Delta cuts deal with pilots for lower pay

NEW YORK — Delta Air Lines said Sunday night that it had reached a tentative agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association to cut pilots pay, avoiding a potential showdown in Delta's bankruptcy case over the air carrier's effort to impose steeper pay cuts.

Subject to pilot ratification by Dec. 28, Delta said the tentative agreement provides for a 14 percent hourly wage reduction for pilots and reductions in other pilot pay and cost items equal to about an additional 1 percent wage reduction. The deal could save the bankrupt carrier more than $152 million a year.

The chief of Delta's pilots union, Capt. Lee Moak, said in a statement that a negotiated agreement was in the best interest of Delta and its more than 6,000 pilots. "With a lot of hard work and dedication, I believe we have crafted an agreement that contributes to the restructuring plan and recognizes our value to the company," he said.

Last week, the pilots said they may strike if the bankrupt carrier tried to impose a 19.5 percent pay cut. Delta, the No. 3 U.S. air carrier, had argued the cuts were necessary for it to survive.

The earlier proposal would have reduced the average pilot's salary to $136,362 from $169,393, Delta had said. The 14 percent cut would bring the average salary down to $145,678.

The cost reductions would be effective Thursday and would remain in effect while the two sides seek to reach a comprehensive agreement. The company and the pilots association would seek to negotiate a comprehensive agreement by March 1, with a pilots union ratification vote by March 22.

"This agreement reflects the resolve of Delta people to work together to help save the company," Delta CFO Ed Bastian said in a statement. "We recognize and appreciate the additional sacrifice this will represent."

The tentative agreement will be presented to a New York bankruptcy court judge on Tuesday, Delta spokesman John Kennedy said. The company and the union will ask for the suspension of a hearing on Delta's motion to reject the existing collective bargaining agreement.

Delta, which is in Chapter 11 protection, had said it had the legal right to impose 20 percent pay cuts on its pilots on Friday because of a deadline in federal bankruptcy law. ALPA, whose members voluntarily took 30 percent pay cuts last year, threatened to strike if Delta unilaterally cut their pay.

Delta had asked the bankruptcy-court judge for permission to void the pilots' contract and impose $325 million a year in pay cuts.