Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-07-19
AIRLINE
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| AIRLINE
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run around the union leader
ship by writing individual
letters to the SIS strikers. The
flight engineers we're told that
they could accept or reject
training to qualify as jet pilots
Those who refused to take
training would be restricted to
propeller planes.
Flight engineers who fail to
report to work by next Tuesday
the company said, may be re-
placed. If they apply for en-
ployment later, they will lose
their chance to fly tets, the
company said.
The Federal Aviation Agency
requires four-engine airliners,
including Jets, to carry a crew
member with q certificate
qualifying him as a flight
engineer.
Eastern has relatively few
pilots with flight engineer GER
tificates and will have to train
additional pilots to qualify II
the flight engineers refuse to
return to work, a company
spokesman said.
He said the training would
take only a week or 10 days
but a source at the flight en-
gineers union said it would
take pilots six TO eight week;
to qualify for the certificate
Many pilots fail the FAA ex-
animation on the first try, he
said.
FAA can use a shortcut
procedure and grant temporary
certificates, but this approach
is considered unlikely because
of repercussions in case Of &C
cidentS.
Eastern hopes some Of the
striking flight engineers will
return to work. Training of
pilots now on the payroll would
fill any gaps without much
outside hiring, the company
hopes.
Jets to Return First
Partial operations might start
before August /, with Eastern
putting jets back into service
first, q company spokesman
said.
But a union source said he
doubts the company actually
will try to resume operations
without the strikers.
Nevertheless, 1t was clear
that the company's threat to
fire strikers worried the union
enough to offer concessions in
its counterproposals.
Negotiations broke down last
night mainly over the question
Of retroactive wage increases,
informed sources said. The
complex issues of job and rep
resentation right were practi-
cally settled.
Offer Withdrawn
Eastern originally offered to
make pay boosts retroactive to
January 1. 1861, the expiration
date of the old contract. But
the company withdrew this Of
fer, on grounds that the strike
had hurt Eastern's economic
position.
A union source indicated to-
day that the flight engineers
will offer to modify the de-
mand for retroactivity with
out withdrawing it.
The company offered i'm
mediate wage increases aver
aging about II per cent, plus
an additional 3 per cent eff
fective next April /.
! 1t was understood that the
union and the company agreed
on the issues Of crew makeup
and representation rights. Jets
on Eastern and some other air.
lines now carry three pilots
and one flight engineer.
Crews will be reduced to
three. The flight engineers &C
cepted an offer by Eastern to
give them training as pilots.
Present flight engineers would
get first crack at the third seat
in the cockpit, after complet-
ing training and qualifying as
pilots.
The union objected to a par
tial guarantee of its represen-
tation rights offered by Labor
Secretary Goldberg in a tenta-
tive settlement on Trans World
Airlines las month. Stronger
guarantees against a takeover
by the Air Line Pilots Associa-
ton were demanded.
Mr.. Goldberg offered to re-
write the guarantee. There
were differences of opinion
over the effect of the new
wording. A union spokesman
claimed it was stronger than
the memo attached to the TWA
agreement, and the union &C
cepted it. Other sources said
there was little practical diff
ference between the Eastern
. and TWA versions.