During a recent call with analysts, Vasa Raja, chief commercial officer for American Airlines (AAL) -) made a promise regarding the air carrier's pilots.
"We have a real interest in making sure that they're taken care of," he said, according to a transcript of the July 20 call. "That's been how we viewed all discussions."
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Increasing Contract's Value
"My hope is that we can get something done pretty quickly," Raja said. "And no matter what, over the long run, we're going to make sure that our pilots are taking care of."
American Airlines recently announced that it increased the value of the contract offered to its pilots by more than $1 billion to match a deal made by rival United Airlines (UAL) -).
The new offer from American Airlines would bring the four-year offer’s value to around $9 billion, and match United pay rates, backpay and other benefits such as sick time and life insurance, CEO Robert Isom said in a message to pilots, CNBC reported.
The pilots were scheduled to vote on the contract on July 24, but the Allied Pilots Association, which represents American's 15,000 pilots, postponed the vote and said it will "at a date and time to be determined."
"We do not intend to move forward with a TA that simply adopts the economic aspects of the United AIP — and management’s proposal does not even do that in all respects,” the board wrote in a memo to American’s pilots, according to the Dallas Morning News.
“We have highlighted to management various quality-of-life and work-rule improvements that would bring us in line with our peers," the memo said. "Most of those items remain unaddressed in management’s most recent proposal.”
Isom told American’s pilots this weekend that he plans to maintain a target of an August ratification and have a “new quality of life” improvements to pilots by Labor Day.
Proposal to Raise Pilot Retirement Age
United CEO Scott Kirby reportedly warned that an alarming amount of pilots are passing up promotion opportunities for captain. All airplanes need a captain, and fewer captains means less flying capacity.
Among other reasons, pilots are turning down promotional opportunities is because they are associated with a more rigorous schedule, which few believe the pay justifies. New captains in particular may be prone to schedule unpredictability.
Last week, the House of Representatives passed a bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration that includes a provision raising the commercial airline pilot retirement age to 67.
In an open letter to Congress and President Joe Biden, the Allied Pilots Association, Air Line Pilots Association, and Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, said, "those advocating for raising the retirement age have not produced sufficient data relating to the safety implications of such a change,” according to Aviation Week.
Some in the US see allowing pilots to fly for two more years as a way to stem departures from the top end of commercial flight crew rosters.
But this change would bring complications, such as laws in other countries that mandate retirement at age 65, which is recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organization.
