=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2003/09/23/f= inancial0908EDT0043.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, September 23, 2003 (AP) Alaska Airlines pilot union study favors early cost-cutting talks (09-23) 06:08 PDT (AP) -- SEA-g413lml1 SEATTLE (AP) -- Alaska Airlines pilots should agree to early contract negotiations on company cost-cutting proposals, according to a study by their union. The carrier, which dominates north-south routes along the West Coast, has an effective plan to return to profitability but needs "appropriate" help, according to a summary of the study released Monday by the Air Line Pilots Association. The summary, prepared by the union's financial analysis staff, did not define the word "appropriate." Representatives of Alaska's 1,500 pilots could decide as early as next week whether to ratify the recommendations and begin talks soon, said Gary Hansen, chairman of the Alaska Air Line Pilots Association Master Executive Council. Hansen would not release the findings of a pilot survey. Union officers also have held meetings for pilots to discuss the study in Seattle, Los Angeles and Anchorage, Alaska. Contract talks are scheduled to begin in March. An executive council decision is required to start earlier. Starting early would give pilots more leverage because, if an impasse develops under the later schedule, the result could be arbitration in which a third party might impose less favorable terms, Hansen said. Leaders of the Association of Flight Attendants have refused to begin contract talks early for cost-cutting purposes, saying the issue can be addressed under the regular schedule. Alaska Airlines executives are seeking $112 million in savings over the next year from worker pay cuts, benefit reductions and work rule changes to return to about average in costs among the nation's major airlines. The company expects to save $195 million more through more effective purchasing, better utilization of aircraft and other efficiencies. If workers accept pay cuts, the company will provide a bonus plan with financial rewards for reaching specified goals, executives have said. Union concessions and service reductions at larger airlines in the industry slump that began even before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, have left Alaska Airlines at the high end in costs. Alaska Airlines is one of only two major carriers that hasn't laid off pilots or cut flights since the attacks, instead adding several routes to the East Coast. For pilots the company is seeking a 23 percent cut in compensation, which ALPA estimates would be about 63 percent of the cuts proposed for all Alaska Airlines employees represented by unions, said Tara Elkins, a spokeswoman for the company's pilots union. Pilots, the best-paid unionized employees in the airline industry, make $48,000 to $181,000 a year at Alaska Airlines, flying an average of 80 hours a month in addition to time spent in preflight briefings and other work before and after flights. =20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2003 AP