January 13, 2006 - Yet another Alaska Airlines aircraft parked harmlessly at a gate at Seattle’s SEA-TAC Airport has fallen victim to Alaska’s subcontracting of ramp service work.
Airport authorities are conducting an investigation into the latest accident on January 6, involving ground equipment and an Alaska Airlines aircraft. This is in addition to the investigation over the recent incident that caused a dramatic in-flight depressurization of an Alaska Airlines aircraft.
The IAM continues to negotiate with Alaska over their subcontracting our members’ work, and we are still pursuing relief in federal court. Despite cost effective proposals to return the work to IAM members, we are being met with stubborn resistance. Following last week’s in-flight emergency, the IAM again raised concerns over the quality of work provided by the subcontractor.
Alaska Airlines Vice President of Employee Services Dennis Hamel responded that not only was the company satisfied with the SEA-TAC operation, but they were “very satisfied.”
The IAM is very concerned to learn that Alaska Airlines is very satisfied that ground equipment has developed magnetic attractions to its aircraft. A recent KING-5 news investigation in Seattle revealed that since Alaska subcontracted IAM members’ work, citations for speeding and reckless driving increased 285 percent at Alaska.
