Mesaba granted court approval of pilots, flight attendants, mechanics contracts

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, Nov. 29 - Mesaba Aviation, Inc. obtained court approval to enter into amended collective bargaining agreements with its pilots, flight attendants and mechanics unions, according to a Tuesday filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota.

The company announced on Monday that all three unions ratified the contracts.

Pilots' agreement terms

The terms of the amended pilots' agreement include wage, reductions, work rule changes and other terms that will provide 15.8% in average annual cost savings for Mesaba over the first four years of its term.

Specifically:

• Mesaba and the pilots agreed to a 5% wage rate reduction to be applied across the board to all pay scales except the scale for the 60-to-69 seat jet captain scale; and a 5.5% wage rate reduction to be applied across the board to the 60-to-69 seat jet captain scale;

• The pilots agreed to forgo scheduled pay increases and replace them with increases that are based on the size of the airline's fleet over the term of the agreement, with increases ranging from 1% to 3%;

• Mesaba and the pilots agreed to various modifications to expense provisions and work rules, including freezing per diem at $1.55 per hour until Dec. 1, 2010, at which time it will be restored to $1.65; suspension of uniform allowance for 2006 and 2007, then raising it to $50 for 2008, $75 for 2009 and $235 for 2010 and thereafter; a pilot with two or more weeks of vacation in 2007 will forgo one week for calendar year 2007; a pilot who is entitled to a hotel room for long-term training may forgo the hotel room and will be paid one-half of the actual savings to the company for not incurring the expense of the room.

Also, for a period of four years, the company is not obligated to provide two weeks of hotel expenses for a pilot who is making a voluntary base move.

The parties also reached agreement on a second multi-class bid savings, the implementation of computer bidding system, a revised furlough recall procedure, increases training freezes, reduced payment for short- and long-term disability payments and lifting restrictions to continuous duty trips for one year.

Flight attendants agreement terms

The terms of the amended flight attendants' agreement also include wage reductions, work rule changes and other terms that will provide 15.8% in average annual cost savings for the first four years of its term.

Specifically:

• The company and the flight attendants agreed to a 2.7% across-the-board pay reduction and an adjustment in longevity pay accrual to 1:2 from 1:1 for a four-year period beginning Dec. 1;

• Pay increases are based on fleet size over time, ranging from 1% to 2%;

Pay increases are as follows:

• Additional pay increases will be triggered by greater fleet growth;

• The parties agreed to various modifications to expenses provisions and work rules, including deletion of holiday pay; reduction of per diem to $1.35 for four years, then restored to $1.50; reduction of uniform expense to $200 from $220; scheduling restriction of 30 hours in seven days lifted; elimination of unproductive continuous duty overnights; vacation credit revised; recall from furlough expedited; and short-term disability waiting period was extended and amount of benefit payment reduced to 60%.

Mechanics agreement terms

The terms of the amended mechanics' agreement include wage reductions, work rule changes and other terms that will also provide 15.8% in average annual cost savings for Mesaba over the first four years of its term.

Specifically:

• Mesaba and the mechanics agreed to an 8.5% across-the-board reduction to base pay and premiums:

• Pay increases are based on fleet size over times, ranging from 1% to 3%;

• Additional pay increases will be triggered by greater fleet growth;

• The parties agreed to various modifications to expenses and work rules, including reduction in holiday pay; elimination of four hour call-in pay; reduction of sick leave accrual and sick leave pay for four years; reduction in vacation accrual for four years; elimination of holiday pay and vacation from the calculation of overtime with vacation being restored in four years; and short-term disability waiting period extended.

Mesaba, an Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest Airlines affiliate, filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 13, 2005. Its Chapter 11 case number is 05-39258.

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