Company attributed carrier's issues to the lack of preparation on aviation's rapid COVID rebound
A union representing about 14,000 pilots of American Airlines has sued the carrier to prevent it from ditching Check Airmen during critical pilot training programme.
Check Airmen are duly trained instructors who evaluate pilots, both captains and first officers, during flights and in training. They may also enter a simulation to fill in for a missing captain or first officer in case one needs to leave due to an illness or other factors.
However, the Allied Pilots Association (APA) has accused the American Airlines of "soliciting all pilots to volunteer" to replace Check Airmen during critical training evaluation stage.
The APA attributed this to the carrier's failure to plan properly for the recovery in air travel demand, after it previously furloughed pilots during the pandemic and forgo training opportunities.
"They are now soliciting all pilots to volunteer to replace our specially trained Check Airmen as 'seat fillers' during a critical training evaluation stage under terms and conditions that remain largely unknown to APA," said APA president, Capt. Eric Ferguson, in a statement.
"This unilateral action by American Airlines management degrades the training experience and risks long-term damage to the airline’s safety culture," added Ferguson.
He also said that management was "ill-prepared" for the return of airline traffic and is now selling tickets for flights it might not be able to operate due to a shortage of qualified pilots.
"If the airline's training resources weren't under severe duress, management wouldn't have taken this unilateral, reckless, and unlawful action to fill these simulator sessions in a manner that is not contemplated by our collective bargaining agreement," said Ferguson.
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Message to pilots
The APA said the lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, leaving matters before the Federal court.
"It is regrettable that it has come to this, but management's actions have necessitated APA seeking court intervention," said the union to its members.
It also urged them to continue performing their jobs professionally as they would every day.
"Our responsibilities to our crews, passengers, and each other are not affected in any way by the action taken today. We must remember that we work for a management team that has not hesitated to seek to enjoin labour in the past, and it is not hard to envision them looking for a way to do so again in response to our filing. We must not give them any reason to do so," said the union in its statement.
