As British Airways and its UNITE union go into the third week of "industrial" action a.k.a. strike, Spirit Airlines pilots across the pond to the west walked out last Saturday over pay and benefits. Spirit Airlines strike resulted so far in hundreds of canceled flights and losses estimated at over $2 million per day for Spirit.
While the results of these actions are mixed and the final outcome is unknown, one thing is becoming clear. The unions representing airline workers in the U.S. as well as Europe are agitated after years of cuts in pay and benefits, and as the air travel demand has seen a healthy rebound, the unions are getting vocal about restoring some of the wages and benefits. This trend will likely continue while the airlines are trying to recover from the worldwide recession of 2008 and 2009.
No comments:
Post a Comment