=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/n/a/2006/11/16/financial/= f151435S91.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, November 16, 2006 (AP) US Airways Pilots Demand Fair Contracts By AMANDA LEE MYERS, Associated Press Writer (11-16) 15:14 PST PHOENIX (AP) -- US Airways pilots are demanding fair contracts before the airline moves = to acquire rival Delta Air Lines Inc. About 200 of the pilots belonging to the Air Line Pilots Association picketed at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Thursday, a day after the company announced a hostile cash and stock bid valued at about $8.7 billion for Atlanta-based Delta. US Airways pilots work under two contracts — one for pilots who ca= me from America West Airlines after it bought US Airways when it was in bankruptcy protection in September 2005, and another for pilots who were always at US Airways. Contract negotiations began shortly after the airlines combined, and there are no deals in sight. US Airways and America West are still integrating their operations. For instance, to date only 57 percent of America West planes have been painted over with US Airways' logos, a spokesman said. At Thursday's informational picket, the solemn-faced pilots donned their Navy blue uniforms and caps, walking in a circle and carrying signs that read, "Pilots get nothing, management gets millions" and "Empty promises for a single airline." "I'm picketing to defend my career, my profession and my family," said pilot Tania Bziukiewicz. "While the company keeps us on these bankruptcy-type wages, they're making multimillions of dollars in compensation packages. That's taking advantage of employees and the situation, and we're here to let them know that we're no longer going to let them do that." US Airways Chairman and Chief Executive Doug Parker's base salary is $550,000 a year plus stock options. In August, he sold more than 270,000 shares of company stock, netting Parker more than $9 million before taxes. Parker was not available for comment Thursday. Airline spokeswoman Andrea Rader said Parker had every right to cash in those stock options. "A significant piece of his income is what we call at-risk income — that's money that he may get or may not depending on how well the company is performing," she said. "The company, as you can see, is performing quite well since the merger, and so that's where that element of his income comes from. He cashed in some of that, which he is absolutely entitled to do." She said it's understandable some US Airways employees are upset about Parker's stock options. "The careers that they signed on for are very different today than they were 20 or 30 years ago," she said. "There's been a lot of disruption in their pay scales and things. It's completely understandable that people would look at people cashing stock options and say, 'Hey.'" She said the airline will agree to a single contract for all pilots, but that it will just be a matter of time. "As you do contract negotiations, you start with the low-hanging fruit, the stuff that you can reach agreement on quickly," she said. "We're moving into some of the economic issues — wages, seniority scales. But we're absolutely interested in getting to a timely agreement, as well." Hundreds of other US Airways pilots also planned to picket at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, N.C. Prescott resident Lisa Harrs was at Sky Harbor on Thursday for a flight = to Chicago on a US Airways plane. She said she had no idea the airline's pilots were dissatisfied. But she said that each pilot deserved a fair contract. "That makes sense," she said. "If they're all part of the same entity, then everyone should be treated equally." In October, US Airways' losses shrank to $78 million, or 88 cents per share, from $99 million, or $5.74 per share, a year ago. Total revenue climbed to $2.97 billion from $929 million last year. Shares of US Airways Group Inc. rose $1.11 to $60.61 in afternoon trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. ___ On the Net: US Airways: www.USAirways.com ------------------------------------------------------= ---------------- Copyright 2006 AP