The labor union representing pilots at Allegiant is reportedly blocking the low-cost airline’s attempt to secure permanent U.S. residency for about 60 foreign pilots.
Reuters reported Saturday that the union refused to certify to the U.S. Department of Labor that the pilot positions meet “prevailing wage” standards, a critical regulatory step in getting foreign pilots their green cards. The positions start at around $50,000 per year.
Teamsters Local 2118 said it has asked Allegiant to focus on raising pay to attract more U.S. pilots, and to keep current employees from leaving for a competitor.
Allegiant told Reuters that it currently employs approximately 62 pilots from Chile, Australia, and Singapore through H-1B1 and E-3 visa programs, amounting to about 4% of its total pilot workforce. The foreign pilots act as a supplement, not a replacement, for U.S. pilots, the carrier emphasized.
The union disputed Allegiant’s rationale, arguing that there is no longer a pilot shortage in the U.S. and that the company could take steps to ameliorate staffing uncertainty by paying better wages.
“They had such a hard time in 2023 finding pilots, they actually started hiring visa pilots out of Chile on an H-1B1 because they promised them citizenship, a green card verbally to come fly in America for 50,000 bucks a year,” Gregory Unterseher, director of the airline division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, told Reuters. “Because they’re having such a hard time keeping and maintaining pilots at such a low wage.”
Fight Over Pay
In a letter to the foreign pilots, Allegiant acknowledged that the union’s decision not to certify would delay their green cards.
Allegiant and its pilots have been at odds for years over pay and scheduling. The carrier’s pilots are working under a labor contract signed in 2016, which the union has pressed to replace. Last month, pilots picketed at airports across the country as they called for better wages.
Allegiant said at the time that it had put forward a “competitive package” that includes an immediate 50% average increase in hourly wages that scales to 70% over five years.
The airline and the Teamsters are currently in talks mediated by the National Mediation Board.
