Delta pilots testify about rigors of job

WASHINGTON — The pilots union of Delta Air Lines Inc. sought to show Friday that flying a commercial plane with the lives of hundreds of passengers at stake is a stressful, time-consuming and heavily regulated job that requires a lot of training and professionalism and — ultimately — good pay.

Union lawyers called several retired and current Delta pilots to testify before an arbitration panel that will decide whether to allow the nation's third-largest carrier to void its pilot contract and impose up to $325 million in long-term pay and benefit cuts. The union says it will strike if its contract is thrown out.

One of the retired pilots, Kim Welch, said he didn't take a certain prescription cholesterol medication because federal regulations could have prevented him from flying. He said he took a nonprescription medication instead.

"That is very typical for an airline pilot," Welch told the panel.

Another retired Delta pilot, Dennis Dolan, testified about his two tours in Vietnam as a Marine fighter pilot and how they shaped his ability to focus on the task at hand.

In a statement, Atlanta-based Delta, which operates a hub at Salt Lake City International Airport, said its pilots' commitment to their work isn't the issue, but rather what the company needs to keep running.

"For Delta to successfully restructure and become a viable company, all of its costs need to be competitive, including its pilot labor costs, which are today among the highest in the industry," the airline said.

But Welch also testified that when the union agreed to a bankruptcy protection letter and gave up $1 billion in annual concessions in 2004, the union understood that if Delta filed for Chapter 11 and wanted to reject its contract and seek more concessions, it would first have to meet a specific financial test.

Even if it met that test, Delta would then only be able to seek an amount of concessions necessary to overcome a financial shortfall, Welch said.

"They did not have open-ended access to our contract," Welch — a former union official — said he advised pilots in 2004.

Delta has argued that its pilots union is mischaracterizing what the bankruptcy protection letter means. The company argues that the letter allows it to seek a long-term remedy to its financial problems.