US AIRWAYS Airline pilots take 18% cut in contract

Union officials recommended the concessions be rejected.
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) -- US Airways pilots union ratified a new labor contract Thursday that will cut their base pay by 18 percent and save the airline $300 million a year.
The bankrupt airline, a unit of US Airways Group Inc., has been hopeful that a ratified deal with the pilots will give it momentum as it seeks cost cuts from its three other major unions, representing machinists, flight attendants and passenger service workers. US Airways says it needs about $950 million in annual cost cuts from all its unions to have any chance at survival.
The Air Line Pilots Association said that 1,690 pilots, or 58 percent, voted in favor of the contract, while 1,236 voted against. Eighty-nine percent of the union's 3,291 eligible members cast ballots.
The ratification vote follows months of contentious negotiations that exposed deep divisions within the pilots' union. Union representatives in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, who represent a majority of US Airways pilots, had blocked a ratification vote in the weeks before last month's bankruptcy filing, saying the terms were so harsh that accepting them would have been "total capitulation."
Even after agreeing earlier this month to allow a ratification vote, the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia reps had recommended a no vote, suggesting a better contract might be obtainable through the bankruptcy process.
How voting went
In the voting, which concluded Thursday, the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia units rejected the agreement, with 52 percent and 54 percent in opposition, respectively.
But the union's four smaller units, based in Charlotte, Washington, Boston and New York, all voted overwhelmingly for the new contract, with support ranging from 68 percent to 84 percent in those cities.
The ratification means that US Airways pilots will not face temporary pay cuts of 21 percent that a bankruptcy judge imposed last week on unions that have not agreed to new, long-term contracts.
The pilots' deal extends through 2009. Along with the 18 percent pay cut, pilots will have to fly more hours each month, likely resulting in additional furloughs. Nearly 1,900 US Airways pilots have been furloughed over the past three years.