Omni Air International, one of the United States’ leading providers of military transport but also providing full-service passenger charter and wet leasing based out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, now has its 350 pilots represented by the Teamster Union voting to authorize a strike. The issues leading to going down the process of a strike include a failure to offer industry-standard pay.

Labor dispute sunlights issues around a leasing airline

The current labor dispute around Omni Air International shows some issues around an airline that operates as a leasing airline providing wet leasing – or ACMI. Now, what is ACMI? That is aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance so that an airline that needs additional capacity can purchase it – and it is also called wet leasing.

As Captain Paul Rodell, a member of the Omni Air Pilots Executive Council, stated in a February 8 statement shared,

“Omni’s strategy of attempting to force substandard contract terms on pilots is causing significant damage to the operation. We are losing some of our best pilots and struggling to replace them. Omni Air and its parent company, Air Transport Services Group, have stopped investing in the carrier and the people who do the work of this airline. We need a course correction, starting with a fair contract for pilots.”