Pilot who landed in Hudson takes stand in Phoenix

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-05-03-sullenberger-us-air-case_N.htm

Posted 16h 56m ago

By Dawn Gilbertson, The Arizona Republic
US Airways' pilots union, on trial in Phoenix for allegedly ignoring the interests of some its members in a dispute over merger seniority, launched its defense with some serious star power on Friday.
The US Airline Pilots Association called Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III, famed captain of the US Airways flight that successfully ditched in the Hudson River in January, as its first witness in the jury trial.

He was on the stand for less than a half-hour and immediately left the courtroom, but he packed a punch with his strong criticism of a seniority list issued by an arbitrator two years ago. Seniority is paramount for pilots as it dictates pay, work schedules, promotions, vacations and job security.

"I was shocked by its one-sidedness," Sullenberger said of the list.

The union was formed to evade the arbitrated list and instead do seniority based on a pilot's date of hire, which favors the old US Airways because it's much older than America West.

A group of former America West pilots filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court last fall over the matter and have repeatedly said the arbitrated list was final and binding and followed the old union's merger policy. They say the new union is breaching its "duty of fair representation."

FULL story at link.

Landing the plane was obviously a heroic thing to do, and now this. I bet right wing heads are exploding all over the place.

Bound to be dryer, and warmer.

Hey, and defending worker rights, to boot.

This was a textbook example of how NOT to do it; 17 year USair pilots ended up junior to new hire America West pilots. That being said, this was supposed to be binding arbitration and both groups agreed to it. It is a HUGE mess.