On Wednesday, March 1, 2023, the United Master Executive Council convened via Conference Call to reviews issues affecting current and former Members and to consider two Letters of Agreement.
The first issue is related to the International Base Closure Letter of Agreement addressing the closure of the international bases in FRA, HKG and NRT. While this Letter of Agreement addressed a number of discrete issues, prominent among those issues was the preferential right of reemployment which is set to expire as of March 31, 2023.
The United Master Executive Council met and reviewed the terms of the Letter of Agreement that resulted from discussions and negotiations with United management. After thoughtful deliberation, the Master Executive Council acted to unanimously adopt the terms of the Letter of Agreement which will ultimately provide for an extension to the preferential right of reemployment (outlined in paragraphs 2 and 5) until March 31, 2024.
It should be noted that the reference to MEC 15-22 included in the Letter of Agreement is not associated with the preferential right of reemployment but has been incorporated into this amendment to incentivize the timely scheduling of the dispute before the System Board of Adjustment. Its reference does not pre-determine an outcome but rather ensures that arguments on the issue of the grievance are timely presented, heard and a resolution of the issue is determined.
The extension of the Letter of Agreement breathes new life into the International Base Closure Letter of Agreement and provides and extended opportunity for our colleagues from the now closed international bases an extension to the opportunity to return to the employ of the airline to which they dedicated so much of their lives. The full text of the Letter of Agreement can be viewed here.
A second issue presented to the United MEC for their consideration derives its origin in the anticipated delivery of the Airbus A321 NEO aircraft at some point later this year. Given the plan to add this new aircraft to the fleet, management met with the Union to discuss and negotiate check-in times and whether the home base check-in time will be subject to increase as set forth in our Contract.
Subsequent to those meetings, the A321 NEO Report Time Letter of Agreement was formulated and presented to the United Master Executive Council for their consideration and review. Following the appropriate review and deliberation by the United Master Executive Council, action was taken to unanimously adopt the A321 NEO Report Time Letter of Agreement. You can review the full text of the Letter of Agreement here.