The once lofty allure of an airline pilot career is taking some pretty big hits lately.

Here's yet another... Capt. J.C. Lawson, chairman of the Comair pilots unit of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l, issued the following statement after Comair management filed an 1113(c) motion in bankruptcy court. In essence, the motion requests that the bankruptcy judge allow the company to repudiate and breach the pilot labor contract and impose terms of employment.

"I am disappointed that Comair management has elected to manipulate the bankruptcy laws in this manner, in an attempt to inflict its concessionary goals on our pilots. All along, we have taken the position that the best resolution to the company's present financial challenges is a negotiated, mutually-agreeable settlement. Management has repeated this mantra in many of its recent communications to our employees, but the spirit of this message has been absent from our negotiations.

"Throughout this process, Comair management has pressed for many millions in annual wage and work rule concessions with very little flexibility, and little in return for a sacrifice of this magnitude. Comair has not demonstrated that what it has proposed in concessions is necessary for its reorganization. We also would hope that the organization would contemplate job security and other considerations to make any kind of relinquishment more appropriate and palatable for our membership. This latest move reveals what we have experienced since these negotiations began -- that management has little interest in hearing our suggestions and proposals.

"As Comair pilots, we recognize that we will need to make sacrifices. We are realistic about what will be necessary and we want to do our part. It should be noted that Comair pilots previously agreed to concessions in 2005, further demonstrating our commitment to our company. However, we should not have to accept these dictated terms of employment. We don't believe that this is consistent with the spirit of the law that governs these negotiations."

Comair is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines and operates exclusively as a Delta Connection carrier.

FMI: www.alpa.org