General Lee
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Pilots may hold key to Delta-Northwest merger deal
By RUSSELL GRANTHAM , JIM THARPE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/14/08
A bare-knuckled turf war is being played out behind the scenes as Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines and Minnesota-based Northwest try to create the world's largest airline.
Big egos, big airplanes and big salaries are at stake as the pilot unions grapple with a long list of thorny issues.
Delta and Northwest have been in talks for weeks, trying to hammer out a merger that would create a mega-carrier, with major U.S., European and Asian hubs. An announcement has been predicted as early as this week, but could be delayed or even derailed if pilot negotiations drag on.
Some airline officials want to announce a merger as soon as possible so that it will have time to clear regulatory hurdles while the business-friendly Bush administration is still in office. Any merger would have to be cleared by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The 11,100 active pilots of the two carriers apparently now hold the key.
People familiar with the talks say other major issues have been resolved, but senior management at both airlines want to get pilots on the same page before a merger is announced. That has been a historically difficult task in other mergers.
Union leaders representing both carriers' pilots have been working overtime in an attempt to resolve issues ranging from seniority standing to the type of airplanes pilots will be permitted to fly.
"All positions are still on the table," said one senior Delta pilot familiar with the negotiations. "It's just a matter of what can we actually accomplish."
Delta has about 6,300 active pilots and Northwest has about 4,800. The Air Line Pilots Association represents both groups, but they have separate local units with their own elected leaders and labor contracts. Teams from the two local units are trying to reach an agreement this week that would be handed to the carriers' management teams before a merger announcement, according to the people familiar with the talks.
That agreement, however, would eventually have to be approved by union members, or it would be thrown into arbitration.
Merging labor unions often have taken months or even years to work out a truce. Merging seniority lists is often the toughest challenge. Pilots at US Airways, for example, are still working under separate seniority lists and contracts more than two years after America West acquired the carrier in 2005.
One issue on the table regarding a Delta-Northwest merger, according to some senior pilots, is protecting seniority flying privileges on the most prestigious aircraft for a specified number of years after the merger is announced.
For example, Delta pilots flying top-of-the-line Boeing 777s and Northwest pilots flying Boeing 747s might be protected for two to four years, pilots said.
Terry Miller, a 28-year Delta employee and Boeing 777 captain, flies its biggest jets to destinations such as Tokyo and Mumbai, India.
"If I couldn't hold the 777 anymore, I would say that's not fair," he said. "I believe they'll [union leaders] be fair."
A lower-seniority Delta pilot said he is skeptical about the rationale behind the merger plans and would like to hear some specifics from union leaders.
"No one's said anything to me. I haven't seen anything in the pilot lounges. No one's sent anything to me," said the co-pilot on one of Delta's narrow-body jets. He said he doubts the expected merger will do much to counter higher fuel costs or to improve his pay or job security. He also doesn't expect much of a pay-out from any equity stake the unions win from cooperating in the merger deal.
"I see nothing in it for me," he said.
George L. Perry, who retired from Delta in 2003 as its most senior pilot, saw a handful of mergers by Delta during his 38 years with the airline. In every case, he said, there were unhappy pilots "when the smoke cleared."
"There's no way you will make them all happy," said Perry, who favors a Delta-Northwest combination. "The ALPA people will just have to come to an agreement. You will end up with a certain percentage of the group that will be unhappy no matter how you do it."
One big challenge the pilot unions face is finding a way that is acceptable to members to account for big seniority differences at the two carriers between the pilots who fly the largest jets, and those who get the biggest paychecks.
More than 2,000 of Delta's most senior pilots took early retirement to protect a portion of their pension benefits as the carrier headed for bankruptcy in 2005. Delta's remaining pilots moved up to fill that hole, often into jobs flying big jets and international routes that they normally would have waited several more years to reach.
By the same token, roughly 2,000 Northwest pilots would be senior to Delta's most experienced pilots. If the two pilot groups were blended strictly by date of hire, large numbers of Delta's pilots could be bumped down to lower-paying jobs flying smaller jets, and they would take the brunt of any job furloughs that result.
While Northwest's pilot union might prefer such a scenario, Delta's larger pilots union is pushing to avoid such a result, said some pilots.
Under the complicated scheme the Delta pilots are seeking, the two carriers' pilot groups who fly the same aircraft types will be blended largely by seniority.
Generally, Northwest pilots who were hired three years earlier than Delta pilots would end up with the same seniority.
Meanwhile, some Delta flight attendants rattled by the uncertainty brought about by merger talks, are scheduled today to seek authority from the National Mediation Board to hold a union election.
