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Pilot dispute
forcing United to ax
hundreds of flights
The airline says no Hawaii
From staff and wire services
service is affected by what the
carrier is saying is a refusal
to work overtimeUnited Airlines said it canceled 197 of its 2,400 flights today, with bad weather and a dispute with pilots sharing the blame.
The airline's parent, Chicago-based UAL Corp., said it had to cancel flights today and yesterday because some pilots are opting not to work overtime after a lack of progress in contract talks.
The Air Line Pilots Association, however, said the world's largest airline has been understaffed for months and it is just using the contract talks as an excuse.
Crew shortages led the airline to cancel about 150 flights nationwide yesterday and United said it canceled about 230 more of yesterday's flights because of the weather, mainly at the airline's main hub airport, Chicago's O'Hare, the airline said. The bad weather continued to cause cancellations today. As of this morning, no Hawaii flights had been canceled, said Joe Hopkins, a United spokesman.
Hopkins said the airline could not say how long the disruptions might last. United issued a statement saying it is not in a labor dispute but some pilots have chosen not to work overtime, "as they are entitled to do."
A spokesman for the union, which represents about 10,000 pilots, denied there was any organized effort to refuse overtime work. He said the crew shortages are the result of a pilot shortage that United pilots have been saying was imminent for about a year.
"Now that that shortage has become reality, the company is blaming the United pilots for its own inability to properly staff and manage this airline," said Rick Dubinsky, a pilot who is chairman of the United pilots' unit of the Air Line Pilots Association.
United and its pilots union are negotiating a contract with a federal mediator. The union has said wages, job security and benefits have remained sticking points.
Either way, United spokesman Andy Plews said the airline has had to take steps to cope with the shortage. "We are fine-tuning our schedule of 2,400 flights and canceling flights up to a week ahead in advance, then notifying customers so they can make other plans," Plews said.
Among today's cancellations were 63 flights into and out of San Francisco International Airport.
Under federal law, airline contracts do not expire and most airline workers are prohibited from striking unless they receive permission from the National Mediation Board.
Star-Bulletin reporter Russ Lynch,
the Associated Press and Bloomberg News
contributed to this report.
