The mechanics at the new American Airlines have already forged a seniority deal
Skift Take
Impressive: This likely required more negotiations Doug Parker from Doug Parker and his team than the airline merger itself.
Maintenance worker unions at American Airlines and US Airways have settled a key issue in the two companies' merger, agreeing on a method for determining seniority among employees.
Workers will be placed in order according to the date they hired into a classification when the airlines merge, giving them more certainty on such issues as pay, promotions, scheduling, vacation priority and who keeps their jobs in the event of layoffs.
With American and US Airways set to merge by the end of September, the airlines are trying to figure out just how to integrate nearly 100,000 employees. But unions set rules on seniority, and it can be one of the thornier issues as the nearly 15,000 maintenance workers at the two companies get set to work together.
According to the agreement, seniority will be based on "the date of e
