Pilot who landed in Hudson takes stand in Phoenix

— -- US Airways' pilots union, on trial in Phoenix for allegedly ignoring the interests of some its members in a dispute over merger seniority, launched its defense with some serious star power on Friday.

The US Airline Pilots Association called Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III, famed captain of the US Airways flight that successfully ditched in the Hudson River in January, as its first witness in the jury trial.

He was on the stand for less than a half-hour and immediately left the courtroom, but he packed a punch with his strong criticism of a seniority list issued by an arbitrator two years ago. Seniority is paramount for pilots as it dictates pay, work schedules, promotions, vacations and job security.

"I was shocked by its one-sidedness," Sullenberger said of the list.

The union was formed to evade the arbitrated list and instead do seniority based on a pilot's date of hire, which favors the old US Airways because it's much older than America West.

A group of former America West pilots filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court last fall over the matter and have repeatedly said the arbitrated list was final and binding and followed the old union's merger policy. They say the new union is breaching its "duty of fair representation."

Sullenberger was on the potential witness list for the trial, as is his Flight 1549 co-pilot, Jeffrey Skiles. But it was unclear when and if he would appear at the trial that began Tuesday and is expected to go for another week.

Attorneys for the America West pilots did not learn of his pending appearance until lunchtime Friday.

The America West pilots had slammed his potential appearance as a desperate move by the union to capitalize on Sullenberger's celebrity. The judge in the case, responding to a request to possibly rearrange schedules to accommodate Sullenberger, even briefly questioned what his testimony would add.

Sullenberger, a 29-year veteran of US Airways and its predecessors, has no personal stake in the outcome of the case because his seniority is sky-high no matter what seniority list is eventually used to merge the pilot ranks of America West and US Airways.

The airlines, which merged in 2005, still run largely separate flight operations because of the long-running dispute. America West pilots can't fly planes that were in US Airways fleet and US Airways pilots can't fly America West jets, even though the airline flies under the US Airways umbrella.

On the stand Friday, Sullenberger called himself an unbiased observer "who doesn't have a dog in this fight."

He said he agreed to the union's request to fly to Phoenix to testify as "a matter of principle." The only time Flight 1549 came up was when he briefly mentioned that the union had supported the crew since the incident.

Sullenberger said the arbitrated list, issued two years ago after extensive presentations from both sides, provides a windfall for the America West pilots.

Instead of basing it on a pilot's date of hire, which the former US Airways pilots fought for in arbitration, the arbitrator blended the two lists.

The 500 most-senior US Airways pilots, including Sullenberger, were placed at the top because of their experience flying wide-body jets, something America West didn't have.

More than 1,000 US Airways pilots out of a job at the time of the merger were placed at the bottom of the list, and the middle was filled in with a ratio of US Airways and America West pilots based on seniority, their position and the type of aircraft.

Sullenberger said "it simply wasn't right" that an America West pilot with just a few months seniority at the airline when the merger was announced would be ranked above former US Airways pilots with years of experience at the time of the merger.

The union noted in its opening statement that Hudson co-pilot Skiles, who has 19 years with US Airways, ranks below an America West pilot with less than seven years' seniority on the arbitrated seniority list.

Sullenberger said he expressed his concerns about the list to the head of the Air Line Pilots Association, the union that represented America West and US Airways at the time of the merger, in a meeting in Charlotte, where he is based.

He said a flawed merger policy by that union led to the impasse.

Sullenberger, who has been on a media blitz since January and recently signed a book deal, has not resumed flying for US Airways. Skiles recently did.