October 10, 1997

TROUBLE'S IN THE AIR

Pilots' airport boycott may start tomorrow

By JEREMY LOOME -- Edmonton Sun Air traffic will be reduced to a trickle at Edmonton International Airport tomorrow if commercial pilots carry out their threat of boycotting the facility.
The pilots fear flying into the airport if safety workers, who may walk off the job at 12:01 a.m. tomorrow, are replaced by inexperienced temporary staff.
"If we feel they do not have adequate training and equipment then we simply won't fly there," said Bob Flocke, a spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based Airline Pilots Association.
The association represents 48,000 jet jockeys on both sides of the border and wants to review replacement workers' skills before letting its members work at the airport.
A spokesman for Canadian Airlines International Ltd. was surprised by the pilots' position and said the airline has no contingency plan if the pilots refuse to fly to Edmonton.
The threat comes after the Edmonton Airport Authority, locked in contract talks with the Public Service Alliance of Canada, said some replacement firefighters will have just four days' training on specialized gear which full-time workers took a year to master.
The two sides broke off talks last night with no more planned. The union's last demand was for a 25% pay hike over two years, but the authority offered 11.2% over three years.
Union members now earn between about $26,000 and $62,000 a year. The 175 workers' deal lapsed 11 months ago.
The airport's safety plan for a strike has the pilots nervous.
"We're hesitant to endorse any use of part-time workers to fill such an important role," said Flocke. "While it's not impossible that they could train people for such a specialized job in just four days it seems extremely farfetched to us."
The APA is already lobbying Ottawa to ensure airport safety across Canada matches that of other nations, he said, after the feds' 1992 privatization initiative failed to guarantee it.
"Part of the certification awarded to U.S. carriers by the Federal Aviation Authority is dependent on the ground-based crews having adequate training and supervision," Flocke said, stressing they could lose that certification if they allow flights into an under-prepared Edmonton.
And even if Canadian carriers don't decide against flying to Edmonton, their pilots might, he added.
But a spokesman for the airport said the pilots should settle down. Susan Elliott said Transport Canada is "comfortable with" the authority's interim safety plan.
Canadian Airlines spokesman Jeff Angel said if Transport Canada OK's the plan, his firm probably won't plan any flight schedule changes.
WestJet spokesman Siobhan Vinish said the carrier's pilots aren't unionized so it expects to continue as usual.