A group of pilots that fly Amazon’s Prime Air delivery jets will land in Seattle Wednesday to protest short-staffing and what they say are sub-standard working conditions at the airlines contracting with the online retail giant.
The pilots will protest outside Amazon’s Seattle headquarters, but they say they are not actually protesting the company itself. They will instead call on Amazon to use its leverage to encourage airlines to hire more pilots and provide better conditions. The pilots are from Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings subsidiaries Atlas Air and Southern Air, and they plan to simultaneously protest at shipping company DHL’s headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
GeekWire reached out to New York-based Atlas Air Worldwide, but we have not received a response.
Atlas Air Worldwide as well as Ohio-based Air Transport Services Group have been flying packages for Amazon for months. Amazon in August debuted a Boeing 767-300 painted with the company’s Prime Air branding, the first jet to be leased from and operated by Atlas Air.
By the end of 2018, each of the companies expects to be operating 20 leased 767 jets for Amazon deliveries. Amazon also holds options to buy stakes in both ATSG and Atlas Air.
Earlier this year, pilots from Atlas Air, Southern Air and other carriers that work with Amazon and DHL voted to strike if necessary. They say they are paid less, work longer hours and have less rest between flights than pilots who fly for other carriers like UPS or FedEx. The pilots say their carriers have refused to negotiate a new contract, causing pilots to leave for greener pastures.
Wednesday’s planned protests follow a pilot walkout in November that had the potential to create some turbulence for Amazon’s holiday delivery operations. About 250 pilots from ABX Air, which is owned by ATSG, walked off the job, causing about 75 flights to be grounded, the pilot group said.
ATSG filed a court order after pilots walked off the job last month, and a judge then ordered the pilots to return to work, ruling that the disputes over scheduling and staffing constituted a minor issue that should be worked out through labor negotiations.
