American Eagle pilots divided on need for concessions

Some pilots at AMR Corp.’s American Eagle are disputing the need for concessions as the regional carrier negotiates a flying agreement with American Airlines prior to its planned spinoff.

The Air Line Pilots Association, in talks on a final agreement setting the terms for flights Eagle will operate for the larger American Airlines afterward, warned Eagle pilots in an Aug. 23 e-mail that unspecified concessions were probably needed to lower the new company’s costs so it can compete.

“Ultimately I do not agree with the position that concessions are inevitable,” Val Jester, chairman of pilots at Eagle’s Dallas-Fort Worth base, said in an e-mail to members. “I am tired of hearing the mantras of ‘We can’t do that, it will upset the company and we might miss something they are willing to give us.’”

Jester said he would raise the issue during an Aug. 30 meeting of the union’s leadership at its headquarters in Euless, Texas.

“What we have here is a case of some pilots not buying the need for concessions while others conclude they are necessary,” said Robert Mann of aviation consultant R.W. Mann & Co. Any rift “will not have any impact on the spin-off. It may, however, impact how much and what types of flying Eagle retains over what period of time.”

Under terms detailed in an Aug. 10 regulatory filing, American can begin to pull some aircraft from Eagle and contract them to other regional carriers as soon as next year. The union opposes that timeline, which it considers a threat to pilot job security.

Pilot Moves

An agreement with American that would increase the number of pilots moving from Eagle to the larger carrier in the future will lower seniority and, as a result, reduce expenses, Jester said. That means Eagle’s cost problems have been fixed “for the most part,” he said.

Andrea Huguely, a spokeswoman for American, declined to comment. AMR hasn’t yet set a date for an Eagle spinoff or specified how many Eagle shares AMR holders will receive.

Talks under way now on the flying agreement may end if an agreement isn’t reached “within the next few weeks,” said Tony Gutierrez, chairman of the union’s master executive council.

Eagle currently provides 93 percent of flights ferrying passengers from smaller cities to American’s hubs. American hopes to lower the cost of that service by divesting Eagle and requiring it to compete for the business after a specified time period. The planned spinoff also will let Eagle bid on making commuter flights for other major airlines.