Pilots from Delta Connections carrier Atlantic Southeast Airlines picketed their management at the Columbus Municipal Airport on Tuesday.
They are dissatisfied with a five-year contract, and are demanding better pay, and an improvement in scheduling and company policies.
Air Line Pilots Association spokesman and ASA pilot Captain Rick Bernskoetter told GPB News that he hopes an upcoming pilot - management mediation in Washington on August 28th will succeed:
“We will sit down with management for the 290th time, and we would like to challenge our management to actually show up and be ready to negotiate, and be ready to hammer out the final core issues of our contract, and lets get this thing done.”Bernskoetter warns that customer service could take a nosedive if the talks do not succeed:
"Their airline service could be severely disrupted or rendered non-existent if we don't see this deal brought to a conclusion."
ASA spokesperson Kate Modolo counters:
"ASA isn't happy either about the time we've been in negotiation, because it really is in the best interests of our pilots and our customers, and of ASA to come to an agreement as expeditiously as possible."Modolo contends:
"...ASA will not enter into a contract that doesn't make sense for our people, or for our long-tern success."
ASA is currently the sole carrier to the regional airport. The airport is negotiating with other potential carriers, American Airlines among them, and is planning expansion of its facilities. More on that here.
The pilots have also picketed at airports in Albany, Panama City and Fort Walton Beach, Fla. They took their case to the airport at Dothan, Ala. Wednesday morning.
In related aviation news:
- Government and business leaders think now is the time for the Northeast Georgia Surface and Air Transportation Commission to meet after a 15-year hiatus. The idea of a regional airport in northeast Georgia is gaining steam. More on that here.
- The nation’s most consistently late flight goes from Atlanta to Chattanooga. More on that here.
