Air Line Pilots Ass'n, Intern. v. Eastern Air Lines, Inc.

• Citation: 869 F.2d 1518
• Decision Date: 04 April 1989
• Docket Number: No. 88-7119,88-7119
• Parties: 130 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2895, 130 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3129, 276 U.S.App.D.C. 199, 57 USLW 2537, 111 Lab.Cas. P 11,002, 111 Lab.Cas. P 11,077 AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION, INTERNATIONAL v. EASTERN AIR LINES, INC., Appellant.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (District of Columbia)

Page 1518

869 F.2d 1518

130 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2895, 130 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3129,

276 U.S.App.D.C. 199, 57 USLW 2537,

111 Lab.Cas. P 11,002, 111 Lab.Cas. P 11,077

AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION, INTERNATIONAL v. EASTERN AIR LINES, INC., Appellant.

No. 88-7119.

United States Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued Feb. 14, 1989.

Decided March 10, 1989.

On Motion to Withdraw Opinion

April 4, 1989.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (Civil Action No. 88-00562).

Joel M. Cohn, with whom John J. Gallagher, Charles L. Warren and T. Jay Thompson, Washington, D.C., were on the brief, for appellant. Robert A. McCullough also entered an appearance for appellant.

Jonathan A. Cohen, with whom James L. Linsey and Stephen Presser, New York City, were on the brief, for appellee.

Before ROBINSON, EDWARDS and SENTELLE, Circuit Judges.

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge EDWARDS.

HARRY T. EDWARDS, Circuit Judge:

This case arises out of a disagreement between Eastern Air Lines, Inc. ("Eastern" or "Airline") and the Air Line Pilots Association ("ALPA" or "Union") over the interpretation of the parties' collective bargaining agreement covering pilots flying for Eastern. In an attempt to prepare for a possible sympathy strike by its pilots, Eastern entered into a contract with Orion Lift Services, Inc. ("Orion"), whereby Orion agreed to train and supply pilots to operate Eastern flights in the event of a strike. ALPA sought a preliminary injunction in the District Court under the Railway Labor Act ("RLA"), claiming that the contract with Orion was a clear violation of the existing Eastern-ALPA collective bargaining agreement. The District Court agreed, found that the dispute was a "major" one under the RLA, and ruled that the Union was entitled to an injunction preserving the status quo. Eastern appealed.

Because we find that this case involves only a "minor dispute" over the interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement, the trial court had no jurisdiction to issue a status quo injunction. Rather, the Union was required to take its grievance to binding arbitration under the parties' collective agreement. Furthermore, we find that Eastern's interpretation of the agreement is not "so inherently unreasonable as to amount to bad faith," Southern Railway Co. v. Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen & Engineermen, 384 F.2d 323, 327 (D.C.Cir.1967) (footnote omitted); therefore, we reject any suggestion that Eastern sought to "repudiate" the parties' agreement, thus causing a major dispute under the RLA. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the District Court and vacate the injunction.

I. BACKGROUND

In late 1987, the collective bargaining agreement between Eastern and its mechanics union expired. In January 1988, anticipating a possible strike by the mechanics union and a sympathy strike by the pilots, Eastern entered into a strike contingency contract with Orion, an air carrier certified by the Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA").

The Eastern-Orion contract required Orion, inter alia, to hire and train pilots capable of flying Eastern aircraft and to supply flight crews to operate Eastern scheduled flights in the event of a strike. Eastern agreed to lease Eastern aircraft to Orion for training purposes. The aircraft were to be covered by Orion's FAA Certificate of Operations and maintained under Orion's FAA-approved maintenance program, and Orion was solely responsible for the operational control of the aircraft. The contract also required Eastern to pay for all training of Orion pilots. Although training under the contract would necessarily take place prior to any strike, Orion pilots would fly Eastern revenue routes only in the event of an actual strike.

In March 1988, after Eastern publicly disclosed the Orion contract, ALPA filed a complaint in the District Court. The Union claimed that pilot training by Orion violated section 1(B) of the Eastern-ALPA collective bargaining agreement ("Agreement"), which provides:

It is agreed that all present or future flying, including flight training (except for initial factory-conducted training in newly purchased equipment), revenue flying, ferry flights, charters and wet-leases performed in or for the service of Eastern Air Lines, Inc., shall be performed by pilots whose names appear on the then-current Eastern Air Lines' System Seniority List.

Joint Appendix ("J.A.") 296. ALPA argued that Eastern had unilaterally changed the Agreement and thus had provoked a "major dispute," entitling the Union to a status quo injunction under section 6 of the RLA, 45 U.S.C. Sec. 156 (1982), until the Airline either concluded a new agreement with ALPA or exhausted the RLA's collective bargaining procedures. Eastern countered that the District Court did not have jurisdiction to issue an injunction because the parties' disagreement was at most a "minor dispute" over the interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement.

