Nicolau Arbitration Award - Leonidas

15
number of active US Airways pilots placed below the least senior
America West pilot (Odell) so that they are exposed to the risk of
furlough before he is faced with that prospect. The reason this must be
done, according to the America West representatives, is that US
Airways pilots have been far more exposed to the risk of furlough over
,..
the course of their careers; that prospects of recovery at US Airways
were slim, while Odell, absent the merger, would have been
increasingly protected from furlough through the arrival of additional
aircraft on firm order combined with normal attrition at the carrier.
America West's argument precedes from the premise that
present ALPA Merger Policy does not speak of date of hire or length of
service or age. Though the policy was changed in 1952 to specifically
list length of service as "the governing factor" in list construction, with
consideration to be given to other factors, such as loss of earnings,
employment or advancement opportunities, all references to date of
hire or length of service were eliminated in 1991 leaving the Policy as it
is today. From this history, America West argues that date of hire is no
longer an "equity in itself" and that the sole focus must be on
maintaining pilot "pre-merger expectations regarding jobs, status, pay
and future career path."
From this premise, America West contends that its pilots' career
expectations were dramatically better that those at US Airways. In the