Pilots at Atlas and Southern Air Holdings Announce Strike Vote

Southern Air has operated exclusively for DHL – even co-branding its planes. DHL also provides AAWW with financial and operational synergies and holds a 49 percent equity stake in Polar Air. If AAWW acquires SAI, its expected revenue related to DHL will rise to 27 percent, “putting the two American companies further under the control of a foreign entity,” according to a Teamsters statement.The union says AAWW and its subsidiary carriers, Atlas Air and Polar Air, are trying to force pilots at both AAWW and SAI into an amalgamated contract that would suppress wages and lower the quality of life for pilots at the two companies. AAWW’s Atlas/Polar pilots have been working since the beginning of the year to amend their collective bargaining agreement. Their current contract is “grossly below industry standards,” according to the union. Pilots at Southern Air sacrificed pay and workplace standards during a 2012 bankruptcy. They, too, have entered into contract negotiations to amend their contract.