Believes Airline Won't Ask For Pay Cuts

The head of Delta Air Lines's pilots union told the Associated Press Monday he doesn't think record fuel prices will force management to ask pilots for wage concessions during Delta's acquisition of Northwest Airlines.

Just weeks ago, Delta negotiated a new post-merger agreement with its own pilots, agreeing to wage increases and stock in the new company.

Lee Moak, chairman of the Delta pilot union's executive committee, told an interviewer he doesn't see Delta coming back to its pilots with hat in hand to pay for Jet-A.

"Hypothetically, if oil goes to $200 a barrel and we're not able to raise ticket prices... anything can happen," Moak said. "But at some point, something is going to have to give. I don't think it's going to be labor concessions. I think it's going to be rational ticket pricing to cover our cost."

As ANN has reported, earlier this year Delta announced cuts in both capacity and jobs, and hinted that more changes could be coming if oil's breathtaking rise in price continues. But Moak repeated earlier union concerns that the real issue facing pilots and Delta is integration of the workforce after the stock-swap acquisition of Northwest by Delta is completed, expected late this year.

Moak says the reason talks between the two pilot groups ended in stalemate early this year was an inability to agree on pilot seniority rankings as the groups come together. At that point, it was thought the lack of an agreement in advance by pilots would prevent the deal from being made.

Now that it's been done and the clock is ticking, Moak says he's confident a deal will get done by the time the merger closes. But, he hastened to add, "...if there isn't a deal done, we'll continue to work on it."

FMI: www.delta.com