American Airlines pilot penalized for sticker on plane

[emshighway]

The Associated Press

FORT WORTH, Texas -- An American Airlines pilot has been docked a month of pay for pasting a small sticker that was critical of executive bonuses on his plane's exterior.

The pilot based at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport was frustrated by comments made by Jeff Brundage, the company's vice president of human resources, according to officials with its pilots' union.

After an investigation into the May incident, the Fort Worth-based airline recently decided to suspend the pilot without pay for 30 days, a penalty worth about $12,000. The pilot's name was not released.

Michael Leone, an American pilot who is vice-chairman of the DFW chapter of the Allied Pilots Association, said the punishment is extreme, especially since the pilot apologized and said it would not happen again.

"No reasonable person would even consider placing such a financial hardship on one of our pilots and their families" for a minor infraction of company policy, Leone told union members in a memo. "The punishment clearly does not fit the crime."

Sue Gordon, an American spokeswoman, said the carrier typically does not comment on individual employee matters but said it followed normal procedures. The sticker was a violation of Federal Aviation Administration rules, according to the airline. The sticker's message was not known.

The union has asked members to donate to a fund on behalf of the pilot and so far has raised $1,100.

It was unclear which comments from Brundage upset the pilot. But many employees were angry when Brundage told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that "if they want to make what executives make, then they need to become executives." Those comments came after pilots marched at the airline's headquarters in April.

The case is the latest flare-up between American's management and employees over the bonuses, which paid about $160 million in company stock to about 800 top executives and managers in April. Employees have complained that they continue to work under reduced wages and benefits.

Hundreds of American employees protested the bonuses three months ago by marching at the company's headquarters and at airports nationwide.

Last week, AMR Corp., American's parent, reported a $317 million profit in the second quarter.

[PhilDernerJr]

"No reasonable person would even consider placing such a financial hardship on one of our pilots and their families" for a minor infraction of company policy, Leone told union members in a memo.

At 12,000 a month, the means the pilot makes $144,000 a year.

If you make that much and losing 12k of it creates that much of a hardship, then the pilots' union should really offer their members some financial counseling.

My heart bleeds.

Placing unauthorized stickers on the exterior of planes actually can create a serious safety hazard as well.

Vandalizing work equipment....this guy is lucky to still have his job.

[stuart schechter]

edit:gone

[hiss srq]

Sticker falls off from force of air passing the plane, sucks into engine. KABOOM!! IF he were to put a sticker somewhere, DONT put it where your customers can get hurt.

Not likely nor relevant. In all likelyhood the decal would not do major damage to the engine depending on how big it is. Now the real issue is that he placed it there witout company approval. I am 50/50 on this one. I have views I will not discuss here with regards to AA management back in the heartland but none the less he did what he did. Now as far as I am concerned the punishment is far too over the top for my likeing. It is a slap in the face to the employee group as a whole and shows where AA priority is. I am going to stop right there though because I feel an angered rant coming.

[USAF Pilot 07]

Disagreeing with company management and their decisions is no reason nor is it justification to "vandalize" one of their planes, or to use their equipment as a personal soapbox.

This pilot is lucky he wasn't canned, and should be counting his blessings. If he's sooo unhappy about executives making hefty bonuses, then he should either become an executive or find a job flying elsewhere....

[hiss srq]

Easy enough said by someone who is not the airline pilot or airline employee.

[PhilDernerJr]

What would that have to do with anything? What he did was ILLEGAL. You seriously think it's justified in the airline world?

[hiss srq]

No, I did not justify his actions Phil, and I did admit it is illegal. My point is some people are indiffrent to airline employees and the fact that they constantly get the blunt end of the broom stick. If the public had a better idea about this industry it would certainly help. I love this business and would be in none other but some of the things going on in this business and in particular at that airline are boarderline robbery. I am sure a nice write up would hav e suited well but since you dragged me into it. What AA did was intentional in my personal opinion. They will not give what is owed to employees theirs yet the upper management which in my opinion is overbloated and indiffrent to the industry past that they can afford the BMW they drive as long as Ch. 11 is not in their credit history at the airline. To take 12,000 dollars from a guy who is already getting the shaft of pay from an airline that can financially treat people who have earned their job top to bottom is absurd. Yet the upper idiots can take these bonuses and sleep at night. They do not do the work. The ones in the uniform do. The ones in the uniform put up with the people, irregular hours, constant disrespect, adverse situations, risk of death at work etc etc etc EVERY DAY! They need to be taken care of. So what the pilot did should not have been done but what management did as a respeonse was out of line. Let me stop myself now. So while they continue to rob the people who actually do the work in this business there kids can eat, get a good education, and live comfortably. This man will now have to worry about that, bills etc etc for the next month. Heres to ALPA!

[PhilDernerJr]

I don't understand what you mean when you say what AA did was intentional? What was intentional? Penalizing him?

how is he getting the shaft?

Can you also explain more about the "blunt end of the broom stick"? I don't see where airline pilots are tragic victims of anything.

You also blasted Clark about not being in the airline industry, even though he's an Air Force Academy grad, and you're not even a pilot yourself.

[Midnight Mike]

The airplane does not belong to the pilot, so, the pilot had no right to paste the sticker.

As for the penalty, maybe it was overboard, but, that is up to the company.

What the pilot did was stupid & unprofessional & should know better.

