This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by psa188@xxxxxxxxx /-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\ Explore more of Starbucks at Starbucks.com. http://www.starbucks.com/default.asp?ci=1015 \----------------------------------------------------------/ Delta to Meet With Pilots in Hopes of Restarting Salary Talks October 9, 2003 By EDWARD WONG The top executives of Delta Air Lines will meet with leaders of the union that represents its pilots on Oct. 17 to talk about the airline's financial condition and possibly work out a way to restart negotiations over wage cuts, Delta's president said yesterday. The executive, Frederick W. Reid, said in an interview in Manhattan that he and other officials, including Leo F. Mullin, the chief executive, would meet with half a dozen leaders of the Air Line Pilots Association. The union broke off talks on pay cuts late in July, saying that it was not willing to allow the levels of wage cuts that Delta was seeking and that it wanted its current contract extended. The contract was signed in 2001 and is valid until May 2005. Mr. Reid, referring to the airline's desire for wage cuts, said, "We will reiterate our request for midcontract negotiations as a crucial part of turning around Delta Air Lines." Delta's pilots have the highest wages in the industry and those must come down, he said, if the airline is to remain competitive. In the last year, American Airlines and United Airlines have both won pay concessions from their labor groups. American did this through negotiations, while United, which is operating under bankruptcy protection, threatened to void its union contracts. Those two airlines are the only ones larger than Delta in this country. A spokesman for the pilots' union, Mike Pinho, did not return phone calls seeking comment yesterday. The pilots agreed in June to start talks with Delta on pay cuts. Delta asked the pilots for a total of 31 percent in cuts in existing wages and negotiated future raises. The union balked at Delta's demands and left the table on July 23. At the time, the union, which represents 9,000 pilots, said it would not accept pay cuts as large as those imposed on pilots at the other airlines. Union leaders also said they wanted an extension of the current contract and demanded that Delta look for cost cuts from its other employee groups and from its suppliers and lessors. The pilots are the only unionized labor group at Delta. Mr. Reid said yesterday that management's relationship with the union had always been "civil, courteous, positive," and that the pilots had rightly agreed in the past to let Delta fly more regional jets and to let the airline enter into a code-share marketing partnership with Continental Airlines and Northwest Airlines. But Mr. Reid also said that Delta could be at a competitive disadvantage if labor groups were not willing to help it bring down its costs. He called labor costs the "largest single factor in airline competitiveness." Several moves in recent years by Delta's managers have angered the pilots. The union has complained that the company misused a force majeure clause - which gives it the ability to lay off workers during times of extreme distress. Like other airlines, Delta laid off large numbers of workers after the Sept. 11 attacks, invoking the force majeure clause and citing those attacks as the reason. But an arbitrator ruled early this year that Delta could no longer use that reason for layoffs. The airline then laid off more workers starting in April, citing the United States-led invasion of Iraq and the ensuing drop in traffic as the justification. In July, before calling off wage reduction talks, the pilots filed a grievance, saying the airline was again misusing the force majeure provision to lay off pilots. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/09/business/09AIR.html?ex=1066705388&ei=1&en=2315807453942479 --------------------------------- Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like! Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy now for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here: http://www.nytimes.com/ads/nytcirc/index.html HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact onlinesales@xxxxxxxxxxx or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@xxxxxxxxxxxx Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company