American Airlines is offering a three-year pay deal to its maintenance technicians and crew chiefs at London Heathrow Airport. Although the deal is a raise, it's below inflation. As a result, 98% of the engineers voted to reject the airline's proposal and to strike.
Heathrow engineer strike
Although the airline has experienced a solid post-pandemic recovery, it is proposing a three-year reduction in wages for its maintenance technicians and crew chiefs working in London. These teams are responsible for the aircraft that service American's 23 daily departures from LHR.
“Amid a cost-of-living emergency, American Airlines is proposing that our members accept a three year pay cut. That is simply unacceptable. As the strength of this vote shows, our members are rock solid and ready to strike for a fair deal. American Airlines has boasted of its strong growth and post-pandemic rebound so let’s see that translate into a better deal for the workforce.​ Our American Airlines members have Unite’s total support during these strikes." - Sharon Graham, General Secretary, Unite​​​​​​
Unite is a union that represents staff from both United Airlines and American Airlines. Sharon Graham made it clear that American Airlines staff wanting to strike have the union's full support.
The proposed deal from the airline would see maintenance technicians' salaries reduced by 5.3% in the first year and a 3.8% reduction for crew chiefs. In the second year, all staff would receive lump sum cash payments, and pay would be frozen for the third year.
"American Airlines’ passengers are facing severe disruption because the company is offering a significant pay cut. American Airlines must return to the negotiation table with an offer our members can accept.” - Joe McGowan, Regional Officer, Unite
It is no surprise that workers voted in favor of a strike and do not want to accept American's proposal. Inflation in the U.K. currently sits at 12.3%. Additionally, American posted record revenue in Q2 2022. Currently, dates have not been set for the strikes, but an announcement will be made in the coming days.
Recent American Airlines news
The United States Department of Justice and JetBlue, and American Airlines are currently in trial over the Northeast Alliance. The Northeast Alliance was formed by American and JetBlue almost two years ago, and the DOJ argues that the alliance reduces competition in the northeast United States. Further, it claims that the partnership creates a defacto merger between the two airlines.
JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes took the stand last week, and American Airlines CEO took the stand this week. While on the stand, Isom clarified that although both airlines had operations in certain airports, operations remained separate.
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The DOJ's lawyers also claimed that competition was eliminated in transcontinental markets because both airlines offer a lie-flat seat on some transcon routes. When asked about JetBlue's Mint product, Isom claimed he did not know JetBlue also offered a lie-flat product. Although the Spirit - JetBlue merger is not part of this trial, the District Court's ruling on the NEA could set a precedent for the potential merger.