By Ken Otterbourg
JOURNAL BUSINESS REPORTER

 

Employees of Piedmont Aviation Inc. will be covered by a job-protection program offered by USAir Group Inc. after the merger between the two airlines becomes official.

In a letter to Piedmont employees, Edwin I. Colodny, USAir's chairman and chief executive, said that USAir will strive to fairly integrate Piedmont's 21,000 workers into its own company.

Nancy Vaughn, a spokeswoman for USAir, said that that the company's "labor protective provisions" don't guarantee everyone a job after the merger is sorted out. But she said it does mean that USAir will work hard to solve the personnel disruptions that go hand-in-hand with any large merger.

Colodny said there will be "economic benefits" for employees who are adversely affected by the merger, which combine the nation's eighth- and ninth-largest airlines.
The provision also include relocation assistance for employees forced to move and arbitration procedures for workers who feel that they have been treated unfairly.
USAir said Monday that it would buy Piedmont's stock for $1.59 billion. The merger still requires the approval of the U.S. Department of Transportation and Piedmont's shareholders.

USAir's labor protective provisions began in 1972 when Alleghany Airlines bought Mohawk Airlines, eventually forming USAir Group. The provisions have also been extended to employees of Pacific Southwest Airlines, which USAir bought in December.

Rocky Wilkinson, a spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, said, "That agreement is the standard of the industry."

He said that USAir and Piedmont each have good labor relations and that he doesn't expect that to change because of the merger.

Colodny told employees that the merger should create excitement because of the opportunities for "growth that would not be possible if each of us were to go it alone."
Piedmont and USAir are both successful regional airlines that have prospered during deregulation.
But future growth may have been hemmed in, analysts say, as the industry's larger airlines became wise to their strategies.

Ms. Vaughn said that USAir realizes the extent of concern among Piedmont's employees, but said that the company just doesn't have all the answers yet about how the combined system will operate.

The labor clause covers salaried and hourly workers at Piedmont, including those who belong to labor unions. For employees such as pilots and flight attendants, whose work assignments are based on years of experience, the labor provisions will establish a fair and equitable system of seniority, Colodny said.

 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.