FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Captain Dennis Tajer, 847-902-8481
ALLIED PILOTS ASSOCIATION HAS “NO CONFIDENCE” IN CEO DOUG PARKER
FORT WORTH, Texas (Feb. 14, 2017) — The Allied Pilots Association’s Board of Directors and National Officers have announced a vote of “NO CONFIDENCE” in American Airlines’ CEO, Doug Parker. A resolution passed Feb. 13 says that “the APA Board of Directors and National Officers have lost confidence in Doug Parker and his management team’s ability to successfully lead American Airlines.”
The dissatisfaction with management is not limited to pilots, who helped bring Parker and his US Airways team to American Airlines in 2013. Today, while Delta Air Lines employees are celebrating profit-sharing payouts from a pool of $1.1 billion, American Airlines flight attendants are picketing at three hub airports and company headquarters.
“Since the merger closed over three years ago, we have witnessed questionable economic and strategic decisions that have created gaps in the areas of customer satisfaction, operational performance, and revenue when compared to industry leader Delta,” said APA President Captain Dan Carey. “These gaps may have a lasting negative impact on the future profitability and success of American Airlines.”
Among the issues laid out in Monday’s resolution is management’s failure to implement and abide by the pilots’ contract and their seeming disinterest in resolving such problems.
“They can’t even pay our pilots for the work they’ve performed. When the world’s largest airline can’t figure out how to cut paychecks, you have to question how American Airlines can even consider that it’s on a path to ‘Going for Great,’” Carey said in reference to Parker’s favorite catchphrase.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was Parker skipping last week’s meeting with President Trump and other airline industry executives at the White House.
“His decision to disrespectfully not accept an invitation to meet with the President of the United States has left the APA leadership and many of our pilots amazed at the lack of judgment and leadership exhibited,” Carey said.
“Simply put, we’ve watched Mr. Parker and his team being out-managed by our competitors’ executives and have lost trust in their ability to lead and protect the interests of American Airlines employees and shareholders without partnering with American’s front-line operational leaders: American Airlines’ pilots.”
Click here to see APA’s “NO CONFIDENCE” resolution.
Founded in 1963, the Allied Pilots Association — the largest independent pilots union in the United States — is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. APA represents the 15,000 pilots of American Airlines, including several hundred pilots on full-time military leave of absence serving in the armed forces. The union’s website is www.AlliedPilots.org. American Airlines is the world’s largest passenger airline.