Associated Press
Comair Mechanics' Contract Vote a Key Step
02.08.2005, 06:23 PM
Comair mechanics will vote next week on a union-recommended contract that includes 2 percent pay increases, at the same time the regional airline is asking pilots and flight attendants to accept pay freezes.
The vote by about 360 mechanics is the first test for new Comair President Fred Buttrell's drive to make the airline more competitive.
Buttrell has told Comair's 6,000 employees they must work together to improve profits, operating reliability and customer service after a nationwide shutdown of Comair's flights Christmas Day cost $20 million. Comair is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines Inc.
Neither Comair nor the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers would disclose details of the tentative five-year contract. Hourly base wages for Comair mechanics now range from $12.01 to $21.97.
Mechanics in Cincinnati, Akron/Canton, Dayton, Orlando, Fla., and Lexington, Ky., are to vote Sunday through Wednesday, with results to be tallied later next week.
Buttrell proposes reducing outside maintenance work, giving it to Comair mechanics at new facilities in Akron-Canton, Greensboro, N.C., Lexington, Knoxville, Tenn., and Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
Comair, based at Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport, operates 164 regional jets and serves 119 cities in the United States, Canada and the Bahamas.
Buttrell took over less than a month after the failure of the computer system used for flight crew assignments forced Comair to cancel its more than 1,100 daily flights on Christmas.
One of his key proposals is the wage freeze for Comair's 1,900 pilots and 1,000 flight attendants. He says the concessions are needed to allow Comair to buy at least 35 new jets, including 25 larger 70-seat aircraft.
Without a deal to buy the new planes, the current contracts for pilots and flight attendants will be left unchanged, Buttrell said.
Comair's pilots are higher paid than those at comparable airlines, as the result of a contract they received after going on strike in 2001.
According to figures compiled by Air Inc., an Atlanta-based company that tracks pilots' salaries, Comair pays a second-year pilot $35,688 annually, and top pay after 18 years is $108,600. Atlantic Southeast Airlines, another Delta-owned regional carrier, pays a second-year pilot $25,560 and top pay of $98,484.
The Air Line Pilots Association and Teamsters Local 513, which represents flight attendants, declined to comment on the proposed pay increase for mechanics.
Buttrell has asked for a pay freeze from pilots through May 2007 and from attendants through July 2008. He said he and other top company officers will take 10 percent pay cuts starting March 1.
Associated Press
Comair Mechanics' Contract Vote a Key Step
02.08.2005, 06:23 PM
Comair mechanics will vote next week on a union-recommended contract that includes 2 percent pay increases, at the same time the regional airline is asking pilots and flight attendants to accept pay freezes.
The vote by about 360 mechanics is the first test for new Comair President Fred Buttrell's drive to make the airline more competitive.
Buttrell has told Comair's 6,000 employees they must work together to improve profits, operating reliability and customer service after a nationwide shutdown of Comair's flights Christmas Day cost $20 million. Comair is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines Inc.
Neither Comair nor the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers would disclose details of the tentative five-year contract. Hourly base wages for Comair mechanics now range from $12.01 to $21.97.
Mechanics in Cincinnati, Akron/Canton, Dayton, Orlando, Fla., and Lexington, Ky., are to vote Sunday through Wednesday, with results to be tallied later next week.
Buttrell proposes reducing outside maintenance work, giving it to Comair mechanics at new facilities in Akron-Canton, Greensboro, N.C., Lexington, Knoxville, Tenn., and Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
Comair, based at Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport, operates 164 regional jets and serves 119 cities in the United States, Canada and the Bahamas.
Buttrell took over less than a month after the failure of the computer system used for flight crew assignments forced Comair to cancel its more than 1,100 daily flights on Christmas.
One of his key proposals is the wage freeze for Comair's 1,900 pilots and 1,000 flight attendants. He says the concessions are needed to allow Comair to buy at least 35 new jets, including 25 larger 70-seat aircraft.
Without a deal to buy the new planes, the current contracts for pilots and flight attendants will be left unchanged, Buttrell said.
Comair's pilots are higher paid than those at comparable airlines, as the result of a contract they received after going on strike in 2001.
According to figures compiled by Air Inc., an Atlanta-based company that tracks pilots' salaries, Comair pays a second-year pilot $35,688 annually, and top pay after 18 years is $108,600. Atlantic Southeast Airlines, another Delta-owned regional carrier, pays a second-year pilot $25,560 and top pay of $98,484.
The Air Line Pilots Association and Teamsters Local 513, which represents flight attendants, declined to comment on the proposed pay increase for mechanics.
Buttrell has asked for a pay freeze from pilots through May 2007 and from attendants through July 2008. He said he and other top company officers will take 10 percent pay cuts starting March 1.