ATLANTA (AP) — Negotiators for pilots at Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines said Tuesday that they had a tentative agreement with Delta management on a joint contract to cover both pilot groups when the companies combine later this year.þþDelta’s pilots union said in a statement Tuesday that the agreement was between the two pilot groups and Delta management. Terms were not disclosed.þþThe next step is for the two pilot groups to try to reach an agreement on a merged seniority list.þþThe joint contract agreement, which covers roughly 12,000 pilots from both airlines, still needs rank-and-file approval and a review by the governing bodies of the two unions.þþDelta pilots already have their own deal with management, including pay raises and equity in the new company. That move angered Northwest pilots, who felt left out by their fellow members of the Air Line Pilots Association.þþDelta announced April 14 that it was acquiring Northwest Airlines. The stock-swap deal, if approved by shareholders and regulators, would create the world’s largest airline.þþThe pilots union at Delta called the tentative agreement “the first important step in the process of combining two pilot groups with long, proud histories, into the largest unified pilot group in the world.”þþIt said that the process of review and ratification would occur as a separate and independent process within each pilot group.þþThe chief executive of Delta, Richard H. Anderson, said he was pleased with the agreement.þþ“Achieving a joint contract and combined seniority list in advance of the closing of the merger is something that has never been done in this industry,” Mr. Anderson said.þþPilots value their seniority because it determines their schedule, the aircraft they fly and layoff protection.þþA spokeswoman for the Northwest pilots union, Doreen Clark, said the goal of the negotiations was a joint contract “that enhances the careers of all pilots involved followed by a fair and equitable seniority list integration; in the end, it will be the line pilots who make the final decision.”þþ
Source: NY Times