Bye Bye--General Lee
By RUSSELL GRANTHAM , JIM THARPE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/14/08
A bare-knuckled turf war is being played out behind the scenes as Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines and Minnesota-based Northwest try to create the world's largest airline.
Big egos, big airplanes and big salaries are at stake as the pilot unions grapple with a long list of thorny issues.
Delta and Northwest have been in talks for weeks, trying to hammer out a merger that would create a mega-carrier, with major U.S., European and Asian hubs. An announcement has been predicted as early as this week, but could be delayed or even derailed if pilot negotiations drag on.
Some airline officials want to announce a merger as soon as possible so that it will have time to clear regulatory hurdles while the business-friendly Bush administration is still in office. Any merger would have to be cleared by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The 11,100 active pilots of the two carriers apparently now hold the key.
People familiar with the talks say other major issues have been resolved, but senior management at both airlines want to get pilots on the same page before a merger is announced. That has been a historically difficult task in other mergers.
Union leaders representing both carriers' pilots have been working overtime in an attempt to resolve issues ranging from seniority standing to the type of airplanes pilots will be permitted to fly.
"All positions are still on the table," said one senior Delta pilot familiar with the negotiations. "It's just a matter of what can we actually accomplish."
Delta has about 6,300 active pilots and Northwest has about 4,800. The Air Line Pilots Association represents both groups, but they have separate local units with their own elected leaders and labor contracts. Teams from the two local units are trying to reach an agreement this week that would be handed to the carriers' management teams before a merger announcement, according to the people familiar with the talks.
That agreement, however, would eventually have to be approved by union members, or it would be thrown into arbitration.
Merging labor unions often have taken months or even years to work out a truce. Merging seniority lists is often the toughest challenge. Pilots at US Airways, for example, are still working under separate seniority lists and contracts more than two years after America West acquired the carrier in 2005.
One issue on the table regarding a Delta-Northwest merger, according to some senior pilots, is protecting seniority flying privileges on the most prestigious aircraft for a specified number of years after the merger is announced.
For example, Delta pilots flying top-of-the-line Boeing 777s and Northwest pilots flying Boeing 747s might be protected for two to four years, pilots said.
Terry Miller, a 28-year Delta employee and Boeing 777 captain, flies its biggest jets to destinations such as Tokyo and Mumbai, India.
"If I couldn't hold the 777 anymore, I would say that's not fair," he said. "I believe they'll [union leaders] be fair."
A lower-seniority Delta pilot said he is skeptical about the rationale behind the merger plans and would like to hear some specifics from union leaders.
"No one's said anything to me. I haven't seen anything in the pilot lounges. No one's sent anything to me," said the co-pilot on one of Delta's narrow-body jets. He said he doubts the expected merger will do much to counter higher fuel costs or to improve his pay or job security. He also doesn't expect much of a pay-out from any equity stake the unions win from cooperating in the merger deal.
"I see nothing in it for me," he said.
George L. Perry, who retired from Delta in 2003 as its most senior pilot, saw a handful of mergers by Delta during his 38 years with the airline. In every case, he said, there were unhappy pilots "when the smoke cleared."
"There's no way you will make them all happy," said Perry, who favors a Delta-Northwest combination. "The ALPA people will just have to come to an agreement. You will end up with a certain percentage of the group that will be unhappy no matter how you do it."
One big challenge the pilot unions face is finding a way that is acceptable to members to account for big seniority differences at the two carriers between the pilots who fly the largest jets, and those who get the biggest paychecks.
More than 2,000 of Delta's most senior pilots took early retirement to protect a portion of their pension benefits as the carrier headed for bankruptcy in 2005. Delta's remaining pilots moved up to fill that hole, often into jobs flying big jets and international routes that they normally would have waited several more years to reach.
By the same token, roughly 2,000 Northwest pilots would be senior to Delta's most experienced pilots. If the two pilot groups were blended strictly by date of hire, large numbers of Delta's pilots could be bumped down to lower-paying jobs flying smaller jets, and they would take the brunt of any job furloughs that result.
While Northwest's pilot union might prefer such a scenario, Delta's larger pilots union is pushing to avoid such a result, said some pilots.
Under the complicated scheme the Delta pilots are seeking, the two carriers' pilot groups who fly the same aircraft types will be blended largely by seniority.
Generally, Northwest pilots who were hired three years earlier than Delta pilots would end up with the same seniority.
Meanwhile, some Delta flight attendants rattled by the uncertainty brought about by merger talks, are scheduled today to seek authority from the National Mediation Board to hold a union election.
Bye Bye--General Lee
