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AFL-CIO Supports AirTran Airways Proposal to Acquire Midwest Airlines
— AirTran Will Bring More Good Jobs and More Lower Fares to All the Communities It Serves —
ATLANTA, GA., December 14, 2006 — The Atlanta North GA Labor Council of the AFL-CIO supports AirTran Airways' proposal to acquire Midwest Airlines. The proposal to merge the two carriers into a nationwide low fare airline is good for labor.
AirTran is responsible for creating thousands of good union jobs both in Atlanta and in other communities it serves. The airline is also responsible for lowering air fares, a move that has made Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport into the biggest in the nation.
"AirTran has shown that it can effectively compete with the legacy airlines in a way that benefits employees, airports, air travelers and communities”, said Charles Flemming, President of the Atlanta North GA Labor Council. He added that: "AirTran has evolved into one of the premier airlines in the industry today."
AirTran is a unionized airline that has shown that AFL-CIO union members can match up with the employees of any airline, Flemming said. AirTran has great respect for organized labor and organized labor values, he added.
It has not gone unnoticed by the AFL-CIO that William Usery, former Secretary of Labor under President Gerald Ford and a former Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, sits on the AirTran Board of Directors, Flemming added.