Elected leaders of the union representing United Airlines pilots unanimously approved a tentative deal that would take nearly 3,000 involuntary furloughs off the table through June 2021, substantially upping the likelihood that pilots will avoid mass furloughs planned across the company this fall.
Following approval by the United Airlines Master Executive Council (MEC) of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) on Sept. 16, the tentative deal will now receive a vote by the full union membership. If approved, the agreement would save more than 2,850 pilot jobs through at least June 2021.
According to ALPA, the MEC only voted to support the deal after determining it met several of their key objectives. Aside from preventing furloughs for nine months, ALPA said it offers a second round of early-separation options for all pilots 50 years or older with at least 10 years of experience; adds new restrictions on United Express flying; and secures triggers for eventual pay raises in the future.
“This tentative agreement underscores our commitment to all 13,000 United pilots and represents the importance of creative solutions needed to mitigate massive layoffs for our pilots,” United MEC Chairman Todd Insler said in a statement. “Hundreds of thousands of airline workers need the CARES Act extension, but with pilot furloughs just weeks away, we can’t wait. This is our union and our responsibility to take care of each other to ensure there is a temporary lifeline to keep all of our pilots at United flying.”
U.S. airlines are currently scrambling to mitigate the scope of involuntary furloughs following the expiration of the CARES Act Payroll Support Program (PSP) on Oct. 1. Carriers and their unionized workforces have been lobbying lawmakers and the administration to extend the program as part of a must-pass spending bill this month, although those prospects remain unclear amid wider gridlock between Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
On Sept. 16, American Airlines CEO Doug Parker, along with the leaders of seven airline employee unions, wrote to leaders in Congress and the administration urging them to extend the PSP for an additional six months. “The dire circumstances we face now ... are exactly the circumstances the PSP was designed to guard against,” Parker and the unions wrote.
In the meantime, airline management teams and unions have had some success negotiating workgroup-specific arrangements to avoid furloughs. United pilots are hoping to join their peers at carriers including Alaska Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines, all of whom were able to secure temporary guarantees against job cuts until 2021.
J.P. Morgan analyst Jamie Baker wrote in a client note that he “would not be surprised” if United’s agreement with ALPA “becomes a potential blueprint” for other carriers, including Delta Air Lines, which has warned of 1,900 expected pilot furloughs beginning Oct. 1. For every successful negotiated solution that reduces or eliminates planned furloughs, however, Baker predicted that the probability of a second round of government aid further declines.
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