"Failure Is Not An Option"
After nine days of what
could charitably be described as "heated" talks between Delta
Air Lines management and the pilots union before a three
member federal arbitration panel, the two parties were firmly told
Thursday to return to the bargaining table... and make nice, or
else.
""Make no mistake: you both are responsible for this
proceeding," board chairman Richard Bloch told both sides. "Time is
of the essence and failure... is not an option."
As Aero-News has reported often since
talks began last year, pilots have threatened to
strike if Delta is allowed to toss out its existing contract with
them, as is allowed under bankruptcy law. Delta management
maintains without up to $325 million in cuts to pilot pay and
benefits, the airline will collapse.
In recent days, both sides have hardened their stances before
the panel considerably... leading Bloch, in a surprisingly
passionate plea, to chastise both management and the pilots for
letting negotiations deteriorate to the point that, without an
agreement on pay cuts, the very future of Delta lays in doubt.
"This will be an abandonment of responsibility that will, and
should, haunt all of you," Bloch told both parties Thursday, as
reported by the Associated Press. "This is a shameful exercise by
two groups who it appears have bargained successfully in fat times;
but in hard times, the talk turns to nuclear options."
"You need to begin today, tonight... you need to get down to
this privately now," Bloch said, adding that each side "has within
its power the ability to destroy this company."
Delta CFO Edward Bastian said he expects negotiations will
resume within a day or two.
"We're hoping to be able to get back to the table," Bastian told
reporters after the hearing. "I would hope in the next few days we
could start. We need to get this done... But it won't be easy."
The head of Delta's
pilots union, Lee Moak, told the AP the airline is responsible for
the delay in negotiations.
"The ball is in the company's court," Moak told reporters after
Thursday's meeting. "It takes two parties to negotiate and they
haven't negotiated to this point. We'll see if the panel's words
can bring them to the table willing to negotiate in good
faith."
It's important to note that unlike a court, the arbitration
panel does not have the legal authority to order the two parties to
resume negotiations. Bloch said Delta and the pilots should
consider his statement -- which was agreed upon by the other two
panel members -- as "an interim order of this arbitration
panel."
Which means... get in handled, guys, before the US Bankruptcy
Court makes a decision that, quite possibly, neither side will be
able to live with.