Are United Pilots Calling a Truce?

Posted by: Justin Bachman on October 14, 2009

Could there be labor-management détente underway at United Airlines (UAUA)? United pilots elected a new leader on Tuesday, signaling to many aviation observers a more conciliatory approach after years of bare-knuckle brawling between the chapter and management.

Wendy Morse, a 24-year United veteran and 777 captain, will take over Jan. 1 as the first woman to lead the Air Line Pilots Association chapter at United. Morse has previously served as vice chairman of the United ALPA unit, and was elected on a close 8-7 vote. She will replace Capt. Steve Wallach, who was elected in October 2007, and built his tenure on aggressively challenging United management and calling repeatedly for the ouster of CEO Glenn Tilton. Some pilots also wore wristbands on duty that said “Glenn’s Gotta Go.” Additionally, Wallach wrote to the Federal Aviation Administration in 2008 suggesting a link between then-recent engine problems on 737s and less maintenance oversight as a result of company financial decisions.

“I think they realized this confrontational grudge match is not getting them anywhere,” says Hunter Keay, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets. Longer term, he thinks, “it’s good not only for United but potentially for the industry as a whole” if pilots decide to pursue their goals by collaborating with airline executives.

United and its pilots began contract talks six months ago, although little progress has been reported. The pilots’ current contract expires in December, and Morse said in a statement that she is committed to achieving “industry leading” gains in the new contract. “While there is a change in leadership, there is no change in our collective resolve to bring about industry- leading career security, wages and working conditions,” she said. (The ALPA chapter said Morse was not available for interviews.)

However, her election could mark an important change in strategy, if not goals. “We believe the change in leadership at ALPA signals discontent among pilots who likely viewed recent union initiatives as more destructive than constructive during a time where UAL management and ALPA are involved in difficult contract negotiations,” Keay wrote in a note to client. The pilots detest Tilton and his team with a passion, and Wallach has been extremely vocal in criticizing management decisions (chronicling them on a Web site) and urging customers to complain to the company about service shortfalls.

In November 2008, United won an injunction after suing ALPA and four pilots alleging that they had conducted an “unlawful campaign of sick leave abuse, pilot intimidation and other actions that resulted in the cancellation of hundreds of flights, inconvenienced thousands of customers and cost United millions of dollars in lost revenues.” ALPA still has a notice to United pilots atop its Web site, with a link to the court order, warning them against job actions.