DENVER – Frontier Airlines pilots are demanding the company pay them overdue raises.
The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) filed a grievance against the airline, demanding the company negotiate new pay rates under an agreement reached in 2011 where Frontier pilots sacrificed $55 million in pay and benefits to save the airline.
Under that agreement, known as LOA 67, the pilots agreed to several cuts including a reduction in 401(k) contributions, sick pay, vacation accruals and a delay in scheduled pay increases.
In return, Frontier management agreed to return a substantial portion of its future profits to those employees who sacrificed during the restructuring, said the ALPA.
According to ALPA, Frontier and its private owners, Indigo Partners, are now refusing to negotiate with the pilots, now that its profit margins are among industry leaders.
“We did not invest $55 million in cost savings to Frontier for free. We demanded an negotiated a future return on investment when the company became profitable, in the form of equity ownership and increased compensation,” said Captain Brian Ketchum, chairman of ALPA’s Frontier Master Executive Council said in the release posted online Monday. “The company is now attempting to shirk their responsibilities to this pilot group who saved the airline from ruin.”
In that release, The ALPA said Frontier is claiming it is currently operating in a challenging economic environment and that business conditions do not permit them to offer pay increases at this time.
Denver7 reached out to Frontier for comment on the grievance. Frontier sent us this statement Tuesday.
“We are currently in Section 6 negotiations under the Railway Labor Act as our collective bargaining agreement became amendable in March 2016.
We also have an obligation under LOA 67 to negotiate upward pay adjustments based on business conditions. Negotiations are on-going. ALPA filed a grievance regarding our response to their LOA 67 proposal, and that grievance will be processed in accordance with our contract. We think all parties interest are better served by productive interaction at the bargaining table.”