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AP Chesley B. Sullenberger |
Star witnesses could include Chesley Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles, the pilots who successfully landed an airliner in the Hudson last January. The Arizona Republic reports so many spectators are expected that the court is setting aside a second room, where an overflow crowd can listen to proceedings over a speaker.
Call it pilot versus pilot, East versus West.
A group of US Airways [LCC
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] pilots who came from America West are suing a new union created by the original US Airways pilots. Even though America West bought the bankrupt US Airways four years ago, taking on the older airline's name, the two groups of pilots (nicknamed "West" and "East") have never flown together. For four years they've argued over seniority, starting back when home prices were still rising and most people had never heard of Barack Obama.
The airline industry is reknowned for troubled mergers, but this one, involving 5,000 pilots, is in a class by itself. The smaller America West pilot group ("West") refers to itself as the Army of Leonidas, the Spartan King who led 300 men against a much larger Persian force. Leonidas fought valiantly, but eventually lost. Both pilot groups were represented at the time of the merger by the Air Line Pilots Association, but they could not agree on a way to integrate their seniority lists. US Airways pilots ("East") were older, and therefore more senior. But the company was bankrupt, and the "West" pilots did not want to suffer for playing savior. Two years ago, a federal arbitrator was brought in who created a seniority list which put the most senior US Airways at the top (including Capt. Sullenberger), put furloughed US Airways pilots at the bottom, and then blended a mix of US Airways and America West pilots in the middle.
Similar arbitration was just used with apparent success in the merger of Delta [DAL
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] and Northwest.
But not here. Many of the East pilots, who outnumber the West group by 2-1, are unhappy with the arbitrator's list. They want seniority based solely on when a pilot was originally hired by either airline--the older the date, the higher the seniority. Last year, with their majority vote, they kicked out the union and formed a new one: the US Airline Pilots Association.
Now six pilots from the smaller West group-three of them furloughed-are suing the new union, saying it does not fairly represent all pilots.
Here's a little bombshell: the AZ Republic says the defense witness list includes two national heroes, the "Miracle on the Hudson" crew, Chesley Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles, both from the East group, though reportedly not active in the new union.
The courtroom in Phoenix, home to the airline's headquarters (where America West was located) will be packed with pilots. The "Army of Leonidas" website is cautioning West supporters to watch their behavior in the courtroom. "You will be constantly watched by the 8-12 Arizonians sitting in the jury box, and it is those Arizonians who will basically control the rest of your career...our opinion is that a uniform is not the proper attire."
It's believed that no matter what the jury decides, the loser will appeal, meaning it may be many more years before an East pilot meets a West pilot in the same cockpit.
And you thought Leonidas had problems 2,500 years ago...
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