US Airways faces union resistance

PITTSBURGH, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Flight-attendant unions are resisting US Airways' proposal to save $116 million by altering pension plans and formulas to calculate vacation and sick days.

The full-service carrier presented its first offer to the 5,400-member Association of Flight Attendants last week, proposing new rules for accrual of sick time, holidays and vacations akin to those in place at discount rival JetBlue Airways, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. The offer also refers to possible pay cuts.

"There is probably little, if anything, in the company's proposal that most flight attendants would agree to," union President Perry Hayes wrote in a letter to members Friday.

Teddy Xidas, president of the Pittsburgh-based Local 40 of the AFA, which represents 1,200 flight attendants, said the union had already decided several weeks ago to exclude discussion of "JetBlue work rules."

Flight attendants agreed to new contract negotiations July 14. To cut expenses by $1.5 billion to avoid defaulting on government loans, US Airways wants all labor groups to agree to concessions totaling $800 million by Sept. 15.