As airlines prosper again, labor tension rises

“In any enterprise, especially one that is 24-7 high-stress like airlines, workers make accommodations to make things go smoothly … they are willing to go that extra mile. They’re not going to do it in the current climate,” Peterson said. “They don’t have any obligation to do it, and there’s not a willingness on the part of management to rethink what they've done. To say, ‘We made some mistakes here. Some cuts should be undone.’”

Workers will have some leverage in the next two years because labor contracts signed under the stress of bankruptcy proceedings will come up for renewal. While nothing precludes management from giving back the concessions workers made in the last round of contract negotiations, few airlines experts believe that will happen.

So the big labor-management battle lies ahead. If you think flight delays and cancellations are getting to you now, there’s a good chance contract talks will get ugly as workers finally get their voice at the bargaining table.

“When they come up for negotiations, the flying public should buy a lot of Greyhound bus tickets,” advises Peterson.

“People are overworked because of staff cuts, and they are fed up with getting lower pay and worse benefits while the executives get lush packages,” he said. “The airlines are reaping what they sowed in the bankruptcy courts."

But how much employees win back when contracts reopen will likely be a function of the jobs those workers hold. For pilots and flight attendants, the issue of seniority often hamstrings employees because it’s difficult for them to leave their company for fear of losing the perks of scheduling and pay, according to Peter Cappelli, a professor of management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Mechanics, he points out, have a stronger bargaining position because they can more easily move to another carrier.

The bottom line is, things aren’t going to change any time soon, if ever, according to Darryl Jenkins, a longtime airline industry analyst: “Airlines historically have a poor relationship with labor,” he said. “Southwest is the exception, but even they’re not perfect.”

A good relationship between labor and management may be the only thing that will lead to sustained growth and stability at the nation’s airlines, adds MIT’s Kochan.

“All of our research tells us you can’t have a sustained recovery unless you bring the labor force along with you — when you have a more committed, flexible, highly motivated workforce and lower levels of conflict between labor and management,” he said. Without that, he added, “I don’t think we’ll ever get back to sustainable recovery in this industry. At best it will be a marginally successful industry and an industry that is not serving our national interest.”

Will things change? Kochan says he doesn’t see change happening until there is “more leadership from a government that says we have a national interest in having a strong, stable airline industry.” One where management and labor finally find some common ground.

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