Federal mediation sought by Delta pilots in contract talks

Labor negotiations between Delta Airlines and its pilots has reached the stage where US federal government mediation is now being sought by the Air Lines Pilots Association (ALPA) in relation to collective bargaining. Both Delta and ALPA’s Delta master executive council (MEC) have jointly filed with the US National Mediation Board (NMB). The MEC confirmed that the NMB “will assume control of the process and a federal mediator will take control of the calendar and oversee negotiations,” stating in addition that the NMB and Delta “have committed to continue meeting on a regular basis, even without the presence of the mediator.”
A tentative labor deal with Delta management was endorsed by the Delta MEC in June 2015, but when it was submitted in July for a ratification vote to the airline’s nearly 12,800 pilots, it was rejected by the rank-and-file flight deck crew. As a result, the MEC’s leadership resigned, with John Malone, the chairman, taking the helm and negotiations with the pilots recommenced in December 2015.
The deal the pilots rejected on a 65%:35% basis would have seen the average pilot’s monthly pay increase by up to $3,500 by January 2018, including an immediate 8% raise, followed by 6% more on January 1, followed by 3% raises in January 2017 and 2018. Additionally, the offer on the table boosted vacation pay, training pay and per diem expenses, while containing what ALPA described as improved job protection and work rules. The major stumbling block, however, was the change in Deltas’ profit-sharing plan.
Currently the whole of Delta’s workforce, much of which is nonunionized, benefit from a 10% dividend of the company’s pre-tax profit up to US$2.5bn and 20% of any profit above that, which with the last year’s record earnings saw a 16.6% ‘bonus’ given to pilots. Under the new proposals rejected by the pilots, the airline’s staff would share 20% of pre-tax profit for any sum in excess of US$6bn and only 10% for any profit below that figure. At present, a 12-year Delta captain flying a Boeing 777 widebody jet has a salary in the region of $290,000 a year, while a 12-year first officer, or co-pilot, on a smaller Boeing 737-900 earns approximately $160,000 a year which, based on union documents, means Delta pilot compensation among the best in the U.S. The current Delta pilots’ contract became amendable on December 31, 2015.