Delta Air Lines offers pilots a 17.5% wage increase

Airline Industry Information, Nov 1, 2000

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2000 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

Delta Air Lines has proposed an eight-year labour contract to its pilots that includes a 17.5% initial wage increase.

The contract, if accepted, would make the carrier's pilots the highest paid in history, but also contains a performance-based formula for subsequent increases, with these linked to corporate profit margins and pilot productivity.

A spokesperson for the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents the pilots, indicated that the performance-based contract had met with a lukewarm reception, saying 'You essentially get pay rates based on management performance, and it also creates an incentive for pilots to fly when they're sick', according to Reuters.

The 17.5% wage rise is apparently not as high as a proposal put forward by ALPA, but airline analysts have stated that it is 'respectably close... and not likely to be a source of significant contention.' The pay increases are apparently also linked to the type of aircraft flown.

Delta Air Lines has indicated that it will respond to ALPA's proposals about scope and other issues in December, while ALPA has indicated that it will study the carrier's offer and make a counter offer only when it receives the rest of the proposals.

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