Delta Pilots Now Think Wage Settlement Possible

Sounding a conspicuously conciliatory note, the chief of ALPA's Delta pilots' says he thinks the union and the airline can cut a deal. But Duane Woerth is a cautious man.

"It's hard to close a deal until you see what you are talking about," Woerth was quoted in media reports as saying.

But at the same time, another union official, Capt. John J. Malone, sounded a defiant note in an op-ed piece appearing in Tuesday's edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

"Unlike corporate executives who have taken their 'retention' packages and moved on, the pilots are tied to this company," Malone wrote.

The Delta ALPA unit has a public relations situation on its hands. The airline is clearly in financial hot water while the pilots continue to receive salaries that are 50-percent bigger than the industry norm. While, at first, the two messages from Woerth and Malone appear contradictory, they could actually be complimentary.

Delta pilots signed a hefty contract just months before the 9/11 attacks socked in the industry like a 0/0 blanket of fog. Since then, two airlines have gone bankrupt and pilots at most major carriers have joined other union members in making deep salary and benefit concessions, hoping to help keep their airlines afloat. Delta hasn't filed for bankruptcy. But analysts are quick to follow that line with a single word: "yet."

Delta wants the pilots to agree on a 30-percent pay cut. So far, the pilots have reportedly been willing to offer a mere 9.5 percent reduction over a year's time and forego raises set for next month.

But Malone wrote in his opinion piece, the union -- far from being a Scrooge -- has been quite conciliatory toward the airline. "Since Sept. 11, 2001, pilots have agreed to amend our contract many times to help Delta save money and compete. By waiving a portion of our contract, we allowed Delta to enter into a revenue-generating domestic code-share arrangement with Northwest and Continental. Another waiver permitted Delta to operate Song, an 'airline within an airline' (Song). Thousands of US troops were flown to war by Delta pilots after we amended our contract to make it easier for Delta to do this."

Malone continued, "All of these concessions pale in comparison to the bailout package the pilots have been offering for almost a year. Our continual efforts to help over this period have been met with "all or nothing" demands from management. Regardless, we will continue to try to do our part to help the company."

As if delivering the second part of a one-two public relations punch, National ALPA Delta President Woerth told the Dow Jones news service the airline's poor planning has held up an agreement on pilot contract concessions. Pointing to Delta's costly failure to hedge against rampant fuel price increases, Woerth said pinning down a deal with the airline is "very difficult. We're just about to get a deal, and someone says, 'Excuse me, we forgot to hedge.'"

Malone delivered the union's answer to intimations its members are being hard-hearted by writing, "Labor is just one part of the recovery equation. The pilots' union has offered hundreds of millions of dollars even though Delta has shown no evidence of a business plan that will enable it to compete effectively within the airline industry. Even those network carriers that have obtained worker concessions have yet to become profitable.

"An effective strategy," he wrote, "must also include the elements that historically have set Delta apart from its competition, such as customer service and employee morale."

Woerth said he's confident the union and the airlines can hammer out a new contract to avoid a Delta bankruptcy. But he indicated such a deal might not be reachable before Labor Day.

FMI: www.alpa.org, www.delta.com