Next up on the negotiation carousel at United Airlines are the ramp workers and customer service, gate and reservation agents. The airline wants to begin negotiations for a new contract for those workers on Feb. 11.
By that time, the company and the union that represents those workers, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, are hoping that the airline’s mechanics will have voted on a contract that’s been under discussion for more than two years.
And unlike its contract battle with the 15,000 mechanics, the Elk Grove Township-based airline is hoping to achieve a quick resolution to a pact with its 30,000 ramp and customer-contact members.
For some members of the bargaining unit, a new contract is highly emotional. Like those of the airline’s mechanics, the wages of the 10,000 or so ramp, fueling and some cabin-service workers have been frozen since 1994.
The public-contact workers received a pay adjustment in April 1999 when they approved a pact that abolished a two-tier pay rate that United had created in 1994. It was the first contract won by the public-contact workers after they decided in late 1998 to join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
Once those negotiations are complete, the airline hopes it can begin meaningful discussions with the pilots, flight attendants and ground personnel about ways to cut the carrier’s cost of doing business.
Frequent-flier changes: Northwest and Continental Airlines have announced changes in their frequent-flier programs that will force travelers to spend more miles to claim a trip.
Two weeks ago, Continental said it was doing away with a program that allowed members to claim tickets for 20,000 miles, rather than the normal 25,000, during off-peak periods of the year.
This week, Northwest also said it will drop the lower-mile ticket option, but added that it is eliminating blackout periods that had prohibited members from claiming award trips.
It didn’t take long for Delta Air Lines, a competitor of Northwest and Continental, to reply. On Thursday, Delta said it is reducing the price of its SkyMiles awards trips to 20,000 miles.
Wonder how long it will be before Northwest and Continental change their mind?
Hotel trade recovering: Smith Travel Research, which tracks lodging data across the country, says hotels are continuing their slow climb back from the attacks of Sept. 11, when occupancy rates plunged some 50 percent.
Nationwide, Smith said, hotel stays are down 11.3 percent for the week ended Jan. 19 from a year ago. But upscale hotels, which cater to executives and high net-worth individuals, are continuing to have trouble. Stays at those hotels are down 17.8 percent from the same period a year ago.
In Chicago, room stays are down 12.9 percent, while they’re down 11 percent in New York and 14.7 percent in Los Angeles. Hotel stays in San Francisco and Washington continue to be extremely weak, down 41.6 percent and 41.9 percent, respectively.
But Smith researchers say they have noticed a change over the past two weeks in the patterns of stays. Since the attacks, room stays dipped during the middle of the week before climbing back on the weekends. During the past two weeks, the reverse appears to be happening, with occupancy levels highest on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“While it may be too early to tell, this could indicate that business travel may be on its way back,” said Joyce Minor, gaming and lodging analyst for Lehman Brothers Inc.
If true, that would be welcome news not only to the hotel industry but also the airline industry.
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