Pretty simple answer...economics and leverage.

For the 5 years leading up to C2K Delta had a pre-tax income of $7.4 Billion dollars. Our margin peaked in 1998 at 12%, and averaged well north of 10% for that time. For the 5 years leading up to C2012 Delta had a pre-tax income of $1.1 billion. Our pre-tax margin averaged 3.7% for that time. Oh, and those numbers for C2K are for a Delta standalone operation. Adding in NWA takes the total profit to well over $10 billion.

Having a company with C2K style economics makes C2K style wages achievable.

In C2K we had an up pattern in compensation for almost every major player. UAL (and surprisingly USAirways with their "me too" clause) were well ahead of us in negotiations that concluded shortly before we finished ours. In C2012 we have a mixed pattern, with everyone except FedEx, UPS and SWA behind us.

I know you weren't around for C2k so you don't have the context of how it was achieved. The contract history that you received last year has this stuff in it.