Judge: Pilot had wings clipped without just cause
By Christine Gillette
[email protected] (Portsmouth Herald, New Hampshire)
PORTSMOUTH - A U.S. District Court judge has ordered Pan American Airways to reinstate a pilot fired nearly two years ago for refusing to fly in violation of federalflight-time rules.
In a separate order, the judge also mandates the Pease-based airline pay Capt. Don Simonds of Stowe, Vt., back pay and interest for the 23 months since he was fired. The final amount owed Simonds will be determined by an arbitration board, but could surpass $200,000.
The airline, under the court order, could face additional penalties for delaying Simonds’ reinstatement, and may have to pay Simonds’ legal fees.
"You have a company that tried to force a pilot to violate a safety regulation, and then fired him. Thanks to his persistence and the union, justice was done. It doesn’t always turn out that well," John Mazor, a spokesman for the union that represents Pan Am pilots, the Air Line Pilots Association, said Friday.
Simonds was terminated by Pan Am Jan. 3, 2001 after refusing to pilot a flight from Sanford, Fla., to Pease after mechanical problems forced the flight to be delayed past its scheduled departure.
Simonds, who would not comment Friday on the advice of union legal counsel, has told the Herald previously that he would not pilot the flight on the belief it would push him past the Federal Aviation Administration’s limit on the number of hours a pilot can be on duty without resting.
The case became a lightning rod for the national debate over pilot fatigue until the FAA clarified its duty-time regulation in May 2001, affirming the rule that pilots must be able at the end of their shift to look back over a 24-hour period and find eight hours of rest, and that the clock starts ticking based on scheduled flight times.
Pan Am, and an airline industry group, contended that the 24-hour period was based on actual, not scheduled, flight times.
The FAA clarification supported Simonds’ decision on Jan. 3, 2001 not to fly, ALPA argued in its appeals of Simonds’ firing, first before a federal labor board, which ordered Simonds be reinstated, and later in a suit against Pan Am in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia after the airline would not bring Simonds back to work.
The court found again for Simonds, and Pan Am appealed and asked for a stay on reinstating and paying Simonds.
On Dec. 6, the court ordered the airline to reinstate Simonds no later than Dec. 10 with full pay, seniority and back pay, or risk a $5,000 fine for every day it delayed and having Pan Am’s company officers called into court to explain the delay.
Despite this most recent court order, a Pan Am official said Friday Simonds is not back on the job and the matter of his reinstatement is not resolved.
"There are still appeals pending down there, the case is still pending down there in the courts," Pan Am Vice President and General Counsel John Nadolny said.
Simonds was issued a letter of reinstatement on Dec. 9, according to ALPA, which made the court order public Friday. Mazor said Simonds must undergo refresher training, scheduled for next month while Pan Am’s 727 flights are suspended, before he returns to his job.
Mazor said Simonds’ case sets a precedent for Pan Am and other airlines.
"What should keep them from doing this again is the prospect that we will haul them back into court and whether it’s the same judge or not ... it’s a pretty open-and-shut case that companies cannot fire pilots for refusing to violate the 16-hour rule for rest requirement," he said.