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Labor Issues Loom For Alaska Airlines-Virgin America Merger

The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday cleared the merger of Alaska Airlines and Virgin America on conditions.
Alaska Airlines
The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday cleared the merger of Alaska Airlines and Virgin America on conditions.

Unionized pilots at Alaska Airlines and recently acquired Virgin America pulled off a virtual barrel roll Wednesday to get management's attention. The union complains that talks to combine both pilot groups under what they hope will be a more generous joint contract aren't moving fast enough.

The Air Line Pilots Association blasted out a statement during the middle of an Alaska Air Group quarterly earnings conference call.

"It’s time for Alaska management to show that they are committed to their guiding principles and to their pilots," part of the statement read.

CEO Brad Tilden came on the line with Wall Street analysts and media to respond.

"Things are changing in the industry,” Tilden said. “I think they're changing at Alaska with this merger. Things are moving fast. So expectations are changing. I think people are a little more on edge. We're showing signs of that. That's what is going on right now."

Tilden said one thing that hasn't changed is the value his company places on a good working relationship with its labor unions. Tilden insisted during the earnings call that the integration of Virgin America "continues to progress well."

The pilots’ union and Alaska Airlines resume negotiations with help of a mediator next month.

Seattle-based Alaska Air Group Wednesday reported solid earnings for the first quarter of 2017. Profits were lower compared to the same quarter a year ago because of higher fuel prices and costs related to its merger with Virgin America.

Copyright 2017 Northwest News Network

Correspondent Tom Banse is an Olympia-based reporter with more than three decades of experience covering Washington and Oregon state government, public policy, business and breaking news stories. Most of his career was spent with public radio's Northwest News Network, but now in semi-retirement his work is appearing on other outlets.
Tom Banse
Tom Banse covers national news, business, science, public policy, Olympic sports and human interest stories from across the Northwest. He reports from well known and out–of–the–way places in the region where important, amusing, touching, or outrageous events are unfolding. Tom's stories can be found online and heard on-air during "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered" on NPR stations in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.