Airline Industry
Is seniority killing the airline industry?
For decades it’s been a maxim of the airline industry that workers are captive, bound by a seniority system that doles out the choicest wages and work schedules. Seniority is the reason newly hired flight attendants and ramp workers find themselves on the job before 6 am, and on weekends. And while new captains make $50-$60 hour in 50-seat jets, veterans sit at the front of 777s and 747s, where the hourly pay often tops $200.
Thus, if you’re an airline employee displeased about your income or schedule or both, you have little recourse. Quitting won’t land you a better job at a rival: You’ll be the new kid on the block. However, in recent days, I’ve heard some smart people begin to question whether this system is harmful and ought to change.
First, on April 29, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had its annual aviation summit where JPMorgan airlines analyst Jamie Baker diagnosed two primary industry woes: unfettered access to capital and a contentious relationship with organized labor. In a Q-and-A forum with US Airways (LCC) CEO Doug Parker, Baker noted that if he personally wanted to leave his employer, he could take his skills and experience elsewhere. Yet there is “no portability at airlines for labor;” an unhappy pilot “can’t take his skill set and sell it to Delta or sell it to United.” Responded Parker: “It’d be nice, it’s just not practical.”
The next day, responding to a recent discussion at the Dallas Morning News about former TWA flight attendants’ subordination in their seniority integration with American (AMR), aviation blogger Bill Swelbar also suggested improved mobility for airline employees. (Swelbar serves on an airline board, so he’s not just an academic muser.)
Given that the airline industry will likely get smaller before and if it gets bigger, it is high time that organized labor puts down its swords and constructs a national seniority list. Employees should have the right to move within the industry should their carrier cease to exist. Seniority should not be a shield for some to hide behind. Rather it should promote stability for those experienced workers that choose to offer their services for hire in an open market.
Seniority also remains one of the largest impediments to the industry’s Holy Grail, consolidation, as it remains so tricky to merge two seniority rosters. In fact, a federal trial opened just last week on a lawsuit filed by six former America West pilots who say their union did not properly meld pilot seniority when bankrupt US Airways was merged into the company in 2005.
It is true that seniority remains a buffer from a purely market-based wage system for many legacy airline workers. If it hopes to ever turn a consistent profit, the industry likely needs to shrink anywhere from 25%-40% of its current size – massive capacity cuts that would dramatically alter the supply-demand equation and deepen unemployment.
That is why I think it’s unlikely unions would support any major restructuring of seniority. Theirs is an industry in decline at the present. Pay, aircraft types, etc. would need be revamped completely. In an email to clarify, Swelbar says a seniority restructuring would apply to the future industry, not current workers. “A transition to a salary for pilots and flight attendants is probably long overdue,” he says.
A new compensation system for workers is an intriguing notion and holds the potential of fixing the so-called “labor problem” many in management and Wall Street bemoan. Assuming we’ll be just as safe when the market alone sets remuneration, is there a fundamental drawback to dismantling seniority in this industry? I’m curious if we’ll ever see it.
Comments
National seniority lists would not work in the airline industry,its not a 9to5 job where everyone has weekends and holidays off.Merging seniority,not as easy as it sounds either;seniority is like having a pot of gold ,when you finally get it.Seniority is earned;blood,sweat and tears earned, midnights with tues- wed off and so on,for years,until people retire or they hire new people,also depends on your classification,mechanic ,ramp serviceman etc. Even if merging seniority lists are negotiated and agreed upon,as an employee you'll have to honor that,but not necessarilly like it. You've finally got there,5,10,15,or more years,the shift,days off,that job classification you finally have the seniority to get,and that guy from the other airline has you beat by a day,week or a month,how about a letter and takes it from you. If he/she was from your airline, you can understand and respect that,if they're from the other airline you're going to be pissed off at them.It's not a perfect world and that's just how it is.I am an ex-TWA employee,got out 6 years before it died,gave it 19 years of my life .I miss the airline industry,but at my age now(53), it's too late to start all over again at the bottom of the seniority rouster,also couldn't afford the lay-off,wouldn't have enough seniority to hold the job,seniority is everything.
"National Seniority List"? That simply won't work for pilots. Airlines would have to pay to "train" the "new" employee. Even if they were type rated in the same aircraft,no two airlines systems and checklists and procedures are the same. In reality, it would be prohibitively expensive. I'm glad Doug Parker thinks he could run another airline. I'm not so sure about that.....
Keep your nose out of a business you know NOTHING about. Bill Swelbar does not really understand the airline employee culture. TWA flight attendants and pilots were screwed by AAL and then they gloated. Shame on them. Merging seniority lists is not difficult...date of hire; it is very simple. CAL did it with New York Air, People's Express, Texas International, and Frontier. If CAL can do it with five different airline senority lists, so can other airlines contemplating mergers. There is no need to screw over anybody.
All airline employees know and respect senority, it drives everything, not only schedules and pay. They also know sacrifices...believe me they have ALL made them to ensure the survival of their airline and its culture.
I suspect Bill Swelbar has been snubbed by a senority list sometime or another.
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