LCC wants to cut pay of flight instructors.

Byline: Greg Bolt The Register-Guard

A flight training program at Lane Community College is hitting turbulence because it isn't bringing in enough money to cover its costs.

To keep its students in the air, the college wants to cut costs by reducing pay and benefits for flight instructors. But it faces a challenge selling the idea to the faculty union, which would no longer represent the part-time teachers.

The popular flight technology program is one of several that were nearly eliminated four years ago, when a serious budget deficit forced the college to make deep cuts. The LCC board decided to keep it, but only if it could generate enough money through tuition increases and outside funding to cover all its expenses.

Although the program has come close, it's still about $150,000 short of meeting annual expenses of about $1.2 million. By taking instructors out of the bargaining unit and treating them more like independent contractors or graduate students, which college officials say is the standard model for flight schools, the gap would be bridged.

The idea has received a cool reception from the union, although the two sides still are talking. But union President Jim Salt said the arguments the college has put forth so far seem unpersuasive.

The faculty negotiated the contract with the college in good faith, he said, and the contract includes flight instructors. He said the program is being unfairly singled out and treated differently from other professional-technical programs in which the gap between cost and revenue is much higher.

"I don't know why they're doing this," Salt said. "This is simply opportunistic. They think they can get these employees to work for less and want to move them out of the bargaining unit to accomplish that."

Greg Morgan, LCC's associate vice president for finance, contends that flight instructors aren't faculty in the usual sense. They typically don't have even a bachelor's degree, he said, much less a master's or doctorate. Most, in fact, are still students.

In the flight technology program, students spend two years earning an associate's degree and a pilot's license with ratings as a flight instructor, commercial pilot and often multiengine pilot. But to qualify for jobs in the airline industry they need to earn a bachelor's degree and log at least 1,000 hours of flight time.

To do that, students typically enroll in an aviation bachelor's program at Oregon State University and take jobs at Lane as flight instructors. They earn money and log flight hours while finishing their upper-division courses.

Harvey Birdseye, director of the flight technology program, said that really makes the instructors more like graduate students or teaching assistants than faculty. But for reasons that aren't clear, the instructors were included in the faculty bargaining unit many years ago.

Birdseye said turnover in the jobs is high and getting higher and said the positions aren't intended to provide a career.

"We're moving away from providing flight instructor jobs but rather have flight instructors work with us to continue their professional preparation for entry into the airline industry," he said. "Our job is to prepare them for their career rather than long-term employment as an instructor in this program."

So far, the issue hasn't hit a nerve with most rank-and-file flight instructors. One, Ryan Zimmer, said a cut in pay definitely would hurt but added that he doesn't participate in the college benefits program and will leave the job by the end of the year, when he'll have completed his bachelor's and logged his flight time.

If an agreement can't be reached with the union, it's unlikely that the program will be eliminated. Flight technology is popular, with about a dozen instructors and more than 100 students. The demand for pilots is so strong that most students get jobs soon after completing the degree and flight hour requirements.

Also, the program accounts for a significant amount of the daily traffic at Eugene Airport. Because traffic volume is a major factor in the amount of federal funding the airport receives, losing the flight school could have serious ramifications for the city.

Birdseye indicated that if negotiations fail, the college might have to "pull out the stops on the whole thing and regroup it." A reorganization might allow the college to contract with a separate organization for flight instructor services.

Salt said such a move is questionable both legally and ethically. He called on the college to honor commitments it made in good faith.

"The college can't simply come in and say it's part of a recognized bargaining unit that we don't think should be there and then move them out so they can cut their pay and cut their benefits," he said. "It's not legal. They negotiated a contract in good faith and they should honor it."