12/05/2023

The Pilots Delivering Your Amazon Packages Are Ready to Strike

Pilots for Amazon’s largest air freight provider complain of low pay, high turnover

Amazon deliveries could be headed for some turbulence in the new year. Pilots for US-based Air Transport International, a cargo airline that ferries Amazon packages from its fulfillment centers to airports nearer to its customers, voted to authorize a strike last month. During the three and a half years the union has been negotiating with ATI, wages in the industry have soared, and ATI’s pilots complain that their pay has fallen behind. Meanwhile, they say ATI is facing record attrition as pilots jump ship to better-paying carriers.

A strike could throw a wrench in Amazon’s logistics network. ATI, owned by holding company ATSG, operates half of the 80 US aircraft currently in service for Amazon, according to an estimate by Planespotters. But the pilots, who are represented by the Air Line Pilots Association union, can’t walk out until at least next year.

Federal law requires airline labor disputes to be mediated by the U.S. government's National Mediation Board (NMB), which will implement a 30-day cooling-off period if it determines the parties have reached an impasse and they refuse arbitration. If a resolution is not reached during that time, the pilots can walk off the job or the airline can lock them out. Some 98 percent of ATI's 640 pilots participated in the vote and only one did not vote to authorize the strike.

Please select this link to read the complete article from WIRED.