US AIRWAYS 2 unions agree to discuss cuts

US Airways says it needs $800 million in labor cuts to be profitable.
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) -- Two more unions have agreed to negotiate with US Airways on cost savings the financially strapped airline says are necessary to ensure its survival.
The Association of Flight Attendants said Thursday that it will negotiate on changes to its labor agreement with the airline, provided that they be included in an equitable profit-sharing plan. Pilots already receive profit sharing. US Airways is a unit of US Airways Group Inc.
The airline also said Thursday that it expects to begin negotiations soon with the Communications Workers of America, which represents reservations agents, gate workers and other passenger-service employees at the airline.
Previously, only the pilots had been willing to negotiate the cost cuts the airline says are necessary to avoid a second trip into bankruptcy. The decisions by the CWA and the flight attendants leave the International Association of Mechanics as the only major union still unwilling to negotiate changes to the contract.
Company's target
US Airways has said it needs to cut costs by about $1.5 billion a year, including $800 million labor cuts, to return to profitability. The company has told the unions it hopes to emulate the pay structure and work rules of airlines JetBlue and America West.
The flight attendants have told the airline that they are not interested in discussing JetBlue work rules or America West pay rates. Union spokesman David Kameras said a flight attendant at US Airways with five years of experience earns $29,583, compared with $25,110 at JetBlue and $20,070 at America West.
An airline official said the company is not insisting on an exact duplication of those companies' pay and work rules. Instead, US airways has set specific monetary goals for each labor unit and is willing to negotiate how to achieve them.