As Chautauqua Airlines took delivery of its first four 44-seat Embraer ERJ-140s on December 1, the Air Line Pilots Association prepared to intensify efforts to bar the Indianapolis-based airline–or any carrier other than American Eagle–from providing feed for American Airlines under the American Connection marketing identity. Lawyers for the American Eagle Master Executive Council and the airline plan to take part in arbitration hearings next month, by which time Chautauqua will have taken delivery of at least seven of the new regional jets to support its transition from TWA Express to American Connection in St. Louis.
The case represents a rare instance in which a regional airline’s pilots have invoked their collective-bargaining agreement’s scope clause in an effort to limit another regional pilot group’s flying. Fortunately for the Eagle MEC, Chautauqua’s pilots belong to the Teamsters, not ALPA, thus avoiding a potentially awkward turf war between pilot groups represented by the same union. Of course, the post-September 11 environment in the airline industry has served to exacerbate tensions, as 304 furloughed American Eagle pilots and 125 discharged Chautauqua pilots await word on a recall or look for new jobs.
