Airline Asks Employees to Work For Free
 

US Airways has asked its employees to work for no pay over the upcoming holiday weekend. Would you do it if you worked there?

Guess I would if I wanted the Co. I worked for to stay in business so I would not be out of a job. But sure wouldn't be happy about it. Especially if I was not one of the employees that called in sick over Christmas.

I think it would depend on how much the CEO/chairman, etc were making this weekend. And how big are the cuts in pay they have taken? I don't believe they have any right to ask much lower paid workers to work for nothing to keep the company in business if they are not willing to do it themselves.

Barbara, I agree, but unfortunatly airline workers are not high salary employees (as the airline knows) and consequently imagine a lot of them will work just out of fear that if USA goes under they will be out of a job and have no salary at all. A sad situation.

And may I add, as all of us keep looking for the cheapest airfare the problem multiplies.

And of course as top management (as in all companies) make all the money - well we all know how that story goes.

A sad and scary situation.

I would hope all the union jerks who called in sick when they were not sick would work, but I expect they will call in sick again and help doom the airline. Labor and fuel costs are just too high. I know somebody will chime in and blame management salaries as the deal breaker, but that's not true.

Anybody remember Eastern Airlines? (At least I think that's the one). The owner folded the airlines because of the unreasonable union demands. Who were the losers in the end? The workers. ((b))

I wouldn't fly any airline if the workers are working for free. Seems to me there would be increased chance of people not paying attention to the little details that make a difference in flight safety.

Hey, if the CEO, VPs and the stockholders all got out to help toss luggage, check customers at the counters and sling drinks, then I'd be in as an employee. I'm all for the team concept.

Otherwise, it just looks to me like the management version of the same "call in sick" idea.

I agree with all of you but I think the original post was mistaken. I think the airline asked them to voluntee to work (for pay )but unfortunately used the wrong word "volunteer". The first volunteer should be the CEO to cut his salary and bonuses 25% like the other employees.

I don't think it's legal to ask employees to work for free. I can't imagine a union allowing it.

Both the Globe&Mail and the Washington Post say that USAir is asking for non-union employees to work, for free, over the weekend, mainly at PHL.

Management staff have already been volunteered.

((I))

Right now US Airways is like a football team that has had two consecutive seasons with no wins. Morale is low, and the best employees are finding other jobs.

The recent problem we read about, or experienced first hand by being in it, was not the first time US Airways has had trouble finding airplanes and crew to get scheduled flights off the ground.

This time because of weather, sick calls, and other factors, the tip of the iceberg suddenly came way up out of the water.

I will not get into the details of my litany of troubles with US Airways over several years. Let just suffice it to say that the ground work for the pre holiday disaster was being put in place for the last two or three years.

It is a shame, too, because the flight crews for US Airways and the rank and file gate agents have always been as good as those at other airlines. But somehow, matching crews to flights and finding serviceable aircraft to fly the route have been problems that management has not solved.

I know that when a crew and an airplane for a major trans Atlantic flight from the main hub in Philadelphia to Europe gets away 4 hours late because there is no airplane and no crew, something is badly wrong. I remember that night quite well because we kept getting shifted from gate to gate during the 5 hour wait time while we hoped the the flight would materialize. Nobody at the gates or information desks had a clue about the flight.

Finally US Airways shanghied a crew from somewhere, forced the crew members to work overtime, and the captain backed the aircraft away from the gate at 11:59 PM so the crew would be legal.

When it backed away from the gate, the airplane had not been fully loaded, and the it stopped on the tarmac for several more minutes while more of something was put on board in the cargo holds.

Finally we got off, but we never got to Dublin, which was our destination. Instead we landed at Shannon because the cockpit was full of smoke.

Oh boy, doesn't sound good. Obviously the unions aren't letting their employees work for free and I can't imagine there are too many non-union employees except for management. I'm just glad I don't have any flights booked on this airline.

I empathize, Bob.

We spent 4 hrs in Charlotte waiting for a plane to be put back into service so we could get to Atlanta.

From the Chicago Sun Times, here's the latest on the situation. Evidently it's a critical period for USAirways.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/busin...n-usair30.html

With all the media coverage of this story, it seems that if management and top VIPs were "volunteering" to work it would be all over the papers. I haven't seen a word to that effect. I read an article giving "sick call in" statistics for both 2003 and 2004. They were virtually the same. Seems to me that the airline simply didn't schedule enough people to work the holiday and thought they could skate by. Now they are trying to make the employees look bad in the media.

