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Delta Pilots Talking Up Strike: Union Takes Action Following Pay-Cut Demands

Posted on: Thursday, 3 November 2005, 12:00 CST

By Paul Beebe, The Salt Lake Tribune

Nov. 3--The union representing Delta Air Lines pilots is vowing to set up a strike committee after the company asked a bankruptcy judge to void its contract with pilots and allow it to impose a $325 million pay cut.

In a letter to pilots Wednesday, the Air Line Pilots Association said it would form a committee of pilots to prepare for a potential strike against the nation's No. 3 airline, which filed for bankruptcy in September.

"Faced with this management onslaught, our only choice is self defense," ALPA Chairman Lee Moak said in the letter sent to Delta's 6,000 pilots. "We must defend the concept of the pilot working agreement. All legal means will be considered. In preparation for that, I have authorized the re-establishment of the strike-preparedness committee."

Union spokeswoman Kelly Collins said the association would not elaborate.

A strike could cripple Delta, which has lost more than $10 billion since 2000. Among the factors that pushed the Atlanta-based carrier to seek bankruptcy protection in September were soaring jet fuel prices and competition from low-fare airlines.

Delta's legal motion "was not unexpected, but we are very disappointed," said Salt Lake pilot Ed Thiel, who with about 50 other Delta Pilots met Wednesday at the Embassy Suites hotel to discuss the union strategy. "We view it as a failure of management, that they have to go to the bankruptcy court rather than deal with us."

The pilots association and Delta plan to resume talks before the judge rules on the company's request.

Delta spokesman Anthony Black said the company still hopes to reach an agreement with the pilots association before U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Prudence Carter Beatty rules on the company's request. The judge has scheduled a Nov. 16 hearing.

The pilots association and Delta plan to resume talks before the judge rules on the company's request.

"We expect to move forward quickly under the time-prescribed periods in the bankruptcy code to achieve the pilot labor cost reductions needed to address the unrelenting financial and competitive demands on our company," Black said.

Atlanta-based Delta operates its westernmost hub at Salt Lake City International Airport. The nation's third-largest carrier employs 3,900 people in Salt Lake, including 650 pilots.

Also Wednesday, Delta restated its pledge to lift itself out of bankruptcy in two years.

In a document filed with securities regulators, Chief Financial Officer Ed Bastian said the airline expects a profit of $498 million in 2007, following projected losses of $2.1 billion this year and $412 million in 2006.

But Delta's ability to meet its projection will depend on several factors, according to the document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. One factor, outlined in a business plan in September, is winning $930 million in wage and benefit cuts from its employees, a third of which would come from pilots.

The remainder of the pay and benefit cuts, totaling $605 million, would come from non-union workers. They went into effect Tuesday.

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune

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DALRQ,

Source: The Salt Lake Tribune

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