Napoli Bern Ripka, LLP Blog

Pilot Union Sued by United Airlines

United Airlines has asked that the Air Line Pilots Association to stop from supporting its pilots to participate in an illegal and disorderly sickout, or protest against United’s plan to cut its pilots in an effort to reduce expenses.  United Airlines brought this suit up with the U.S, District Court in Chicago. United Airlines’ claimed that the Air Line Pilots Association Union and four specific pilots had violated the Federal Labor Law that forbids transportation workers from performing work slowdowns. Pilots and flight attendants work on a pay system that is determined from the length of the trip, in which employees can gain more revenue if there is some type of hold up. Due to some of United’s workers deliberate slow downs, United was forced to delay and or cancel over 300 flights occurring in the last two weeks in July. These cancellations amount up to a big sum of lost revenue. Specifically, the cancellations cost upwards to a multiple of millions of dollars, a tainted reputation, and the interference of over 30,000 passengers travel plans.

            The lawsuit intended to not include most of the pilots who issued good behavior, but to, “serves to underscore the growing antagonism United's wrenching cost-cutting measures are creating between the airline and its pilots.” However substantial United Airlines claim may be the Union had this to say the following statements about the situation, “it is inaccurate and alarmingly misleading information…also not a constructive approach to labor relations."Another first in the company’s history is that United Airlines has never sued its pilots before, and why would they. The Pilots are the talent in their business and without them United would have no service to provide to their customers.

            Since the Airline industry is at war with the economy, aka fighting high gas prices, the lower amount of travelers, and the peoples decision to not travel as much this summer has caused the airline to evoke new cost cutting tactics to reduce the number of aircrafts they carry, the amount of routes they currently offer, and the amount of pilots they currently employ. The employees that will be seeing this cut are junior officers, that currently help to operate the 737’s of which half will be seeing ground time due to these new cost cutting measures. Another reason supporting United Airline’s decision to sue the labor unions is that the number of employees calling in sick has doubled since last year. These increased efforts in the sick rate amounts only to a slow down could only be done by a concerted action by United’s employees. 

At Napoli Bern Ripka LLP, our attorneys have the resources and the eagerness to litigate labor law cases. Our firm’s experienced attorney’s have the expertise to find out what happened, how it happened, and how it could have been prevented. You may be able to prevent it from happening to someone else. Our clients know they can always rely on us to be there for them.