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– Delta Air Lines (Other OTC: DALRQ) today confirmed that the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the union representing the airline’s approximately 6,000 pilots, has ratified the tentative agreement and has agreed to present it to its membership for ratification by May 31, 2006.

“This is a reflection of a shared commitment to work together to help deliver the cost savings the company needs to successfully emerge from bankruptcy and to become the fierce competitor we know we can be,” said Gerald Grinstein, Delta’s chief executive officer.

“Together we are making real progress on our business plan and this agreement represents an important piece of our restructuring puzzle. It also represents additional hardship for our pilots and I appreciate their consideration of something that is vitally important to the future of this company.”
The tentative agreement’s terms and conditions provide the necessary pilot savings through a combination of changes to pay, benefits and work rules.
Because the company is reorganizing through the Chapter 11 process, the tentative agreement is subject to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court’s approval. If ratified by the pilots and approved by the Court, the agreement’s terms and conditions will be effective June 1, 2006 and become amendable on Dec. 31, 2009.
“We believe the structure and key elements of this agreement provide the competitive framework necessary for the company’s successful reorganization,” said Edward H. Bastian, Delta’s executive vice president, chief financial officer and head of the company’s in-court restructuring efforts. The four-year deal provides approximately $280 million in average annual pilot labor cost savings.
The company’s business plan had called for $325 million in annual pilot labor savings. “We agreed to reduce our proposal and make improvements to the overall package recognizing the likelihood the pilot pension plan would be terminated,” said Bastian.
“All Delta employees have made significant contributions to help Delta succeed, and they continue to demonstrate a level of professionalism and dedication unrivaled in this industry. Thanks to everyone’s sacrifice and continued focus on taking good care of our customers, coupled with the network and revenue improvements we are making, we are delivering real results,” Grinstein said. “We have a solid plan for the future; one that holds great opportunity for all Delta people.”
Barring any disruptions, the company is on track to achieve approximately 70 percent of its business plan’s benefits by the end of this year, with the goal of successfully emerging from bankruptcy in 2007.

ClipperDelta

Phew! Glad to hear another hurdle cleared..at least the DALPA MEC endorsed the deal..the NWA MEC sent their TA to the union for ratification while abstaining from recommending the deal...

TTT

There is a good breakdown of the terms of the new agreement over at airliners.net. Here is the link.

K7Beach

This was an interesting read.....Can some one explain the DCI jets piece though? What are they talking about.....Here is the quote...

Limited authority to operate 71-76 seat DCI jets, provided that no pilot on the current seniority list (Troy Kane and above) is placed on furlough. This
protection is not subject to a force majeure clause.

SNAGuy

After reading the post on airliners.net my guess is that DCI would be the Delta Connection Carriers.

alb222

Therein lies a major problem. Scope! Allowing DL to let DCI operate 71-76 seaters takes away the ability of DL flying certain routes. If a DL crew operates a 732 on a route, let's say CVG-FLL and DL decides to give the route to DCI using a 76 passenger plane, (which would probably be something like a CR9 in 2 class service,) the chances that DL mainline would ever fly that route again are minimal. That means less flying for mainline pilots, fewer flight lines, fewer pilots, and no recall of furloughed pilots. I do believe the scope issue will be a major stumbling block to the certification of this contract proposal. MEC has to do a big selling job on this!

TTT

There are some scope protections in the new contract though. For example, if a Delta pilot is furloughed Delta must actually remove seats from their DCI aircraft to drop them down to 70 seats. Also, they have established pay scales for 90 seat AC, presumably a good replacement for a 732 or 733 route, so we know that DCI carriers will not be flying these.