Trustee Update – July 8, 2024

Allegiant Air Pilots:

Last week, I was in Sanford with Josh Allen and Jay Killen, and we had a great turnout, with sixty pilots in attendance. This week, we will meet in St Pete, Punta Gorda, and Nashville. If possible, please stop in.

Negotiations

Why didn’t we get a contract in June like the company said we could?

The short answer is that what the Company proposed in June was and still is, concessionary, full of loopholes, and below what you should expect in your contract.

To explain why that was the company narrative and why two former members of the negotiations committee were aggressively amplifying the message, I’ll recap some key developments over the last few months:

• In late April, I heard through John Owens that he was planning on receiving a “comprehensive outline scheduling pass” from the company. After removing him from his position, I learned that the company was also planning to pass pay rates.
• After I heard of this plan, I asked Bill Fishburn and Greg Anderson to refrain from passing pay rates at that time. That’s because we need get through the main scheduling pieces before turning to compensation – Allegiant pilots should not have to give up working conditions for wages, i.e., pay for their own compensation increases.
• On May 9th, during a Zoom call with the NMB and Company, management passed the “Company Comprehensive Closeout Term Sheet Package Supposal.” That’s a mouthful. To be crystal clear, the term sheet that was passed and the company’s current position are concessionary.
• In negotiations, the week of May 20th, the company reiterated what was written in that “supposal.” And that states:

“The economics are not intended or proposed to be an anchor, but instead are directly correlated to, and offered only as part of, the union’s acceptance of the proposed scheduling and operational changes”

The company also said that if we didn’t get a contract by the end of June, the NMB would not offer further mediation sessions. This contradicted what had already been pledged to the Union – August mediation dates. But it was Allegiant’s sly ploy to try to divide the pilot group, pressure your negotiators, and pressure you to pressure your negotiators and cause the pilot group to accept a concessionary agreement.

• The company doubled down on this strategy during mediation the week of June 10th: demanding concessions on scheduling, operational and other issues (like trading away the “Bloch Arbitration” Scheduling award) to pay for substandard compensation increases. Side note: The company acknowledged that it had not even programmed or tested the “new” post-concession Solver they were demanding the Union agree to in exchange for inadequate compensation increases.

Despite what the company was trying to do (and the efforts of a small number of pilots trying to divide the pilot group during a critical time in negotiations), your Negotiation Committee kept its head down and put in the work. Now we have additional mediation dates on the schedule for August and beyond to use as we need them. We are in the testing phases within NavBlue PBS software with the help of our subject matter experts and made proposals to preserve and improve working conditions. Meetings with the company and our economists are moving forward this month and Union negotiators are continuing to work daily on additional proposals covering all remaining open sections of the contract.

We will not cave to the company’s transparent tactics.

The company is banking on pilots having negotiation fatigue and will continue to push their narrative. But we have a clear pathway to an agreement that is not concessionary and will pay you what you deserve.

The long and short of it is: We are ready to negotiate a fair contract for all pilots that honors the pilot’s investment of their careers at Allegiant and captures the unique business model that is Allegiant.

Meet the Negotiating Committee

Jon Wentz, Esq.
Lead Negotiator/Attorney

Jon is an expert Railway Labor Act negotiator and attorney with over two decades of contract negotiation experience, including with United Airlines, Net Jets, Atlas/Polar, Aloha, and Air Canada. John holds a BA from the University of Dayton, an MA from Rutgers University in Management and Labor Relations, and a JD from Ohio State University.

Captain Josh Allen
Negotiating Committee Chair

A nine-year Allegiant Captain, Josh started his union volunteer work with the Family Awareness committee at Express Jet. As a Teamster, he was elected as a Steward. After four years as a Steward, Josh joined the Contract Study Committee and was promoted to the Negotiating Committee in 2021. Josh holds a BS in Commercial Aviation from UND.

Captain Jay Killen
Member

An eight-year Allegiant Captain, Jay held several union positions at his previous carrier, including LEC FO rep, LEC Secretary-Treasurer, and Chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee. Jay worked as a Teamster on the Contract Study Committee and was placed on the Allegiant Negotiating Committee in 2021.

Captain JR Lynch
Chief of Staff

A nine-year Captain at Allegiant at his tenth base. In his position, JR provides administrative support for the committee and is a valued voice at the table. With nearly eleven years of military service as an infantryman, Air Traffic Controller, and aviator. JR holds an MBA and Master of Education Degree with an emphasis in Instructional Design for Adult Learners.

Captain Jim Cole
Recording Analyst

A four-year captain at Allegiant, Jim manages the recordkeeping and note-taking for the committee. His attention to detail has been invaluable to us. Jim previously flew the B-747 and Erj-75 for two different airlines. Jim’s extensive negotiating experience was earned running a corporate flight department and managing a 50-plus location franchise business.

Kyle Schoembs
Senior Transportation Analyst, Teamsters

Kyle has costed contracts for dozens of carriers, including United Airlines, Atlas, Net Jets, Southwest, Aloha Air Cargo, Horizon Air and Sun Country. Kyle is respected for his work by both sides of the table. He holds an MA in Economics from George Washington University.

Subject Matter Experts (SME’s)

Mark Roberts
PBS Subject Matter Expert

Mark helped implement PBS with NAV Blue at Horizon Air and has also worked with multiple Major U.S. pilot groups on PBS implementation and scheduling systems.

Captain Stephen Clausen
PBS Committee

Captain Ben Phillips
401K Committee

Hemant Berry, CEBS
Director, Teamsters Benefits and Pension Administration

Hemant has helped institute some of labor’s most important benefits packages. He is working with us on Insurance and LTD improvements and providing resources from the IBT for our negotiations.

Matt Barton
Airline Economist

Matt is a consultant and economist in the aviation industry. He served as a financial advisor to creditors and other stakeholders in the bankruptcies of United Airlines, American Airlines, and Sun Country Airlines. He participated directly in the business and network restructuring of China Southern, Shenzhen Airlines, and Cebu Pacific Air. Matt worked with me as an economist in negotiations at Horizon Air and Atlas Air. He is an expert route analyst who helped us form a strategy regarding the Viva Aerobus Joint Venture and is helping us craft language for our contract. Earlier in his career, Matt worked for US Airways, responsible for pricing new international routes between the US and Europe. He holds an MBA from London Business School (LSE) and a BA from the University of California.

Cole Scandaglia
Senior Legislative Representative and Policy Advisor, Teamsters

We work with Cole daily to follow every development that may apply to the Viva Aerobus JV in government and every other DC issue. Cole aggressively advocates on our behalf with Congress and government agencies. In 2022, Cole wrote comments for LU 2118’s opposition to the JV after Local 2118 failed to follow the proper cited law, format, and procedures to get their version posted. Cole has advocated for pilots his whole career, first at AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department (TTD), working with ALPA, and now at the IBT. He was appointed to US DOT’s Transforming Transportation Advisory Committee last year. He holds an MA in Public Policy from American University.

Fraternally,

Greg Unterseher, Trustee