The District Court agreed with the Union that the Agreement "is clear and unambiguous and can only be interpreted one way--prohibiting non-Eastern Orion pilots from conducting flight training on Eastern aircraft in or for the service of Eastern." ALPA v. Eastern, 683 F.Supp. 845, 853 (D.D.C.1988). The trial court found that Eastern had "failed to offer a reasonable interpretation of the contract which would justify its conduct," and that it had failed to prove "that this type of leasing arrangement is justified by past practices." Id. at 852. Accordingly, the court concluded that Eastern had triggered a major dispute under the RLA and that the Union was entitled to preliminary relief. ¹ Eastern appealed.

II. THE ROLE OF THE COURTS IN DEALING WITH "MAJOR" AND

"MINOR" DISPUTES UNDER THE RLA RLA

The RLA establishes a dual framework for resolving disputes between airline management and employee representatives. A court's possible involvement in these disagreements depends on the type of dispute at issue. If the dispute is a "major" one--that is, a dispute over the formation of a collective bargaining agreement or efforts to change the terms of one, Elgin, Joliet & E. Ry. Co. v. Burley, 325 U.S. 711, 723, 65 S.Ct. 1282, 1290, 89 L.Ed. 1886 (1945), adhered to on reh'g, 327 U.S. 661, 66 S.Ct. 721, 90 L.Ed. 928 (1946); Detroit & Toledo Shore Line R.R. Co. v. United Transp. Union, 396 U.S. 142, 148, 90 S.Ct. 294, 298, 24 L.Ed.2d 325 (1969)--either party may ask the court to issue an injunction preserving the "status quo" while the parties pursue the RLA's "elaborate machinery for negotiation, mediation, voluntary arbitration, and conciliation." Shore Line, 396 U.S. at 148-49, 90 S.Ct. at 298-99. See 45 U.S.C. Sec. 156; ALPA v. Eastern, 863 F.2d 891, 895 (D.C.Cir.1988). If, however, the dispute is a "minor" one--one that "contemplates the existence of a collective agreement" and "relates either to the meaning or proper application of a particular provision with reference to a specific situation or to an omitted case," Elgin, 325 U.S. at 723, 65 S.Ct. at 1290--the courts do not have jurisdiction to issue status quo injunctions. See ALPA v. Eastern, 863 F.2d at 895-96; ALPA v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., 627 F.2d 272, 275 (D.C.Cir.1980). Rather, in seeking to resolve "minor" disputes, the parties must take their grievances to binding arbitration, see 45 U.S.C. Sec. 184 (1982); ALPA v. Eastern, 863 F.2d at 895, and each is free to act under its interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement until the arbitrator rules otherwise, ² see, e.g., Burlington N R.R. Co. v. United Transp. Co., 862 F.2d 1266, 1272 (7th Cir.1988); Brotherhood of Locomotive Eng'rs v. Boston & Maine Corp., 788 F.2d 794, 797 n. 5 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 829, 107 S.Ct. 111, 93 L.Ed.2d 59 (1986).

The court's jurisdiction to issue a status quo injunction thus depends on whether the dispute is major or minor, which in turn depends on whether an existing agreement covers the subject in controversy. If "the dispute is arguably resolved by reference to the collective bargaining agreement," it is a minor dispute over which the courts have no jurisdiction. Burlington, 862 F.2d at 1272. In determining whether a dispute is major or minor under the RLA, "[t]he court does not consider the merits of the underlying dispute; its role is limited to determining whether the dispute can be characterized as involving the proper application or meaning of a contract provision." Railway Labor Exec. Ass'n v. Norfolk & W. Ry. Co., 833 F.2d 700, 704 (7th Cir.1987). If so, the dispute is a minor one that must be submitted to arbitration, even if the court believes that one party's interpretation of the contract lacks merit. Moreover, "if there is any doubt as to whether a dispute is major or minor a court will construe the dispute to be minor." Railway Labor Exec. Ass'n, 833 F.2d at 705; accord International Bhd. of Elec. Workers v. Washington Terminal Co., 473 F.2d 1156, 1172-73 (D.C.Cir.1972), cert. denied, 411 U.S. 906, 93 S.Ct. 1530, 36 L.Ed.2d 195 (1973).

III. THE PRESUMPTION IN FAVOR OF ARBITRATION OF "MINOR" DISPUTESES

There is a well established principle in labor law in this country that "[t]he function of the court is very limited" with respect to a dispute arising under a collective bargaining contract containing an agreement to arbitrate. United Steelworkers v. American Mfg. Co., 363 U.S. 564, 567, 80 S.Ct. 1343, 1346, 4 L.Ed.2d 1403 (1960). Normally, a court is confined to ascertaining whether the dispute

on its face is governed by the contract. Whether the [party seeking arbitration] is right or wrong is a question of contract interpretation for the arbitrator ... The courts, therefore, have no business weighing the merits of the grievance, considering whether there is equity in a particular claim, or determining whether there is particular language in the written instrument which will support the claim. The agreement is to submit all grievances...