The provider is quickly scaling up its freight operations.
By Zach Vasile
Unionized pilots with ultra-low-cost provider Solar Nation need to open contract negotiations.
In an announcement, the Air Line Pilots Affiliation, which represents the pilots, mentioned the leaders of the Solar Nation Grasp Government Council submitted an official discover to cut price throughout a gathering final Friday with the airline’s CEO and senior vp of flight operations.
The pilots’ present contract turns into amendable beginning in December.
In an announcement launched by ALPA, MEC Chair Captain Sam Larson mentioned a brand new labor settlement is required as a result of Solar Nation has quickly expanded its freight operations and is producing wholesome earnings.
“Our airline and the business as an entire have dramatically modified since our final contract was ratified in 2021,” Larson mentioned. “We had been popping out of COVID and nonetheless predominantly a passenger airline. We’d like a brand new settlement that displays the airline we at the moment are, and raises the usual of our contract in keeping with enhancements secured by different pilot teams.”
Solar Nation, which has its headquarters in Minneapolis, started working cargo flights for Amazon in 2020. The partnership has grown in scope since then, and shortly Solar Nation could have 20 freighters in service for Amazon Air, alongside its 45 passenger plane.
“Administration likes to remind us how Solar Nation is ‘distinctive’ within the aviation world as a result of only a few airways have the know-how and capability to conduct scheduled service, freighter, and constitution operations concurrently,” Larson continued. “We agree – however our present contract doesn’t acknowledge that uniqueness. We’d like a contract that’s as distinctive because the flying we do, and dealing with the corporate, that’s what we plan to attain.”
ALPA represents over 670 Solar Nation pilots.
Zach Vasile is a author and editor masking information in all features of business aviation. He has reported for and contributed to the Manchester Journal Inquirer, the Hartford Enterprise Journal, the Charlotte Observer, and the Washington Examiner, along with his space of focus being the intersection of enterprise and authorities coverage.
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