

US Airways pilots would be free to strike if they reach the end of the Railway Labor Act negotiations process, which could take years, especially since the National Mediation Board is already presiding over a multitude of airline contract negotiations. For a union split between warring factions, a strike would be extremely risky.

Cleary's view of the future sees the two sides reaching a contract agreement that is good enough and fair enough so that a majority of former America West pilots decide it is not worth another court battle to contest it. "Everybody who works here is interested in a raise" he said. "Who wouldn't be behind that?"

-- Written by Ted Reed in Charlotte, N.C.

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