ATLANTA — Delta Air Lines' pilots union said Wednesday it is planning a big rally to show its opposition to US Airways' hostile takeover bid of the company and will lobby members of Congress to block the deal. US Airways said it won't back down, and its shares rose sharply.
The entrenched positions were voiced as Atlanta-based Delta, which operates a hub at Salt Lake City International Airport, was putting the finishing touches on a reorganization plan that proposes exiting Chapter 11 as a stand-alone company. The plan was to be filed later this month.
The chairman of the pilot union's executive committee, Lee Moak, said in a telephone interview from Arlington, Va., that the union's governing body passed a resolution Tuesday night opposing the US Airways buyout, which was made public Nov. 15.
"We are against this merger," Moak said, arguing that cost cuts US Airways is planning would violate the Delta pilots' contract. "We're going to stop this merger."
The pilots also are concerned US Airways would abandon Atlanta if the deal goes through. US Airways has said it would keep the Delta name, but has not said where the new company's headquarters would be.
Delta's chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association, a member of the unsecured creditors committee that has a major role in deciding whether the buyout offer goes through, will hold an opposition rally near Atlanta on Dec. 13 at which it hopes to gather more than 1,000 pilots, Moak said. The union also planned meetings with top Democrats and other members of Congress to lobby for them to oppose the deal, which would have to be approved by government regulators.
Delta management, which has met with US Airways officials and the creditors committee to get a briefing on the deal, also has expressed strong opposition to a buyout.
US Airways spokeswoman Elise Eberwein said Wednesday the company, based in Tempe, Ariz., hopes Delta comes around, but she insisted her company will fight for the deal it has proposed.
"We have no intention of walking away," Eberwein said.
US Airways' chief executive, Doug Parker, issued a statement saying his company is "absolutely determined to take the necessary steps to move the process forward."
Parker said that the next step in his bid is to be allowed to conduct "due diligence," or examine Delta's finances. Parker also said in a statement Wednesday that he was confident Atlanta-based Delta will open its records.
"US Airways just wants to pursue its offer," Ray Neidl, a Calyon Securities analyst, said in an interview. "If you're going to pursue it, you need all the information you can get."
US Airways is the nation's sixth-largest carrier; Delta is the nation's third-largest. Together, their combination would create the largest carrier in the United States in terms of revenue.
US Airways Group Inc. shares rose $2.63, or 4.6 percent, to close at $60.31 in trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. The deal to buy Delta is currently valued at $8.7 billion.
Contributing: Bloomberg News