I am highly concerned that US Airways is in its death throes. Hate to see it, but healthy companies don't often have the debacles US Airways just experienced.

I have flown US Airways more than any other airline, and I have hoped that somehow it stays afloat. But the situation looks very pessimistic right now.

At least it does to me.

Would I work? Yes, if I thought I could save my job and the jobs of my friends.

I hate to say, but it sounds like USAirways is toast. This seems to be the last act in the drama....
I feel bad for those people in USAirways' hub cities. Finding seats, particularly to Europe, can be awfully difficult.

Anyone want to speculate on a) whether any of the hubs will survive and be turned over to another airline (oh, say, United) and b) on what routes will survive because they're bought up by other airlines, and what will disappear?

I feel esp. sad for Charlotte, Pittsburgh, and Phila - one of my favorite airports!

Yes, it was Eastern Airlines (as I mentioned on the "Operational Disruptions" thread): an irresistible force (Frank Lorenzo), meeting an immovable object (the unions). There's a good summary here:

<b>http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Commercial_Aviation/EasternAirlines/Tran13.htm</b>

This thread is off-topic, except in that US Airways has some service to Europe. Since everyone else is commenting, I'll put in my two cents...

Employers shouldn't take advantage of their employees, but employees also shouldn't take advantage of their employers. US Airways has reiterated that it will pay people who were scheduled to work over the holidays. The airline is looking for extra volunteers, who will not be paid. Executives and managers are among the people who are volunteering. I think any employee who called in sick last week but wasn't really sick ought to volunteer. Beyond that, no.

Regarding pay for airline employees... To say that they are low-paid workers doesn't tell the whole story. I read the US Airways flight attendant contract the other day, just for fun. It is sprinkled with restrictive work rules (certain flight attendants can only work on certain flights, etc.) and illogical bonuses (depending where the flight attendant sits, where the plane is going, or what type of plane it is). The health insurance provisions are generous. The vacation provisions are very generous. And, as is typical with unions, the union has negotiated a seniority-based wage progression (14 years in this contract), rather than equal pay for work of equal value, or (gasp!) pay for performance. A young flight attendant earns 54% less than his older colleagues, but does essentially the same work. The young person may be the most conscientious person on the plane, but she gets the least.

One really interesting thing about flight attendant contracts is that the pay is based primarily on hours flown, not on hours worked. This, coupled with bonuses and the unpredictable effects of the restrictive work rules, makes it impossible to calculate the true hourly wage of a flight attendant. I think a set hourly wage would be a fairer, more above-board arrangement.

To clear up another misconception: US Airways is not demanding further wage reductions. The tentative agreement replaces a court-imposed, across-the-board 21% wage cut with a 9% wage cut, more-flexible work rules, and temporary suspension of some bonuses. The agreement guarantees nominal raises in the later years. Active employees will continue to receive health benefits, and with the same percentage contribution from US Airways as in the past.

The fate of the pension plan is a separate issue, to be decided by the bankruptcy court. If the plan ends, US Airways won't pocket the money (it will go to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation), retirees won't lose their pensions, and active employees won't lose the value of their existing, vested accruals.

To the person who has qualms picking the lowest fare, note that Southwest is a fully-unionized airline and that it pays some of the highest wages in the industry. Southwest uses its planes more efficiently, flies only to profitable destinations, and probably doesn't have as many restrictive work rules in its contracts.

I hope that the employees at US Airways will make the wise choice of saving their airline, and their jobs. I am not even convinced that this tentative agreement helps, because the structure is still the same, and there are still plenty of restrictive work rules. Every one of those rules makes it harder for US Airways to compete.

Paul Marcelin-Sampson
Santa Cruz, California, USA

My friend is a reservation agent with USAir. In the last year, he's seen his pay drop by a third. On the other hand, management gave themselves a 4% raise and then after making the rest of the employees take more cuts, management took a 5% cut.

He says the reasoning is &quot;we have to pay management well, otherwise they'll leave for a more lucrative opportunity&quot; . (Yeah, they'll leave and make another company run itself into the ground!)

The request sounds like a last gasp to me. It's very sad.

There have been some very insightful analyses here of the situation. I hope the airline stays aloft, but there is a major storm to be weathered.

Something has got to give or there is going to be a major restructuring.

I fly mostly out of Atlanta these days because the US Airways commuter line, which passed to separate ownership I was told, is vastly unreliable.
Cancelled flights were all too prevalent for various reasons!
Weather of some sort being the most popular culprit.