UAL Chairman and Chief Executive James E. Goodwin will preside over this effort, spending several days this week trying to smooth the pilots' ruffled feathers. The pilots' representative on the UAL board, Rick Dubinsky, was the only member to vote against the acquisition. A major sticking point for the United pilots is seniority. Over the past decade, United has hired hundreds of new pilots, while US Airways has hired none. As a result, many US Airways pilots have flown for more years with the airline than the United pilots.
Seniority determines which pilots fly what planes and to which destinations.
It also determines how much a pilot will earn. Meanwhile, UAL's Anderson said he and Shelley Longmuir, UAL's senior vice president for regulatory and government affairs, are constructing a Washington-based campaign to gain regulatory approval of the deal. On the Democratic side, Anderson confirmed that UAL has hired Harold Ickes, a friend of President Clinton's who is helping run Hillary Rodham Clinton's New York Senate campaign, and well-known lobbyist Tommy Boggs. UAL also reportedly is working with a consulting firm headed by former officials of the U.S. Department of Transportation. On the Republican side, Anderson confirmed UAL has hired Kenneth Duberstein, a former chief of staff for Ronald Reagan, and Bob Michel, the former Illinois congressman who was GOP House Minority Leader.