A Utah-based pilot for Delta Air Lines said Friday he's "not surprised in the least" that a tentative agreement was reached in eleventh-hour talks between the airline and its pilots union. But, the pilot said, an agreement is far from a done deal, and a strike is still possible.
Still, the pilots union's Utah spokesman said the agreement is cause for hope, and cautious — very cautious — optimism.
Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines and the Air Line Pilots Association, which represents Delta's 5,930 pilots, reached a tentative agreement on a contract at 1:59 a.m. Eastern Friday, according to Utah ALPA spokesman, Mike Dunn. The airline has about 600 pilots based in Utah. The temporary agreement at least temporarily averts a pilot strike, which pilots previously said could begin as early as next week.
"It's a giant relief," Dunn said of the temporary agreement. "I'm hopeful. I'm also cautiously optimistic, because there are so many things that need to be addressed in this agreement. It's got to be a win-win, (for) company and pilots."
Neither group released agreement details. An arbitration panel had been set to decide today whether to grant Delta's request to reject its contract with pilots and impose more than $300 million in pay and benefits cuts.
Dunn said he was told the negotiations this week were "complex" and that the ratification process will be "lengthy."
"That tells me that the union negotiators were able to convince the company that this is a complicated enough TA (tentative agreement) that there are going to have to be road shows — the local executive council members will spend possibly weeks in the lounge, trying to educate the pilots about the TA before we start voting," Dunn said.
ALPA's governing body will review the agreement in "upcoming weeks" and determine whether to recommend the agreement to its members. It will then be presented to rank-and-file pilots for a vote. No date has been scheduled for that vote.
"We have worked hard together as a team to forge an agreement that is good for Delta and all of its constituents," Edward H. Bastian, Delta's executive vice president, chief financial officer and head of the company's in-court restructuring efforts, said in a statement Friday.
If ratified, the agreement goes to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for approval.
The tentative agreement puts the arbitration panel's decision on the back burner, though it could still come into play if the pilots boot the agreement.
That is a very real possibility, as is a strike, according to one Salt Lake City-based Delta pilot, who asked to remain anonymous. The pilot, who has been with Delta for nine years, said Friday he hadn't seen the details of the agreement but was skeptical of its contents.
"If we gave them anything, we gave them a lot. Too much, probably," he said. "And if they gave up much, it's not going to pass with the rank-and-file. Everyone I've flown with, they're saying we've already given too much. Right now, we're operating on a 15 percent cut, and that's on top of the 32.5 percent cut we gave them over a year ago."
Delta says its pilots earn an average annual wage of $157,000. The pilots union disputes that number, saying it is inflated by overtime hours the pilots clocked.
"The thing we learned with the 15 percent pay cut, we all found that it was like test driving a car," the pilot said. "Everyone's saying, 'I can't live on this. I'm either going to go bankrupt slowly, or overnight. This is not going to work.' Having that (15 percent) test drive, it probably worked against the company. Still, I'm sure we gave them at least that much."
Philip Baggaley, an airline industry analyst with Standard & Poors, told Bloomberg News that the tentative agreement likely leaned toward Delta's wish list, rather than the pilots'.
"I would expect the proposed agreement would be close to what the company is asking for," Baggaley said. "The only bargaining chip the pilots have is threatening a strike, which is potentially suicidal."
Delta has said that a strike, even a short-term stoppage, would be "disastrous" for the company. The Salt Lake pilot conceded this, but said such a move might be inevitable.
"I'm prepared," he said, in the event of a strike. "I've come up with money I didn't necessarily have, but I found it. I'm prepared, financially and psychologically, to strike.
"The fact is that none of us are willing to work for that little," he said. "We've put too much into it, and you've got to draw the line in the sand somewhere."
E-mail: jnii@desnews.com