Hundreds of Delta Air Lines pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), conducted informational picketing at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and Detroit International Airport on Thursday, September 15, to call on Delta management to conclude negotiations now.
Negotiations have been ongoing for more than 19 months; eight months of that time under the oversight of the National Mediation Board.
“All other employees, shareholders and investors have benefited from Delta’s success. Now it is the Delta pilots’ time”, the Pilots Association said in a statement.
“Delta Air Lines continues to be highly profitable and successful by almost any measure. Delta’s employees are invested in the success of their airline; and pilots, in particular, invested 50-percent pay cuts during bankruptcy. Through it all, pilots have continued to provide professional and reliable service to Delta’s customers”.
MEC Chairman John Malone wrote in a recent letter to the pilots, “. . . It is way past time for these negotiations to be concluded in a manner that reflects the contribution we add to Delta. Everyone else has been rewarded: other employees, shareholders and management.”
Under the oversight of the National Mediation Board, the negotiations have addressed many issues but a number of key items, among the most difficult, are yet to be successfully negotiated. The goal of the union remains to achieve negotiated contractual changes that recognize pilot sacrifices and contributions to Delta’s unprecedented success.