Associated Press
Mesaba Pilots Pleased With New Contract
Sunday January 11, 4:21 pm ET
By Karren Mills, AP Business Writer
Mesaba Pilots Say Contract Puts Them in Line With Peers; Deal Ends Three Years of Negotiations
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- After nearly three years of talks with Mesaba Airlines, pilots said Sunday that their new tentative contract agreement brings their pay and benefits in line with their peers at other regional carriers.
The deal reached in the wee hours Sunday averted a strike that could have threatened the survival of one of the nation's largest regional carriers and hurt Northwest Airlines, the nation's fourth-largest carrier.
Mesaba resumed nearly full operations on Sunday after canceling all flights Saturday. The proposed contract will be presented over the next week to pilots, who are expected to vote on ratification this month.
The agreement came after talks had stretched more than a day past a strike deadline.
While spokesman Dave Ricci of the Air Line Pilots Association would not provide exact details of the contract until it had been presented to Mesaba's 844 pilots, he said the pact "puts all of our big issues in the same range with what we consider our peer groups," including pilots at Comair and Air Wisconsin.
"It puts us in line with those guys when it comes to pay and retirement and job security," said Ricci, a Mesaba pilot based in Detroit. It also includes improved work rules.
"The big thing was to get in the same ballpark with the leaders in the group, and we definitely feel that we did that," he said.
Mesaba flies only for Northwest, ferrying passengers from mostly smaller cities in 28 states and Canada to Northwest's hubs in Minneapolis, Detroit and Memphis. Northwest owns 28 percent of the smaller carrier, provides its airplanes and handles its reservations.
Pilots at rival Comair ratified a new contract in June 2001 after a three-month strike that shut down the Delta Air Lines subsidiary. Under that contract, pay for Comair's pilots now ranges from around $20,000 annually for a starting pilot to around $98,000 for an experienced captain.
The pay for Mesaba's pilots under their old contract ranged from around $17,000 to about $85,000. Union leaders said more than half of the Eagan, Minn.-based carrier's pilots making less than $35,000 for full-time work. ALPA said Mesaba pilots were among the lowest-paid of pilots at regional carriers.
Mesaba had said it needed to keep its costs flat to continue flying for Northwest, which has another regional carrier, Pinnacle Airlines.
Tom Wychor, who heads ALPA's Mesaba unit, said the contract gains do not put the company at risk and substantially improve pilots' work conditions.
"This is a very competitive agreement for the pilots and for the company," Wychor said. "It's a good agreement."
Mesaba President Joe Spanjers said the airline looks forward to continuing a good working relationship with its pilots and the union.
"This deal reflects the professionalism and contributions of our pilots and how important they
Mesaba Pilots Pleased With New Contract
Sunday January 11, 4:21 pm ET
By Karren Mills, AP Business Writer
Mesaba Pilots Say Contract Puts Them in Line With Peers; Deal Ends Three Years of Negotiations
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- After nearly three years of talks with Mesaba Airlines, pilots said Sunday that their new tentative contract agreement brings their pay and benefits in line with their peers at other regional carriers.
The deal reached in the wee hours Sunday averted a strike that could have threatened the survival of one of the nation's largest regional carriers and hurt Northwest Airlines, the nation's fourth-largest carrier.
Mesaba resumed nearly full operations on Sunday after canceling all flights Saturday. The proposed contract will be presented over the next week to pilots, who are expected to vote on ratification this month.
The agreement came after talks had stretched more than a day past a strike deadline.
While spokesman Dave Ricci of the Air Line Pilots Association would not provide exact details of the contract until it had been presented to Mesaba's 844 pilots, he said the pact "puts all of our big issues in the same range with what we consider our peer groups," including pilots at Comair and Air Wisconsin.
"It puts us in line with those guys when it comes to pay and retirement and job security," said Ricci, a Mesaba pilot based in Detroit. It also includes improved work rules.
"The big thing was to get in the same ballpark with the leaders in the group, and we definitely feel that we did that," he said.
Mesaba flies only for Northwest, ferrying passengers from mostly smaller cities in 28 states and Canada to Northwest's hubs in Minneapolis, Detroit and Memphis. Northwest owns 28 percent of the smaller carrier, provides its airplanes and handles its reservations.
Pilots at rival Comair ratified a new contract in June 2001 after a three-month strike that shut down the Delta Air Lines subsidiary. Under that contract, pay for Comair's pilots now ranges from around $20,000 annually for a starting pilot to around $98,000 for an experienced captain.
The pay for Mesaba's pilots under their old contract ranged from around $17,000 to about $85,000. Union leaders said more than half of the Eagan, Minn.-based carrier's pilots making less than $35,000 for full-time work. ALPA said Mesaba pilots were among the lowest-paid of pilots at regional carriers.
Mesaba had said it needed to keep its costs flat to continue flying for Northwest, which has another regional carrier, Pinnacle Airlines.
Tom Wychor, who heads ALPA's Mesaba unit, said the contract gains do not put the company at risk and substantially improve pilots' work conditions.
"This is a very competitive agreement for the pilots and for the company," Wychor said. "It's a good agreement."
Mesaba President Joe Spanjers said the airline looks forward to continuing a good working relationship with its pilots and the union.
"This deal reflects the professionalism and contributions of our pilots and how important they
