Air Oregon, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 25, 1978

235 N.L.R.B. 1142 (N.L.R.B. 1978)

DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Executive Flight Services, Incorporated, d/b/a Air
Oregon, Inc. and Teamsters Local 2707, Interna-
tional Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs,
Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Petition-
er. Case 36-RC-3938
April 25, 1978
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF
ELECTION
BY MEMBERS JENKINS, PENELLO, AND MURPHY
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hear-
ing was held before Hearing Officer B. Allan Benson.
Following the hearing, this case was transferred to
the National Labor Relations Board in Washington,
D.C., pursuant to Section 102.67 of the National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations and
Statements of Procedure, Series 8, as amended. The
Employer filed a brief with the Board.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the
National Labor Relations Board has delegated its
authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's
rulings made at the hearing and finds that they are
free from prejudicial error. They are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board
finds:
1. The Employer, Executive Flight Services, In-
corporated, d/b/a Air Oregon, Inc., is an Oregon
corporation with its principal place of business in
Portland, Oregon. As Air Oregon, the Employer
provides scheduled passenger and freight service to
24 cities within Oregon. Air Oregon is subject to the
regulatory authority of the Oregon Public Utility
Commission, which establishes Air Oregon's fares
and determines its route structure. Under the name
of Executive Flight Services, the Employer operates a
charter service which performs both intrastate and
interstate flights. Executive Flight Services also
provides pilots for Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone
Company aircraft which are largely used to transport
telephone company personnel between points in
Oregon and Washington. The pilots who fly the
Northwest Bell Telephone aircraft generally do not
perform either Air Oregon or charter work. The
remainder of the Employer's pilots perform both Air
Oregon and Executive Flight Services' charter work;
the bulk of these pilots' time, however, is spent flying
the scheduled Air Oregon routes. The Employer has
no formal interline ticketing arrangements with other
air carriers. It does not transport mail for the United
States Government nor does it train pilots or person-
nel for other airlines.
The Employer commenced its intrastate scheduled
flight service known as Air Oregon in April 1977.
The parties stipulated that projected figures demon-
strate that the Employer will earn in excess of
$500,000 from all its operations during the period
from April 1977 to April 1978, and that during the
same period it will have purchased directly from
outside the State of Oregon goods valued in excess of
$50,000. The projected amount of revenue derived
from the Employer's interstate operations accounts
for only 3 to 4 percent of its total projected gross
annual income.
Because of the jurisdictional nature of the question
presented here, we have in this case, as in other
similar cases in the past, requested the National
Mediation Board, as the agency primarily vested
with jurisdiction under the Railway Labor Act over
air carriers and having primary authority to deter-
mine its own jurisdiction, to study the record in this
case and to determine the applicability of the
Railway Labor Act to the Employer. We are admin-
istratively advised by the National Mediation Board
under date of February 21, 1978, that:
It appears that the only activity which would
bring the Company within the coverage of the Act
is the interstate portion of the charter operation.
Inasmuch as that portion now accounts for an
insubstantial part of the Company's gross reve-
nues and is declining the National Mediation
Board concludes that the Company is not a
carrier within the meaning of section 201 of the
Railway Labor Act.
Accordingly, we find that the Employer is engaged
in commerce within the meaning of the Act and that
it will effectuate the policies of the Act to assert
jurisdiction herein. We, therefore, assert jurisdiction
herein.
2. The Petitioner is a labor organization seeking
to represent certain employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concern-
ing the representation of certain employees of the
Employer within the meaning of Sections 9(c)(1) and
2(6) and (7) of the Act.
4. We find in accord with the stipulation of the
parties that the following employees of the Employer
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9(b) of the Act:
235 NLRB No. 148
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AIR OREGON, INC.
All pilots employed by Executive Flight Services,
Incorporated, d/b/a Air Oregon, Inc., performing
intrastate flight services within the state of Ore-
gon, but excluding office clerical employees,
guards, supervisors as defined in the Act, and all
other employees.
[Direction of Election and Excelsior footnote omit-
ted from publication.]
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