Allegiant Air pilots threaten strike action over crew scheduling

Pilots at Allegiant Air are threatening to strike over what they claim is foot-dragging by the company on installing a new crew schedule-bidding system, while the airline insists the process is moving along. As part of a five-year contract ratified in July 2016, the pilots and the airline agreed to hammer out the specifics of a new preferential bidding system (PBS) and implement software within six months. But nearly two years later, the current, in-house PBS remains in place, and pilots say the airline is to blame. The union said the current system “goes against industry standards and disregards pilots’ seniority and preferences” by requiring pilots to fly on certain heavy days, regardless of their preference. Pilot preferences are often over-ridden in favor of company needs, with the so-called “must-fly” days taking priority. The airline counters that pilots have long known that must-fly days are part of Allegiant’s scheduling, because of the airline’s unique service patterns, such as clustering flights in and out of certain markets to specific days of the week. <br/>