Airline Management and Pilots

[shon7]

I am wondering how much power the management has over airline labor especially pilots. Do they determine upgrades to captain and line check Airmans. In the selection process for pilots for the majors does management have the final say in who will be hired. Lastly if a senior level manager or VP wants to start flying some routes does he have to go through the whole selection process or can management just fit him in.
I know for the regionals many managers also fly some routes however here the pilot turnover rate is high, and there are a lot of young pilots so little or no opposition. Wanted to know if any such thing happens at the majors. The only one I have read of is the CEO of continental, who is type rated on 737,757,767 but it never mentions that he flew actual routes.

[hvassk]

The CEO of Continental was a mechanic and is a pilot. You are correct in that he is type-rated, but he was never a line pilot with the company. The final CEO of TWA was a line pilot. He was the captain on their final flight in December.

[Easy226]

A mechanic before this or do you mean an engineer????!!!

[redtail]

An actual knuckle dragging wrench spinning aircraft mechanic.

[Roadtrip]

Airline managements hold a great deal of power over the pilots. The degree of that control depends greatly on whether there is a union contact in force, or not.

A non-union company has "at will" control, meaning they can fire anybody for any reason, anytime. A union company has strict contractural legally enforceable rules to follow. Non-union company management often times changes company "policy" capreciously (and often) to suit their own purposes. From personal experience, I've been pushed to violate FAA rest rules in a non-union company. Frequently new startup airlines have good labor relations for the first few years. Employees put in 120% to get the biz going and profitable. Managements then milk this good will until the employees see that the company is making large $, and they are being paid grossly sub-par wages. Jet Blue is a new startup and enjoys cordial labor relations, and SEEMS to be trying to break the pattern set in the past. Time will tell if JB management turns predatory like virtually all others have.

Union companies on the other had have legally enforceable contracts. Both the pilots AND management have clearly defined responsibilities and obligations. The rules are clear. Recently however, most major airlines have invoked the rarely/never used clause of "force majuere," and provision that gives management a much wider latitude in times of GRAVE emergency. Most major airlines have some degrees of "no furlough" clauses -- UAL, DAL, and AA. AA's management signed a no-furlough agreement last spring in return for the American pilots' waiver to allow AA to use the AA code on TWA flights. AA now has abrigated THEIR side of that agreement under "force majuere" and has furloughed almost 600 AA pilots, but still uses the AA code on TWA flights.

Bottom line. You are virtually ALWAYS better off with a labor contract rather than without one.

[shon7]

Thanks for the feedback roadtrip. Just a few more questions on the same subject.

I'm talking here with regards to airlines with labor unions and labor contracts such as most major US airlines. Does management decide promotions to captain and international routes, widebody jets etc. or is it all based on seniority? Also I read some executive biographies where they have been pilots but not flying for the airline? In the event that such a guy/gal wants to fly as a line pilot does he/she start at the bottom and bid on schedules, or does management have power to put him/her in as a direct entry captain?

You mentioned the "force majeure" clause and it is a shame, but in this industry where labor and management have had a history of less-than-ideal relations it was bound to happen. The clause is also one of the ways the airlines make their money. Passengers are re routed via ridiculous routes and airlines, the airlines claiming effects of force majeure like a weather delay. Most famous for this was SwissAir.