Swiss European Air Lines (SWU, Zurich) will operate B777-300(ER)s on behalf of parent Swiss (LX, Zurich) when they begin arriving in 2016 following the collapse of labour agreement talks with Swiss' two main rival pilot unions, IPG and Aeropers.
Schweiz am Sonntag reports that Swiss has since 2012 been in talks with both unions in a bid to see both camps operating under one universal labour contract. IPG, which is aligned towards Swiss European Airlines, and Aeropers, which is aligned towards Swiss International, have both had differing labour contracts since the company's inception.
Following rounds of difficult negotiations, a compromise agreement - GAV14 - was arrived at in late 2013 entailing the creation of an integrated Swiss European & Swiss International pilot corps, the efficient introduction of the new Bombardier CS100 and Boeing 777 aircraft types, the securing of cockpit jobs and the establishment and development of the company’s new Geneva crew base.
However, while management and union executives had agreed to the proposal, a recent vote by the unions scuttled the whole deal. While IPG members voted for the agreement, Aeropers members rejected it arguing that the airline's plans to use Swiss European pilots to fly the 777s was tantamount to "outsourcing". Aeropers members stand to lose the most given that the 777s will replace the A340-300s, most of whose flight crews are Aeropers members.
"Operating the Boeing 777 outside the GAV represents not only an attack on the Airbus pilot corps, but also a clear and definitive renunciation of the social partnership by the management of Swiss," Henning M. Hoffmann, managing director of Aeropers, said. "It sounds like you want to punish Aeropers and its members for rejecting the new collective bargaining agreement."
Aeropers went on to argue that management's planned reduction of Swiss' A319-100 and A320 fleets would benefit Swiss European Airlines pilots at the expense of Swiss International crew, given that the latter would likely be subjected to job cuts.
The union also took a swipe at management's proposed cuts which entailed longer working hours, shorter vacations and less generous pension packages.
With no compromise likely to be found anytime soon, Swiss will likely run out the clock given that IPG’s existing labour agreement expires in June, while Aeropers’ own agreement is set to run until November 2016.
