USA320Pilot
Veteran
- May 18, 2003
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US Airways asks for correction on CWA Web site
ARLINGTON (US Airways Today) - US Airways challenged a report on a Communications Workers of America (CWA) Web site for its Charlotte local, which compared the company's unit costs against other carriers, but excluded the cost of fuel from the US Airways statistic. In a letter to the union, Al Hemenway, managing director Labor Relations-Ground, said "this type of misleading reporting creates a misconception about the real competitive cost situation facing US Airways."
The CWA inaccurately compared US Airways' cost per available seat mile (CASM) of 9.40 cents, which excluded fuel, the airline's second highest expense after labor. For every other carrier on the list the CASM numbers reported by CWA included the cost of fuel.
"Using the CWA's misreported CASM, five carriers show higher CASM than US Airways. But when we include the expense of fuel for US Airways, our CASM increases from 9.40 cents to 11.18 cents," Hemenway wrote. The true CASM comparison (including fuel for all carriers) results in a unit cost for US Airways higher than every other carrier on the list, except for the newly formed Independence Air.
"This misleading and incorrect CASM reporting by CWA does real harm by creating a false impression among employees regarding our true competitive circumstance and our comparative industry costs. Should you have any questions regarding the correct CASM data (including fuel for all comparison carriers) the
company will make available to CWA our analysis. The company fully expects that the CWA will take whatever steps are necessary to immediately correct this erroneous reporting," Hemenway wrote.
ARLINGTON (US Airways Today) - US Airways challenged a report on a Communications Workers of America (CWA) Web site for its Charlotte local, which compared the company's unit costs against other carriers, but excluded the cost of fuel from the US Airways statistic. In a letter to the union, Al Hemenway, managing director Labor Relations-Ground, said "this type of misleading reporting creates a misconception about the real competitive cost situation facing US Airways."
The CWA inaccurately compared US Airways' cost per available seat mile (CASM) of 9.40 cents, which excluded fuel, the airline's second highest expense after labor. For every other carrier on the list the CASM numbers reported by CWA included the cost of fuel.
"Using the CWA's misreported CASM, five carriers show higher CASM than US Airways. But when we include the expense of fuel for US Airways, our CASM increases from 9.40 cents to 11.18 cents," Hemenway wrote. The true CASM comparison (including fuel for all carriers) results in a unit cost for US Airways higher than every other carrier on the list, except for the newly formed Independence Air.
"This misleading and incorrect CASM reporting by CWA does real harm by creating a false impression among employees regarding our true competitive circumstance and our comparative industry costs. Should you have any questions regarding the correct CASM data (including fuel for all comparison carriers) the
company will make available to CWA our analysis. The company fully expects that the CWA will take whatever steps are necessary to immediately correct this erroneous reporting," Hemenway wrote.
