Schedule with Safety

Most of us have heard the above motto repeated many times throughout our careers. Every time we report for work we strive to provide the safest and most comfortable product to our passengers. We double check the weather radar, examine the log book with a fine tooth comb, recompute the fuel slip for accuracy, and give the ship a once over just in case. For most of us, our pride and dedication to the profession is inherent. Union politics are left at the jetway door when we step aboard because at that very moment, the lives in our hands take precedence over all else.  

Unfortunately for the pilots of US Airways, the sacred wall separating union politics and safety came crashing down three years ago. 

Most recognize that USAPA has no negotiating leverage. Beyond the glowing reality that it has disenfranchised over 1/3 of the pilots, the remaining majority is splintered into numerous competing factions. Without national oversight, the BPR and its committee chairmen are free to conduct business as they see fit. The C&BL’s and the will of the pilots are guidelines, not absolutes. 

In a gutless attempt to manufacture negotiating leverage, USAPA made a conscious decision to intertwine safety and politics. It started three summers ago with the purchase of a misleading advertisement in the USA Today with the false charge that management forces us to fly with unsafe fuel loads. Other than scaring the general public into booking away from our airline during a time when business was already faltering, the ad campaign was quickly exposed for what it was by a skeptical press corps.

In a continuation of this strategy, the USAPA Safety Committee along with the BPR authorized the expenditure of significant dues money to study safety practices at US Airways. A contract was signed with Dr. Terry L. Von Thaden, PhD of the for profit Illumia Corporation. Under the auspices of Dr. Von Thaden all USAPA members in good standing were invited to participate in the on-line survey. Overall participation was light with nearly half of all respondents coming from pilots based in Charlotte. DCA and PHX had the lowest participation. 

As pointed out by the Company’s response to the study, the survey was designed to elicit responses to pilot emotions regarding contract negotiations and the ongoing seniority dispute. Vice President Safety and Regulatory Compliance Captain Paul Morell  dissected the 12 deficient safety areas revealed by the survey and succinctly refuted each claim as nothing more than political posturing. 

To add insult to injury, the Company’s response rubbed salt in USAPA’s wounds with the  following statement about the obvious lack of unity within the union. “Although West pilots comprise 34% of the overall crewforce, only 14% of the participants were pilots from the West where ties to and allegiance with USAPA are weak.”  

There you have it. The Company lecturing the union on its lack of unity! It’s no wonder USAPA has done nothing for the pilots over the past three years.

Schedule with Safety is more than a motto for most professional airline pilots. We understand the crucial link between customer trust and our ability to bring food home to our families. 

USAPA’s co-mingling of safety and politics is an act of desperation that will bring harm to all US Airways pilots. 

Today we all received a small profit sharing check. Don’t let it be our last.