Warring US Airways and America West pilots have the merged company in a real tailspin

A pilot for US Airways, Braid has the friendly demeanor and wholesome blondness common to many Midwesterners — it's no surprise to learn that he hails from Michigan. Now living in Mesa, the 46-year-old seems about as nice, and low-key, as they come.

If you believe his own union, though, David Braid is part of a vast, vicious conspiracy. In fact, the union has sued him and a host of his fellow pilots under the very laws that were used to stop the Gambino crime family and the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club — the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, better known as RICO. The union's suit, filed in federal court in North Carolina this May, alleges that Braid and a bevy of his fellow pilots have engaged in extortion and a "concerted campaign of sabotage."

Extortion? Sabotage?

Reading that, you might picture slashed tires. Or threats in the cockpit. Perhaps it even brings to mind the pilots who nearly flew drunk a few years back. At minimum, you'd think of a group of conspirators, plotting in smoke-filled rooms (or airport lounges, in these smoke-free days).

But here's what David Braid stands accused of doing.

He posted one message on an anti-union Internet bulletin board. And it was about as unexciting as it gets — in it, he urged his fellow pilots to call the union's toll-free information line. No joke: We're talking about one message that didn't use foul language, post anyone's personal information, or call for illegal behavior. At the time, Braid had never even met many of the pilots he was accusing of conspiring with — some of whom also did nothing more than post a few innocuous comments online.

His lawyer, Patrick Van Zanen, says the lawsuit is ludicrous. "To take a guy who makes one posting, and lump him up in some kind of conspiracy of extortion . . . that's just ridiculous."

But that's US Airways these days. Three years after America West and US Airways "merged" to form the nation's sixth-largest carrier, its pilots are less united than ever. Pilots from the old US Airways have now formed a new, independent union — but even though pilots from the old America West are required to pay it dues, they believe the new union has done its best to disenfranchise them entirely.

America West pilots have fought back. Their US Airways counterparts have accused them of everything from mailing dog feces to union headquarters to hanging a noose in an airplane cockpit to making thousands of prank phone calls. Not surprisingly, the two groups aren't even close to a common contract.

Now, there's no need to cash in your frequent flyer miles and book a train: The infighting at US Airways will not affect your safety. But for the 5,000 pilots who count on the Tempe-based airline for their paycheck, the situation is incredibly frustrating.

Thanks to the merger, some pilots will have to be demoted. The question of who that should be — guys who've been laid off for years from the old US Airways, or the younger pilots at America West — has led to some pilots taking extreme positions and refusing to budge.

The situation isn't likely to change anytime soon. Thanks to high fuel prices, the perennially precarious airline industry is in a serious state of contraction. No one can afford to walk away; no one sees an influx of more routes and more jobs on the near horizon.

The pilots are locked into a bitter battle. And the casualties are guys like David Braid: pilots who want nothing more than to keep the status they've accrued over years of flying but have been forced to hire lawyers just to defend their right to free speech.

Three years ago this month, Virginia-based US Airways merged with Tempe's America West. But what was quickly made official on paper has proved much more complicated in reality.

Pre-merger, the companies had little geographic overlap. US Airways had hubs in Charlotte and Philadelphia; its routes were based almost entirely in the East. America West, with hubs in Phoenix and Las Vegas, flew mostly in the West.

They also had markedly different cultures.

US Airways was older, more traditional and — like many older, traditional airlines — more screwed-up. Founded by the DuPont family in the 1930s, it became US Air in 1979 following deregulation and then, finally, US Airways a couple of decades after that. But though it survived merger after merger and recession after recession, it never actually thrived. At the time merger discussions began with America West in 2005, US Airways had lost $3.4 billion in four years, and filed for Chapter 11 protection twice.

As for America West, well, in 2005 you couldn't say it was in great shape. But by the standards of the perpetually beleaguered airline industry, it was at least stayin' alive.

The low-cost, low-frills airline, which started in Phoenix in the early 1980s, initially grew rapidly. There was a bankruptcy in 1990, but the company reorganized and managed to avoid subsequent filings. Its pre-merger losses were in the millions — which, unfortunately, are pretty typical for an airline.