American Airlines pilots might strike, but not quite yet

Pilots for American Airlines have voted to approve a strike, if the negotiations currently taking place are not fruitful.

Members of the Allied Pilots Association union employed by American were offered a raise to match the market rate set by Delta Air Lines earlier this year that raised pay by more than 30%. But American Airlines pilots are pushing the airline to change its scheduling methods and rules, arguing that it’s necessary for pilots’ well-being and to avoid flight cancellations and delays.

“The summer travel season is almost here, and we’re all wondering whether this will be another summer of uncertainty for American Airlines,” APA President Ed Sicher said in a statement Monday. “By embracing the win-win scheduling and work rule improvements APA has presented at the bargaining table, management can take steps to improve the airline’s operational reliability and efficiency.”

American Airlines management said in an e-mailed statement that only a “handful of matters” remain unresolved in bargaining.

“We remain confident that an agreement for our pilots is within reach and can be finalized quickly. The finish line is in sight,” the company said.

American is the largest carrier out of the Philadelphia International Airport by a wide margin. It transported more than 16.1 million passengers from the airport in 2022 — in second-place was Frontier, with 2.8 million.

It’s also the 11th largest employer in Philadelphia and among the top 50 largest employers in Pennsylvania. So naturally, a lot of people are wondering what this vote means.

The pilots are in collective bargaining for a new contract, and one of the issues is how American manages flight schedules. According to pilot Dennis Tajer, the current system contributes to burnout, requires the airline to keep large numbers of pilots on standby, and makes it more likely for flights to get canceled or delayed.

“We’re telling management we know that’s not going to work,” said Tajer. “They’re selling tickets for a schedule that we don’t believe they’ll be able to service reliably.”

Now is a key time for these decisions to be made, he said, because the annual summer travel boom is coming. Tajer pointed to last summer, when the airline ended up canceling more than 4% of flights.

“Having a summer like we had last summer, it’s a slow bleed and you don’t know when it’s going to happen,” he said.

According to the union, American Airlines has more than 15,000 pilots in the APA.

Their strike authorization voting was open for a month, concluding April 30. With more than 96% of the APA membership participating, more than 99% voted in favor of authorizing a strike.

That’s not clear. Federal law places strict requirements on collective bargaining between airlines and pilots, and a specific sequence of events must occur and fail before a strike can begin. These steps may involve mediation, arbitration, a cooling-off period, or even action by U.S. Congress and the president.

Negotiations are continuing for now. If it did reach the point of an actual strike, passengers would be notified of the strike’s start date before it occurs, Tajer said.

“We understand that a strike authorization vote is one of the important ways pilots express their desire to get a deal done, and we respect the message of voting results,” the statement from American Airlines said. “Importantly, the results don’t change our commitment or distract us from working expeditiously to complete a deal.”

Without knowing if or when a strike would actually happen, it’s hard to answer this question definitively.

The union contends that a great risk to passengers’ travel plans was already present, Tajer said, because of the airline’s current scheduling methods.

There’s precedent for the union and airline management working together to improve scheduling operations. Last year, they agreed on a double-pay arrangement for holiday season flights, and the arrangement led to more pilot availability and fewer flight interruptions.

Members of the Southwest Airlines Pilot Association opened a strike authorization vote on Monday, as those pilots also seek a contract competitive with Delta’s. The union members are expected to approve a strike.

Southwest management told the Associated Press that negotiations with the pilots are scheduled to continue this week.

About 1.1 million Southwest passengers traveled out of Philadelphia last year.