Air Wisconsin has had a long history of working cooperatively with the pilot group to promote mutual success. The current owners (a total of 6 individuals) purchased the airline from United in 1993. One of the terms of the purchase was significant concessions from the pilot group. A wage reopener occurred in 1998, and pay raises were negotiated that restored some of the lost compensation, but none of the work rules. The 2001 Agreement was the first comprehensive negotiations since the concessionary 1994, and was industry leading in virtually every respect. In addition, the labor management relationship was relatively stable. Most disputes were resolved without resorting to grievance arbitration, and most potential disciplinary issues were resolved informally.

Based on this history of promoting mutual success, the pilot group voted to ratify certain amendments to the 2001 Agreement which became known as the Restructuring Agreement. Management advised ALPA in the spring of 2003 that United had put all of its regional flying business up for bid. United told Air Wisconsin that it expected a new bid within 2 weeks, and that carriers that bid soonest would be most favorably considered. ALPA engaged in expedited discussions with Air Wisconsin, and a tentative agreement was reached in less that two weeks. It was well understood at the time that United was in dire financial straits, and the threat of losing the United code sharing agreement was real. However, the ALPA leadership made it clear to Air Wisconsin that the pilots weren’t interested in subsidizing a wind down agreement. ALPA’s intent, and it is clearly stated in the Restructuring Letter of Agreement, was that the concessions would only become effective if Air Wisconsin could reach a new, fully effective code sharing agreement with United. The concessions were designed to retain the United business, with the Denver, Chicago, and Appleton domiciles. The concessions were also designed and calculated to try to preserve the 146 business.

As is now widely known, Air Wisconsin management did not secure a fully effective code sharing agreement with United, but they represented that they had, and implemented the concessions on October 1, 2003. The pilots lived under the concessions, and continued to perform the United business until without being any the wiser until the fall of 2005, when United once again put Air Wisconsin’s flying up for bid. It was only then that Air Wisconsin management admitted that it had not secured a code sharing agreement that was fully effective, and the ALPA MEC filed a grievance. As of this writing, the arbitrator in that case has sustained the grievance, finding that Air Wisconsin breached the “fully effective” precondition to implementing the concessions. The pilots await a final decision on the remedy.

Air Wisconsin did not ultimately retain its codesharing agreement with United. Instead, the owners offered a 125 million dollar DIP loan to US Airways in exchange for the right to fly up to 70 CRJ’s as US Airways Express. The transition from United to USAirways began in the summer of 2005, and now all of Air Wisconsin’s pilots have moved from their former domiciles in the Midwest to the East Coast.

Recent history with Air Wisconsin management has been poor. Although the arbitrator in the Restructuring case directed the parties to meet to try to mutually agree to a remedy, no realistic offers to settle were forthcoming from management. In addition, the hearings have been protracted by delays sought by management.

More recently, the number of grievances have escalated dramatically and disciplinary letters are routinely issued to pilots – for “misconduct” such as calling in sick when the pilot is actually sick. Air Wisconsin has had an Attendance Policy for some time. Recently however, management has elected to rigidly enforce that policy. Common sense and discretion have now place in the new philosophy of management, domicile managers simply follow black and white guidelines and may suspend or terminate skilled pilots with long standing and good records simply because they have the misfortune to be sick too often in one year.

Other policies have also been unilaterally changed. For instance, commuting pilots have been removed from their awarded trips, in clear violation of the collective bargaining agreement, when a flight manager decided the pilot MIGHT not be able to make it to work on time. In many cases, the pilot would have made it to work, but was in effect suspended from his job because the flight mangers decided they didn’t have to pay the commuting pilot for a particular flight.

Management, in the interest of increased efficiency, has leveraged the concessionary contract to its maximum. This has led to pilots spending an unacceptable amount of time away from home with no additional compensation. This is the same for commuters and non-commuters alike. It is not uncommon for a pilot to start a four day trip very early and end it very late. This would be acceptable except for the fact that on the second and third days of the trip, the pilots sit for hours in hotel rooms or airports all over the East Coast. This is efficient, because the modified trip rig allows for this type of schedule without any additional compensation to the pilot.

It is based on this recent history that the pilots of Air Wisconsin are beginning to wonder whether they have a future at Air Wisconsin. It is time for management to step up and demonstrate that it will work with ALPA on a course correction that will once again restore mutual cooperation and benefit.