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“A vast majority of pilots also say their companies aren’t telling customers or the public the truth about the problems at their airlines, which they say could undermine their commitments to key customers,” said the Airline Professionals Association, Teamsters Local 1224, which represents pilots and crew members from 11 airlines across the country.
Nearly 80 percent of pilots who responded to the survey said they have witnessed flight delays or cancellations at their airlines due to staffing shortages, the union said.
Eighty percent of pilots who participated in the survey disagreed when asked if they had confidence in their company’s ability to ensure safe and efficient flying operations.
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“Our airlines made big commitments to Amazon and DHL, and whether our companies want to admit it or not, we face serious problems that have devastated our operations and eroded pilot confidence in our future,” said Capt. Robert Kirchner, a long-time Atlas pilot and executive council chairman of Teamsters Local 1224.
“Staffing issues” and “chronic mismanagement” have left pilots stretched and have affected schedules in a wide fashion, the survey claims.
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The survey results were collected from nearly 1,400 pilots at AAWW subsidiaries, Atlas Air and Southern Air, as well as ATSG subsidiary ABX Air, which is also based in Wilmington.
Together, AAWW and ATSG are contracted to fly 40 planes for Amazon’s Prime Air operation by 2018, the union said.
The survey was conducted online in October and November 2017 by the pilots’ union, Teamsters Local 1224.
Other survey findings, according to the union:
• When asked if they were confident that their companies were telling key customers like Amazon and DHL the truth about their challenges, 83 percent of ABX pilots and 80 percent of Atlas pilots who participated in the survey strongly disagreed.
• At ABX Air, 77 percent of pilots who participated in the questionnaire strongly disagreed when asked if they believed management could adequately staff the airline. Sixty-six percent of ABX pilots expressed concern that management would not be able to avoid a staffing crisis similar to the situation seen in 2016, when the union struck the company.
A message seeking comment was sent to Joe Hete, president and chief executive of Air Transport Services Group.
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