AirTran Pilots’ Suit Against Union Grounded on Appeal

Former AirTran Airways pilots who claimed their union failed to represent them fairly in negotiations during the carrier’s merger with Southwest Airlines had their claims dismissed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Dec. 3 (Jamison v. Air Line Pilots, 2015 BL 396512, 11th Cir., 15-11887, 12/3/15).

The group of more than 100 pilots didn’t meet their burden under the Railway Labor Act of showing that the Air Line Pilots Association’s master executive council at AirTran acted arbitrarily or in bad faith, a three-member appeals court panel said. The MEC rejected an initial seniority list ...