Breeze
February 18, 2003, 06:51 AM
Note: Recently, the Export Development Corporation loaned 100 million dollars to Comair, so that it may buy Bombardier CRJ-700 series aircraft. Since the Canadian taxpayer is patronizing foreign airlines that run direct transborder competition with Air Canada Jazz, I though it might be interesting to find out just how much these flight attendants earn. How much did their pay increase in the post Sept 11 environment?
Comair union approves contract
By James Pilcher, jpilcher@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Comair's flight attendants Friday strongly approved their first-ever contract, bringing four years of sometimes contentious talks to a harmonious close.
The deal makes the airline's 680 flight attendants, about 600 of whom are stationed here, among the highest-paid in the regional airline industry.
A rejection of the deal would have raised the specter of more labor unrest at Erlanger-based Comair, which last year suffered through an 89-day pilot strike that shut down operations for more than three months.
The strike cost the carrier and its corporate parent Delta Air Lines nearly $500 million in expenses and lost revenues. Comair restarted operations just over a year ago.
It's the first contract for the airline's branch of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which organized in June 1998 and began talks six months later.
“Just having a contract now is a big step, much less everything we got in it,” said Victoria Gray, international representative for the Teamsters, who was one of the lead negotiators in the talks. “It now puts everything down on paper. And it goes beyond that — we think the regionals are as a rule woefully underpaid, and this goes a long way toward rectifying that.”
Of the 647 flight attendants eligible to vote on the five-year pact, 88 percent did so. The final tally was 368 in favor and 178 opposed.
The voting was conducted by mail over the last two weeks; ballots were counted Friday in the Teamsters' airline offices in Los Angeles.
“I'm glad such a high number turned out to vote for it,” Ms. Gray said. “I'm sure there are those who feel we could have gotten more, but this shows the support of the membership as a whole.”
The deal comes at a time when airlines continue to hemorrhage money following the Sept. 11 attacks. Delta reported Thursday a $186 million loss in the second quarter.
And the union had started getting impatient.
In March, the flight attendant union called for a release from talks and for the National Mediation Board, the agency that oversees labor issues in the airline and railroad industries, to begin the countdown toward a strike.
“Comair flight attendants demonstrate their commitment to our customers every day by providing excellent service,” Comair president Randy Rademacher said in a statement. “We are pleased to have a new contract with this dedicated group of professionals.”
Comair officials would not comment further on the vote.
The deal calls for raises of 44-66 percent over the life of the pact, or an average of about 8-10 percent a year. It now will be possible for a senior flight attendant to eventually earn $42,000 annually.
Flight attendants previously had starting wages of about $20 an hour, with federal regulations limiting flight time to 1,000 hours a year. Senior flight attendants previously earned about $29 hourly.
In addition, the contract includes provisions for total pay over the course of a trip or a day if certain limits are exceeded, called “rigs” — a first for any flight attendant at the regional level.
And it pays each flight attendant $400 for each year of service at Comair, to help make up for the loss of a profit-sharing program that was eliminated when Delta purchased the carrier in January 2000.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?O1B722283
Brz
Comair union approves contract
By James Pilcher, jpilcher@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Comair's flight attendants Friday strongly approved their first-ever contract, bringing four years of sometimes contentious talks to a harmonious close.
The deal makes the airline's 680 flight attendants, about 600 of whom are stationed here, among the highest-paid in the regional airline industry.
A rejection of the deal would have raised the specter of more labor unrest at Erlanger-based Comair, which last year suffered through an 89-day pilot strike that shut down operations for more than three months.
The strike cost the carrier and its corporate parent Delta Air Lines nearly $500 million in expenses and lost revenues. Comair restarted operations just over a year ago.
It's the first contract for the airline's branch of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which organized in June 1998 and began talks six months later.
“Just having a contract now is a big step, much less everything we got in it,” said Victoria Gray, international representative for the Teamsters, who was one of the lead negotiators in the talks. “It now puts everything down on paper. And it goes beyond that — we think the regionals are as a rule woefully underpaid, and this goes a long way toward rectifying that.”
Of the 647 flight attendants eligible to vote on the five-year pact, 88 percent did so. The final tally was 368 in favor and 178 opposed.
The voting was conducted by mail over the last two weeks; ballots were counted Friday in the Teamsters' airline offices in Los Angeles.
“I'm glad such a high number turned out to vote for it,” Ms. Gray said. “I'm sure there are those who feel we could have gotten more, but this shows the support of the membership as a whole.”
The deal comes at a time when airlines continue to hemorrhage money following the Sept. 11 attacks. Delta reported Thursday a $186 million loss in the second quarter.
And the union had started getting impatient.
In March, the flight attendant union called for a release from talks and for the National Mediation Board, the agency that oversees labor issues in the airline and railroad industries, to begin the countdown toward a strike.
“Comair flight attendants demonstrate their commitment to our customers every day by providing excellent service,” Comair president Randy Rademacher said in a statement. “We are pleased to have a new contract with this dedicated group of professionals.”
Comair officials would not comment further on the vote.
The deal calls for raises of 44-66 percent over the life of the pact, or an average of about 8-10 percent a year. It now will be possible for a senior flight attendant to eventually earn $42,000 annually.
Flight attendants previously had starting wages of about $20 an hour, with federal regulations limiting flight time to 1,000 hours a year. Senior flight attendants previously earned about $29 hourly.
In addition, the contract includes provisions for total pay over the course of a trip or a day if certain limits are exceeded, called “rigs” — a first for any flight attendant at the regional level.
And it pays each flight attendant $400 for each year of service at Comair, to help make up for the loss of a profit-sharing program that was eliminated when Delta purchased the carrier in January 2000.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?O1B722283
Brz