Release #01.14
March 12, 2001

TEMPE, AZ -- The cockpit crew members from America West Airlines will conduct informational picketing on Wednesday to protest the lack of progress in labor contract talks.

Picketers will be at the America West Airlines corporate headquarters, 111 West Rio Salado, Tempe, on Wednesday, March 14, 10 a.m.- 2 p.m., at which time there will be an additional contingent of pilots providing informational leaflets to America West passengers at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix.

AWA crewmembers, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), and management have been in contract negotiations for 13 months. The pilots are frustrated with management’s refusal to commit fully to reaching a fair contract in a timely manner.

"We want to show management and the traveling public that we support our Negotiating Committee as we work toward achieving a contract that provides fair wages, a retirement plan, returns sanity to our scheduling practices, and improves job security for the dedicated pilots of America West Airlines," said Capt. Roger Cox, chairman of the America West ALPA unit.

"Our current contract is six years old and became amendable on May 5, 2000. The contract was negotiated during the company’s emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. America West has grown subsequently and reported record profits over the last six years. The pilots of America West have remained dedicated to the success of America West. Management has a responsibility to negotiate fair contracts with the employees who sacrificed to save the airline during the bankruptcy of 1991," Cox said.

America West, based in Tempe, AZ., employs more than 1800 crewmembers. AWA is the ninth-largest U.S. passenger airline, operating scheduled service from Phoenix, AZ., Las Vegas NV., and Columbus, OH. ALPA is the world’s oldest and largest pilot union, representing 59,000 pilots at 49 airlines in the U.S. and Canada. Its Web site is at http://cf.alpa.org.

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ALPA CONTACT: John Mazor (703) 481-4440