Apr 15, 2008 12:30 pm US/Eastern
Pilots Picket American Airlines Over Performance
MIAMI (CBS) ―
Hundreds of American Airlines pilots are staging a one day informational protest in nine major U.S. cities on Tuesday to call attention to the airline's poor performance and customer service rankings.
In South Florida, sign carrying pilots demonstrated in front of Miami International Airport, Carnival Cruise Lines and the headquarters of the Burger King Corp., reported CBS station WFOR-TV in Miami.
The pilots hope their informational protests will garner management's attention to fix the problems. Last week, American canceled thousands of flights and grounded their fleet of MD-80s as technicians complied with an FAA order to inspect and repair the jets wiring bundles. Also, in a recent survey American was ranked as the worst in the country for on-time performance.
In addition to picketing at the major airports in the nine select cities, including Washington and London, the pilots plan to hand out informational leaflets the corporate headquarters of some of American Airlines major customers and shareholders, including Fidelity, CitiGroup, Boeing, Marriott and Anheuser Busch.
The pilots are all members of the Allied Pilots Association which represents the 12,000 pilots of American Airlines, the nation's largest air carrier.
In response to the pilot's demonstrations, American Airlines released the following statement:
"American Airlines respects the rights of organized labor to conduct public demonstrations to distribute information to passengers and the public.
"However, it is very disappointing that the Allied Pilots Union would engage in negative tactics such as picketing on the door step of a valued customer in a direct attempt to harm American - a company that provides meaningful careers to thousands of employees and valued air service to communities across the world. We are sorry for any inconvenience to our customers and their employees.
"We recognize our employees work hard to serve our customers. We've historically paid our employees at or near the top of the airline industry and we continue to do so today. We are committed to working cooperatively with the pilots' union to achieve a mutually beneficial agreement that is responsive to the needs of our pilots, shareholders and other constituents."
"Because American has been able to avoid bankruptcy, our employees are far better off than those at airlines that took that route, voiding contracts and walking away from pension obligations. It is unfortunate that, instead of capitalizing on those advantages and seeking ways to work together to run the best airline possible, the APA is relying on these destructive tactics.
"It should be clear that the future of American Airlines is wholly dependent on the continued trust and patronage of our customers. We believe our energy would be better spent strengthening the company, serving our customers and fighting the competition."
Jeff Brundage
Senior Vice President Human Resources
American Airlines
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
