Teamsters Airline Division, BTC Publish Analysis of Airline Industry

In their commitment to safety, the Teamsters Airline Division, in conjunction with the Business Travel Coalition (BTC), published an industry analysis following a Feb 12 hearing by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) into a Colgan Air crash outside of Buffalo, N.Y.

Through the analysis, the Teamsters Union and the BTC have raised questions about current airline industry policies and their near and long-term impacts, namely the differences in pilot compensation and experience between regional and major airlines.

The Teamsters Union and the BTC believe that there is inherent conflict in a system that does not appropriately articulate policy expectations regarding optimizing safety and minimizing cost. Furthermore, pilot-related issues are not the only area the Teamsters Union believes current practice is incompatible with optimizing safety. The Teamsters Airline Division and the BTC have previously urged that Congress take a careful look at outsourcing aircraft maintenance to offshore facilities.

The Teamster Airline Division and BTC industry analysis can be downloaded at http://businesstravelcoalition.twi.bz/b.