Polar pilots strike
Pilots at Polar Air Cargo went on strike Friday, refusing to fly for the worldwide freight airline.
The union announced the strike starting at 1:30 a.m. EDT September 16 after negotiating since February 2003 and mediation since June of that year.
The National Mediation Board released the parties from negotiations last month into a mandated 30-day cooling off period. That period ended Thursday at midnight, after which the Polar crewmembers staged the first strike against a major cargo airline in recent memory.
"While we regret the Polar crewmembers' decision to strike," said Jeffrey H. Erickson, president and CEO of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Polar's parent, "we have prepared for this contingency. Consistent with our strategic initiatives to place our aircraft where they are most profitable, we have returned three aircraft on dry lease to Polar back to Atlas Air. We have also placed two Polar aircraft for sale or lease, and are in the process of placing the remaining seven aircraft in other uses, including dry leases. As a result, only seven of the Company's 42 aircraft are affected by the strike."
The company also laid off 40 of Polar's most junior pilots recently as it shifted some of its capacity over to Atlas, an outsourced air operator for world airlines. Polar flies 747 freighters in scheduled service around the world, selling its capacity to forwarders.