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NEW YORK, Dec 6 (Reuters) – Allegiant Air’s pilots’ union is blocking the airline’s attempt to secure permanent residency for dozens of foreign pilots from Chile, Australia and Singapore, leaving their immigration status – and the company’s staffing – in limbo.
The union has refused to certify to the U.S. Department of Labor that the pilot positions, which start at about $50,000 a year, about half of what pilots at other regional airlines earn, meet “prevailing wage” standards. That certification is a crucial bureaucratic step and a requirement for the pilots’ green card applications.
Instead of hiring foreign pilots, the Teamsters Local 2118 has asked Allegiant to offer industry-standard compensation and improvements to scheduling to retain pilots who are leaving for rivals.
Allegiant said it, like most U.S. carriers, faced significant workforce challenges when travel surged after the pandemic. The carrier has also struggled to retain pilots in part due to low pay levels. To stabilize staffing, the carrier expanded recruitment to hire pilots under employment-based visa programs.
The union alleges the airline misrepresented its intentions to permanently hire these pilots and that there is no longer a shortage in the U.S., making the move to pursue permanent residency for the pilots unnecessary.
“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.”
Allegiant said it currently employs approximately 62 pilots from Chile, Australia, and Singapore through H-1B1 and E-3 visa programs, or about 4% of its overall pilot count of 1,345.
An Allegiant spokesperson said hiring pilots through visa programs is a small supplement to its broader workforce strategy, not a replacement for U.S. hires.
The union declined to provide the letter needed for the permanent labor certification application submitted by the airline. A Labor Department-issued permanent labor certification allows employers to hire foreign workers to work permanently in the U.S.
In a letter to pilots seen by Reuters, Allegiant wrote “as a result of the union’s failure to provide that information, we understand that the time to obtain your green card may be delayed.”
