US Airways and AA Merger Dogged by Unresolved Pilot Seniority Lists

Silhouette of an Airplane Landing over a evening sky

An issue left unresolved for over a decade has now spawned a complicated legal action involving a host of pilots’ unions, merger committees and, of course, the two carriers themselves. 

Controversy over pilot seniority lists appears to be the legacy of the merger between US Airways and American Airlines (AA).

It has been reported that a number of pilots from the former carrier, which ceased operations last October, have challenged the list that’s currently being prepared by AA.

This discontent springs from the fact that seniority lists were never agreed upon in the 2005 merger between US Airways and America West. The unresolved situation has now snowballed into a number of lawsuits.

A response to one action, issued in 2015, prevented the US Airline Pilots Association (USAPA) from advocating on behalf of its majority members, many of whom were pilots from the original US Airways outfit. These members were known as “the east” while a minority had been America West pilots.

The most recent legal action was filed in February 2016 by 11 plaintiffs, all of whom were employed as pilots within the MidAtlantic Airways division of US Airways. These pilots allege that the current arbitration is being conducted illegally.

It is also claimed that 63 pilots were denied seniority credit during furloughs between 2004 and 2006.

However, lead plaintiff John Karas told Forbes that the primary issue here is that “the east pilot group is left without representation.”

While the Allied Pilots Association (APA), which represents America’s pilots, created an east merger committee in an attempt to resolve the situation, Karas believes that “the committee doesn’t have any authority.”

Attorney Patrick Boyd, who represents these pilots, said that the situation has not been managed fairly. His clients are seeking compensation of more than $10 million and are asking that an agreement that provided seniority credit during the furlough period be enforced.

The complicated case has a host of defendants, including the APA, USAPA, the East Pilots Seniority Integration Committee, the USAPA merger committee as well as AA and US Airways.

While the APA declined to comment, AA spokesman Casey Norton told Forbes that, “Each pilot group is represented at the arbitration hearing by its own committee … American has not taken sides on how the lists are to be integrated.”

[Photo: Getty Images]