Thu, Nov 03, 2005
Carrier Says It Still Hopes To Reach Agreement
In a move called an
"ultimatum" by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), Delta Air
Lines has asked a bankruptcy court judge to allow the carrier to
void a contract with unionized pilots after it wasn't able to
secure $325 million in annual concessions from them -- money the
carrier maintains it desperately needs in order to fight its way
out of Chapter 11.
The carrier filed a Section 1113 motion with US Bankruptcy Court
in New York, according to the Wall Street Journal, although the
carrier has previously stated it was holding off such a filing
while talks continued with the pilots union. Those talks, however,
failed to reach an agreement even after the deadline for an interim
deal passed Oct. 26.
Delta maintains the Section 1113 filing does not rule out
continued talks with the union, although pilots see it differently.
According to the pilots union, Delta negotiators presented their
latest proposal late Monday, which "amounted to an ultimatum" to
reach a deal within about three hours, on a proposal the union said
was little changed from Delta's initial offer. If an agreement is
not reached, the bankruptcy court will decide pilots'
fates.
With the peak travel season approaching, Delta runs the risk of
labor issues which could affect bookings at the worst time,
according to industry analysts. With Delta reporting cumulative
losses of nearly $10 billion since the beginning of 2001, Delta can
ill afford to lose any business.
While an ALPA spokesperson said no new talks are scheduled, the
two sides could still hash out a deal within the next 51 days,
before the judge imposes contract terms that may not be to either
Delta's or the union's liking.
As was reported in Aero-News last fall,
the pilots union already agreed to $1 billion in cuts in a bid to
help the carrier stave off bankruptcy then. Since the
Sept. 14 filing, most Delta employees have already agreed to a nine
percent pay cut, on top of a previous cut of 10 percent last
January.
Part of the proposal Delta submitted to ALPA Monday included a
stipulation extending a program allowing Delta to bring in recently
retired senior pilots to make up for staffing shortages.
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