[hiss srq]

Intentianal. He was protesting the bonuses and over the top pay of execs and therefore he looses pay. A write up was ample enough. And Phil, airline pilots in my opinon earned where they got to and thus should be payed accordingly. They have the same amount if not more education than you average airline executive. Airline pilots and airline employees in general are victims of a rip off management style in this business currently prevadeing through it. I do not buy it. Look at airlines like Mesa or Big Sky. You spend 80+ on college plus another roughly 75 on flight school etc etc and than you barely break 20 grand for a few years. Nonsense. it should be more like 40+ and a continued climb of pay over a certian period of years. ALPA and other airline unions need to buck up and get it together. In past I used to be anti union untill I saw what unions were acutally there for in this business. Here is a time where the unions need to come to work.

[USAF Pilot 07]

Easy enough said by someone who is not the airline pilot or airline employee.

No... but I DO know that just because I may disagree with some of the decisions my "boss" (the Commander-in-Chief) has made, doesn't give me the right to go around and start sticking "F**k Bush" stickers on government property and the like.... (not that I would do that or want to do that anyway)...

Seems like this pilot has no problem taking $144,000 a year from his company, probably far more than what many of HIS peers make, but maybe it's just not enough for HIM... No one forced HIM to take a job with AA, just like no one forced anybody else working at an airline to work there... If it was so bad he should have just quit.

[PhilDernerJr]

Intentianal. He was protesting the bonuses and over the top pay of execs and therefore he looses pay. A write up was ample enough. And Phil, airline pilots in my opinon earned where they got to and thus should be payed accordingly.

Now, not to say that certain airline pilots don't go through a lot and that not all fall under this, but MANY pilots, especially with legacy airlines, pull well over 6 figures. How is that not fair? Their salaries match that of doctors who save lives and also went to school for nearly a decade.

This guy's $144k salary was, as I understand, if he flew his MINIMUM hours. Imagine if he had a BUSY month.

Medical interns also often don't make too much. But there's this thing called having a PASSION for what you do. It's called sacrifice. Just because they tough it out for a couple years making in the 20k or 30k range doesn't gather up enough pity from me to warrant 200k and 300k salaries.

I also added another line in my previous post about the Clark reference. Not sure if you started replying after I posted it.

[USAF Pilot 07]

They will not give what is owed to employees theirs yet the upper management which in my opinion is overbloated and indiffrent to the industry past that they can afford the BMW they drive as long as Ch. 11 is not in their credit history at the airline. To take 12,000 dollars from a guy who is already getting the shaft of pay from an airline that can financially treat people who have earned their job top to bottom is absurd. Yet the upper idiots can take these bonuses and sleep at night. They do not do the work. The ones in the uniform do. The ones in the uniform put up with the people, irregular hours, constant disrespect, adverse situations, risk of death at work etc etc etc EVERY DAY! They need to be taken care of.

This is the case with society though, not just the airline industry. As an example, in the Air Force, and probably the other services, it is the enlisted force that runs the show and that keeps the mission going. Yet, our enlisted force, especially the younger enlisted force, who are the ones out there working swing-shifts turning wrenches, cleaning fuel-tanks and the doing the manual "dirty" jobs, are grossly underpaid. It is because most of them love their jobs, and love being part of an organization (which many times becomes like a 2nd family) that they stay with the job, and without them, we couldn't function.

Take a look at most other industries like construction, city agencies, hell even ConEd, and you'll find that those doing the "manual" labor, keeping the day-to-day operations running smoothly, are the ones who make the least amount of money, yet without them, there would be complete failure.
What many of these people fail to realize, though, is that most of "corporate management" not only have a four-year bachelor's degree (generally from well respected and university) but usually a master's degree and sometimes even a PhD. These aren't easy, nor are they cheap, feats to achieve.

[T-Bird76]

Ryan he was defacing company property and in most companies that would result in termination, so he got off easy as far as I'm concerned. Regardless of what the labor issues are going on at AA, the flight crew has NO right to display or voice their opinion while they are working. On my last transcon flight with AA the FA's were complaining about management to passengers. Let them picket, protest or w/e but when they are on duty they should perform up the standards the airline has set forth, its as simple as that. His punishment is just and you have no argument to the contrary.

I am sure a nice write up would have e suited well but since you dragged me into it. What AA did was intentional in my personal opinion. They will not give what is owed to employees theirs yet the upper management which in my opinion is over bloated and indifferent to the industry past that they can afford the BMW they drive as long as Ch. 11 is not in their credit history at the airline.

Ryan AA's management kept AA out of Chap 11, didn't dump the pensions, and saved the airline. You can't say that about US, UAL, NW, or Delta.

To take 12,000 dollars from a guy who is already getting the shaft of pay from an airline that can financially treat people who have earned their job top to bottom is absurd.

He makes over 100,000 a year...how on earth is he getting the shaft? To bad he won't be able to afford a couple extra luxuries this year.

Yet the upper idiots can take these bonuses and sleep at night. They do not do the work. The ones in the uniform do. The ones in the uniform put up with the people, irregular hours, constant disrespect, adverse situations, risk of death at work etc etc etc EVERY DAY!

Are you serious with this statement? The upper management doesn’t work? Would you like Arpey to go load planes? Guess what?? That's not his job! His job is to plan and execute the long-term strategic plan of American Airlines. Without upper management directing lower management you don't have an airline. The bonuses at AA were agreements that if AA returned a certain value to the stockholders they would be bonuses. You may not realize it but the number one priority for any public company is to ensure a return to the shareholders. Without the shareholders again you have no airline.

They need to be taken care of. So what the pilot did should not have been done but what management did as a response was out of line. Let me stop myself now. So while they continue to rob the people who actually do the work in this business there kids can eat, get a good education, and live comfortably. This man will now have to worry about that, bills etc etc for the next month. Heres to ALPA!

Again he makes over 100,000 grand a year, I'm sure if he's smart he has enough savings for a rainy day, and if he doesn't oh well should have thought twice.