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Bloomberg
Labour unions have asked the federal government to review its approval of Breeze Airways to operate in the US, citing concerns over the discount carrier’s recruitment and employment policies.
The unions said Breeze, an upstart domestic carrier founded by airline entrepreneur David Neeleman, violated age discrimination and diversity statutes with a plan to hire flight attendants solely through a tuition reimbursement, work-study program with Utah Valley University.
The strategy pulls from a primarily young, White applicant pool, the petitioners say, citing enrollment figures at the Orem, Utah, university, and favors inexperienced workers as a measure of cost savings.
“For a profession that had an established reputation for discriminating against older workers throughout history and that has only recently begun to combat these ingrained, ageist behaviours, Breeze’s recruitment strategy is more in line with historical standards rather than modern ones,†the complaint states.
Some 78% of UVU’s students are White, according to figures from 2018.
Among those making the complaint to the US Department of Transportation were the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, the Transportation Trades Department and the Transport Workers Union of America.