Former America West pilots won a federal jury verdict on Wednesday saying their new union at US Airways Group Inc. didn't represent them fairly.
If it stands up on appeal the decision could help move the airline toward merging pilots who came from US Airways with those who came from America West. The US Airline Pilots Association said it will appeal.
America West bought the former US Airways out of bankruptcy in 2005, but the airlines still run mostly separate flight operations because of the dispute.
An arbitrator issued a merged seniority list two years ago, but it hasn't been implemented.
Pilots who came from the old US Airways believed it unfairly favored their generally younger colleagues from America West.
The America West pilots have argued that US Airways pilots would have been out of a job if they hadn't been rescued out of Chapter 11.
Seniority is a key issue for pilots because the most senior pilots get the most desirable schedules and aircraft to fly.
Merging pilot seniority lists is so important that Delta Air Lines Inc. didn't commit to its purchase of Northwest Airlines last year until pilots agreed to a framework to work out seniority.
At US Airways, the arbitrator's award so outraged pilots from the old US Airways that they ousted their former union, formed the US Airline Pilots Association, and set about trying to throw out the arbitrator's decision.
"All we get out of this is the deal we originally struck," said Eric Ferguson, a US Airways pilot who came from America West and helped organize the pilot group that won in court on Wednesday. "We spent a tremendous amount of time and effort to compel the unwilling to abide by their agreements."
The trial over whether the new union fairly represented the former America West pilots began April 28 in Phoenix and included testimony from US Airways Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, the pilot who safely landed his disabled US Airways jet in the Hudson River.
Sullenberger, who came from the old US Airways, said he was shocked by the one-sidedness of the arbitrator's decision, according to accounts of the trial.
US Airline Pilots Association President Mike Cleary said the jury's verdict, "while disappointing, was not unexpected."
He said in a statement that judicial decisions limiting evidence left the union "hamstrung by questionable rulings and incorrect instructions" and said the union had encountered "errors of law."
Marty Harper, an attorney for about 1,800 former America West pilots, said he will press for a court order implementing the original arbitrator's decision immediately.
He said he expects the union to oppose that.
He said the only big surprise in the case was the union's decision to call Sullenberger and First officer Jeffrey Skiles.
"I did not expect them to call Sullenberger and Skiles, except to influence the jury, which obviously didn't work," he said.
Shares of Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways fell 43 cents, or 12.6 percent, to close at $2.98.
They were up 7 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $3.05 in after-hours trading.
