Cleared for takeoff? American's labor deal might not lift fliers
Plus: Push for Venus flytrap recognition enters final weeks; New hotel chain eyes airport location; Tepper cheats at Scrabble but is fun to cuddle with, his new wife says
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Threat of ‘vicious strike action’ disappears at Charlotte’s #1 airline, but travelers shouldn’t expect a boost
After four years of bitter negotiations and threats, American Airlines and its mechanics unions reached an agreement on a new labor deal last week — but experts say it might not be enough to lift Charlotte’s biggest airline out of the bottom tier of flight performance.
The deal with the unions responsible for maintenance and baggage handling comes after a rough and combative few months:
In August, a federal judge in Texas ruled that American proved that union members “conducted a concerted slowdown” and that the unions failed to “take every reasonable action to prevent or stop it,” and he ordered an injunction for them to knock it off.
In September, an American mechanic in Miami was charged with sabotaging a plane by disabling a navigation system because he was “upset over stalled union contract negotiations.” The flight to Nassau returned to the gate without incident.
In May, a union official told an airline executive at a meeting in New York: “If this erupts into the bloodiest, ugliest battle that the United States labor movement ever saw, that’s what’s going to happen.” He said relationships could get to the point where “we are going to engage in absolutely vicious strike action against American Airlines to the likes of which you’ve never seen. … We’re going to shut this place down.”
Today, though, the union is striking a different tone. Leaders of the TWU-IAM say they’ve agreed on a contract with the airline that provides benefits that are “the richest in the industry” — with raises between 4% and 18%, signing bonuses between $3,000 and $6,000, improvements to profit-sharing and maintaining affordable health insurance and job security.
American’s mechanics union likes the new labor contract, but travelers might not see much of a lift.
History of poor performance: American has long lagged behind its peers in performance measures including customer complaints, baggage handling and on-time arrivals. Sometimes the problems are seasonal and have to do with the routes the airline flies compared with competitors — but that doesn’t explain everything. For 2019, the Wall Street Journal ranked American last of nine major airlines in performance, for the third time in the last five years.
The customer experience did improve, however, toward the end of the year, after the judge ordered mechanics to do their jobs. “The part of last year that I want to remember is really the first month and the last four,” an American exec told the paper.
Effect on flights: A new labor contract might provide extra motivation for workers to keep planes and luggage moving. But just because mechanics and baggage handlers now suddenly have a spring in their step won’t necessarily mean that your plane is more likely to arrive on time or your baggage is assured of making it to your destination when you do, said industry analyst Bob Mann.
“In my opinion, the operations and competitive problems always ran deeper than TWU-IAM and still do,” he told The Ledger in an email. “Stabilizing operations could have been done starting back in 2005 in the America West era, then in 2008 in the US Airways era, and since 2014 at American. [The] same managers then and now always said they had it under control. Has anything changed?”
Charlotte stats: In Charlotte, about 87% of American flights arrived on time in November, the most recent month available, according to federal statistics. That was roughly the same as Delta and Southwest, slightly better than United, and around 10 percentage points better than JetBlue, Frontier and Spirit.
Systemwide, though, American was at the back of the pack in November in flight cancellations and was the worst for mishandled baggage, mishandled wheelchairs and scooters, and bumping passengers from oversold flights.
Final push for N.C. Venus flytrap license plate
The N.C. Botanical Garden Foundation is racing against the clock to generate enough interest for a new license plate declaring that North Carolina is “home of the Venus flytrap.”
It needs to snap up 500 deposits of $30 by Feb. 15 to show the state there’s enough support for such a specialty plate. As of late last week, the count was 408, according to a self-proclaimed “Venus flytrap enthusiast” on Reddit.
The Botanical Garden Foundation explains the idea for the plate like this:
Known around the world but only native to a 90-mile inland area around Wilmington, the Venus flytrap is a North Carolina treasure. But habitat loss and poaching are making this incredible carnivorous plant, which traps insects and uses their bodies for nutrients, harder and harder to find.
Most of the money from the sales of the plates will go toward plant preservation. North Carolina offers more than 100 different specialty plates, including ones dedicated to the state’s tobacco heritage, shag dancing and watermelon.
When the plan for the Venus flytrap plate came out last year, some guy on the internet said it meant N.C. could have a license plate boasting that we’re “first in fly-eat.”
