The Society for Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) expected to finish counting ballots cast by Boeing engineers and technicians on a new four-year contract proposal on Monday evening. Boeing’s offer, which SPEEA leadership urged its 23,000 Boeing members to reject, calls for an average 3.5-percent raise for engineers for each year of the agreement and average pay hikes for technicians of 3 percent for the first year, followed by 2.5 percent in each subsequent year.
Labor
October 1, 2012 - 1:55am
Pinnacle Airlines has resumed talks with its employee groups over contract concessions, following a recalculation of the cost savings it says it needs to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. According to Pinnacle, it now needs to shed $76 million to return to viability due in large part to Delta Air Lines’ plans to shed more than 200 fifty-seat regional jets from the Delta Connection system. It originally asked for $43 million in concessions.
September 26, 2012 - 3:05pm
West Star Aviation has hired Greg Byrnes as senior vice president for sales. He replaces Rick Brainard, who was promoted to vice president for business development. Previously, Byrnes spent 17 years with Gulfstream Aerospace, where his most recent position was vice president of sales and new business development. Byrnes will be responsible for generating maintenance and modification sales for all West Star Aviation locations. Brainard will develop new business for all West Star locations.
September 13, 2012 - 4:00pm
Avantair, the fractional-share operator of a fleet of 56 Piaggio Avanti twin turboprops, has adjusted its payscales to better match the rate of growth of management fees, company CEO Steve Santo told AIN. Management fees generally grow at the rate of the consumer price index (CPI), but raises during certain years were climbing faster than the CPI, making it difficult for Avantair to keep expenses in check.
September 12, 2012 - 11:04am
Six weeks after unanimously voting “No Confidence” in the management of Boeing’s Training & Flight Services division, pilots employed by the company to deliver airplanes and help prepare customer crews to fly them have decided to go public with their displeasure with Boeing’s decision to hire contract pilots to perform 787 training.
September 10, 2012 - 10:35am
Talks between US Airways and AMR over a possible merger involving bankrupt AMR subsidiary American Airlines have reached a formal stage, with the two companies beginning to exchange “certain confidential information” under the terms of a nondisclosure agreement signed August 31.
August 28, 2012 - 4:15pm
A bankruptcy court judge on Friday denied a request from Hawker Beechcraft to give eight of the Wichita OEM’s “senior leadership team” as much as $5.3 million in bonuses. HBC had filed the request with the U.S. bankruptcy court on August 15, describing the bonuses as based on the achievement of certain incentive goals.
August 20, 2012 - 4:10pm
A Moscow court prohibited a planned job action last week by Russian air traffic controllers represented by the Labor Union ofRussian Radio Location andNavigation Workers. Russian prosecutors describe as illegal a section of the controller’s charter that specifically addresses their ability tohold rallies, demonstrations, pickets andother collective gatherings as away oflobbying their interests. The court agreed and also demanded the union bring its charter into alignment with Russian law, which bans public servants from such activity.
August 16, 2012 - 3:15pm
The Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) has gone live with its aviation safety action program (Asap) for on-demand charter operators. The demonstration program currently has two charter operators under the jurisdiction of the Minneapolis FSDO, and will eventually expand to other charter operators in the FAA Great Lakes Region. Asap allows employees of participating air carriers, fractional managers and repair station certificate holders to identify and report safety issues to management and to the FAA for resolution, without fear of reprisal.
July 23, 2012 - 4:25pm
Congressman Tom Petri (R-Wisc.), chairman of the House of Representatives’ subcommittee on aviation (part of its Transportation and Infrastructure Committee), said the FAA’s Contract Tower Program is cost-effective, The Hill reported on July 18. Petri supported his stance with a recent DOT
