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Allegiant receives injunction to indefinitely prevent pilots’ strike
By Kalea Hall
VIENNA
While Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air received an additional court order to prevent its pilots from going on strike, that, too, is fueling a monthslong labor dispute.
The pilots, represented by International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 1224, contend the decision made by a Las Vegas court violates the status quo of pilot work rules, complaining specifically about a new pilot scheduling system.
They plan to file an appeal to the injunction.
“We believe our strike to restore the status quo is legal and that the court’s injunction in this case is not in accordance with federal law,” First Officer Cameron Graff said in a statement.
U.S. District Judge Andrew Gordon, however, maintained that the airline is working hard with pilots to modify the scheduling system to satisfy their complaints.
“Such actions may not lead to a perfect scheduling system, nor certainly to one pilots would design themselves,” Judge Gordon wrote in issuing the injunction. “But they do not rise to the level of status-quo violations. Accordingly, it would be unlawful for the pilots to strike.”
Allegiant is the sole commercial airline at the Vienna-based Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport that offers flights to Orlando, Tampa, Fort Myers and Myrtle Beach.
The pilots and the commercial airline have been in negotiations since last year. Pilots want the company to restore a former scheduling system and other benefits that they say have been wrongfully rolled back over a two-year period.
“Rather than spend all this time in court, pilots are calling on Allegiant to fully restore our contract so we can focus on our work, sit down to negotiate a future contract and work together to secure the future prosperity of Allegiant and the Allegiant pilots,” Graff said.
In early April, the airline received a temporary court order to prevent an Easter weekend strike. The latest order would indefinitely prevent pilots from striking.
On Saturday, the company said the most recent court order would prevent a disruption of travel for thousands of passengers.
“With the threat of a strike lifted, Allegiant looks forward to directing its time and energy back to the negotiating table to work on securing a contract that will be beneficial to both its pilots and the company,” the company said in a statement.
Last month, Allegiant reported its 49th-consecutive profitable quarter and a record first quarter of 2015. The company’s net income was $64.9 million compared with $34.2 million during the first quarter of last year,
In the earnings announcement, Allegiant CEO Maurice J. Gallagher announced a pay increase for pilots. However, the union said the raises already were a part of an existing agreement.
Because of the labor issues, the Federal Aviation Administration increased its surveillance of the airline’s operations.
“While this increased surveillance is in place, the FAA has indicated it will not process any current or additional requests for work that may relate to our planned growth. At the current time, we do not expect any immediate effect on our operations,” Gallagher said in the first-quarter earnings release.
Allegiant and the union recently finished a negotiations session last week, and the plan is to return to negotiations again during the week of May 18.