More info: The N.C. Botanical Garden Foundation has the details here.
Today’s supporting sponsors are The McIntosh Law Firm/Carolina Revaluation Services and T.R. Lawing Realty:
Changing times at WBT radio
After The Ledger’s article last week about Charlotte media that sometimes seem to blur the lines between paid ads and editorial content, we heard back from Matt Hanlon, the senior vice president market manager for Entercom, owner of WBT radio.
At WBT, Hanson said he believes the distinction is clear to listeners. Much of the station’s weekend talk-show programming seems designed to channel business to local financial, home improvement and health-related companies. Shows include “Ask Dr. Ernst,” “At Home With Roby,” “The Bulls and Bears Show,” “The Income Strategies Show,” and “Retire(meant) for Living.”
Asked if listeners can distinguish between paid programming and editorial programming, he said: “It’s right on the website. You can see which ones are and which ones are not.”
He added that business at WBT is “wildly robust,” though it is changing with the times. “We’re not as much in the radio game as much as we are in the messaging and marketing game. That’s a better business to be in anyway. We have modified our approach to marketing to create solutions for what today’s modern needs are. That includes more digital and more reach. There’s more ways to message.” Entercom also owns 107.9 The Link (WLNK) and sports station WFNZ.
WBT is about to celebrate its 100th year, and Hanlon says that longevity is a testament to its ability to adapt to the times: “We’ve been able to do business and change the business and more than that, help the community for 100 years.”
In brief:
New all-suite hotel chain eyeing airport area: Developers are looking at building an all-suite hotel near the airport — a new brand affiliated with InterContinental Hotel Group, according to city records. The hotel brand is called Atwell Suites, and it is described as “a new upper-midscale, all-suites hotel brand that brings inspiration to every journey.” City records show developers are eyeing a 2.5-acre parcel off Queen City Drive near Sloan Drive. The trade publication Hotel Business reported last week that IHG “has revealed anticipated first markets for new-build Atwell Suites properties in Charlotte, NC; Phoenix; Denver; and the San Francisco Bay Area.”
Historic re-use: A developer has filed plans with the city to renovate the Dowd House, a historic property off Wilkinson Boulevard. It was built around 1879 by Confederate captain and farmer James C. Dowd, father of Charlotte Pipe and Foundry founder Willis Frank Dowd. A rezoning would allow commercial and office uses at the site.
Rezoning list: For the full list of rezoning petitions filed in January, check out The Ledger’s website.
Truist tech hub: Truist will put its technology and innovation hub in the same building as its HQ, the Hearst Tower/Truist Center on North Tryon Street, Truist president Bill Rogers said last week. The company was previously believed to have been scouting other locations. (Biz Journal)
Meatloaf shopping comparison: A Charlotte Observer reporter compared Charlotte-area grocery prices for five meatloaf ingredients and five other basic items and found “Aldi blew by the other stores for the lowest overall price.” Walmart and Food Lion were second and third. (Observer, subscriber-only)
WeWork phasing out kegs: WeWork is getting rid of free beer and wine nationwide, the company said last week. “The company doesn’t have kegs at all of its 600-plus locations, but they were staples of WeWork's earliest outposts.” Alcohol will still be available at WeWork happy hours and other events. (Bisnow)
Scrabble cheat? The new wife of Panthers owner David Tepper says in a video released by the team that he makes “the best ever” chicken soup and is an “unbelievable Scrabble player” but that he “cheats a little bit” by sometimes playing words that are not Scrabble words. Nicole Tepper says her favorite things about being married to him are “sleeping together at night” and “being his partner in everything” and that she also enjoys cuddling. The Teppers were married in August 2019. There’s a video on the internet of Tepper getting a little handsy with her at last month’s news conference announcing new Panthers coach Matt Rhule. (Panthers)
Nature Museum groundhog: Charlotte to get early spring
But can it predict where the Nature Museum will be?
Taking stock
Unless you are a day trader, checking your stocks daily is unhealthy. So how about weekly? How local stocks of note fared last week (through Friday’s close), and year to date:
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The Charlotte Ledger is published by Tony Mecia, an award-winning former Charlotte Observer business reporter and editor. He lives in Charlotte with his wife and three children.