Posted on 04/14/2006 11:41:08 AM PDT by La Enchiladita
NEW YORK, April 14 (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc. (DALRQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research), which is operating under bankruptcy protection, and the union representing its pilots on Friday said they reached a tentative agreement, potentially averting a strike that could have been fatal to the airline.
The No. 3 U.S. airline and the pilots union, the Air Line Pilots Association International, or ALPA, said the tentative agreement is expected to be presented to the union's governing body, the Delta MEC, in the upcoming weeks.
Both parties declined to disclose details of the tentative agreement, which if ratified, would then be subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
The union represents about 6,000 active Delta pilots and 500 furloughed Delta pilots.
After scores of negotiating sessions that failed to yield an agreement, the two sides last month turned to an independent arbitration panel. The panel was scheduled to rule on April 15.
However, the pilots said they would strike if the panel allowed Delta to throw out their existing deal and impose terms on them.
The airline, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September, has said a strike could be a fatal to the airline, and that it could not survive without the concessions.
Delta has asked the pilots for more than $300 million in savings, as part of its efforts to raise about $3 billion annually through cost cuts and revenue increases.
The union, which agreed to a previous round of pay cuts to help Delta avoid bankruptcy, has said that the airline's demands were excessive, noting that it agreed to a 32.5 percent pay cut just 15 months ago.
(Additional reporting by Paritosh Bansal)
I'm just hoping they stay afloat long enough for us to get to Russia and back to finish our adoption.
ping I think I should have sold.
Good thing. Another 6,00 people looking for work at McDonalds would piss off the illegals to no end.
This subject was much more popular when it looked like they might strike.
I guess the excitement is gone.
I, for one, will be happy when they have the contract signed and move forward in life.
This subject was much more popular when it looked like they might strike.
Wasn't it though? :)
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