Past V1

ATLANTA (AP) -- Delta Air Lines Inc.'s pilots union rejected Wednesday the idea of submitting to arbitration with their counterparts at Northwest Airlines Corp. to break their impasse over integrating seniority lists as part of a possible combination of the carriers.
[;"In short, there will be no binding arbitration," Lee Moak, head of Delta's pilots union, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
Pilot union leaders at Northwest had suggested in a memo to rank-and-file Northwest pilots on Tuesday that arbitration may be a way to break the deadlock. Traditionally, arbitration in these situations is binding.
The memo said that "if management feels the time is now for consolidation, they would be wise to encourage both pilot groups to accept expedited arbitration."
Arbitration can be a long, contentious process that traditionally follows announcement of a deal between two airlines if their unions can't reach contractual or seniority agreements on their own.
In this case, Atlanta-based Delta and Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest have not announced a combination agreement, and Delta executives have stated they will only move forward on such a deal with another airline if, among other things, the seniority of their employees is protected.
Arbitration might not be desirable for Delta's pilots union because of concern that younger Delta pilots might lose the seniority they obtained after the mass exodus of older pilots ahead of Delta's bankruptcy filing in 2005, industry observers have said. The airline emerged from Chapter 11 protection last April.
On Monday, the head of Delta's pilots union said in a letter to Delta pilots that the union had told company executives it has been unable to agree on seniority issues with its counterpart at Northwest, raising serious doubts about the prospect of a combination of the two companies.
The letter suggests talks between the two sides are over, and it gave no indication there would be further talks.
The two carriers don't need a pilot seniority integration deal in advance to move forward with a combination, but having one in place could help speed up the integration of the companies down the line.
Northwest pilot leaders said in their memo to Northwest pilots that arbitration is not perfect, but could get the job done in time for the merged entity to "reap the benefits of the efficiencies much earlier than with two frustrated pilot groups engaged in a traditional merger."
The pilot union leaders at Northwest said they don't know what the managers and boards of the two companies will decide to do. A Delta executive said Tuesday his board's review of strategic alternatives is "fluid," but he did not say what would be decided or when.
Delta shares rose 75 cents, or 7.4 percent, to $10.84 in afternoon trading Wednesday while Northwest shares rose 78 cents, or 7.8 percent, to $10.75.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080319/delta...west.html?.v=4

newKnow

The DAL MEC should just say they don't want to merge unless they have it their way?

If they are so sure of their strongly rooted position for integrating the seniority list, why are they so quick to reject arbitration? I thought they were so willing to compromise and it was the NWA MEC that was being unreasonoable and unmoving.

Just admit you are like Burger King and you want to "have it your way."

I wonder if fries come with that whopper?

wiggy

NWA has nothing to lose in arbitration. You would get a fair ruling if it were relative SLI and a windfall if it were DOH or anything close to it. Do you seriously think DAL considers relative SLI any kind of windfall? Hardly. It sounds as if dal's opener was very near relative SLI while NWA's was off the chart. If that were perceived by an arbitrator to be their true realistic opening positions then NWA has nothing to lose and DAL quite a bit to lose.

rvr350

From the first post,

"Northwest pilot leaders said in their memo to Northwest pilots that arbitration is not perfect, but could get the job done in time for the merged entity to "reap the benefits of the efficiencies much earlier than with two frustrated pilot groups engaged in a traditional merger."

Reading it sends chill down my spine... Basically your MEC would rather let someone decides the rest of your career rather than representing the whole membership, so that we can get a quick buck now. wow!

sailingfun

Since DAL pilots can hold much better equipment and schedules for their hire dates arbitration is a no win proposition for DAL. The best we would do is maintain our current position. There is a large potential gain for NW. The other sleeping giant is the distribution of where pilots at both airlines actually live. For each Delta pilot living near a NWA base there are 10 NWA pilots living near a Delta base. That means the impact of a merger will fall more heavily on the Delta pilots. The only real base where there are any Delta pilots living nearby for NW is Seattle and that is a small base. We will end up with 3 very junior bases in the combined systems. Minni, Detroit and NYC. Atlanta, SLC and LAX will become far more senior even if the list were a ratio. This creats a negative quality of life for Delta pilots. I think overall the two airlines together would be stronger. However I am comfortable with Delta being able to survive on its own and I like the business and growth plan. It may all be a mute point if management decides to merge regardless.

Superpilot92

Care to provide any proof to your NWA commuter comment? Where do you guys get these stories from? Also the DAL growth plan you guys talk about is that pretending the parking of planes didnt get announced and the actual growth would be somewhat of a wash with maybe some gains?

Roll Inverted and Pull

Lets see...Minni, MEM, DTW and NYC...I`m sure those places are called "home" to a large majority of your pilots. I know that I would like to live there....NOT!

sailingfun

Superpilot92. If you doubt the commuter comment simply talk to your reps. I have. They have all the data and know where each pilot at each airline lives. NWA has a huge number of pilots living in the SE and in California. Delta has virtually no pilots living in Minni or Detroit. Its been several weeks since I talked with my rep but I believe he said we had less then 20 pilots living near those bases. NWA had over a 700 pilots in the SE US if I recall correctly. They also had over 400 in CA. Talk to your reps. Ask them. Delta is parking some aircraft. NWA already had annouced parking even more aircraft then Delta. On top of that their CEO stated on Sunday that they have to look at parking additional aircraft. The oldest aircraft in Delta's fleet are about 22 years old. NWA has a large number of aircraft approaching 40 years old. I wish NWA pilots the best. I just don't want to be involved in this merger. A overwhelming majority of Delta pilots feel the same. They are pushing hard for their Reps to respect that choice to the point of attempting a recall of the ATL lec reps for supporting the merger. If we don't want the merger and you don't want the merger let it die and we can all be happy.

Superpilot92

First off the 40 year old dc9s would be the early model dc9's the smaller ones. The DC9s that NWA is going to keep around are the "newer" ones mostly -40's and -50s and some -30s. The ones remaining arent 40 years old. Just because the DC9 was first developed in the late 60's doesnt mean that we are flying the first ones built

As far as the last sentence you wrote goes, I wish it was that easy!! LOL

Also if DAL opens up the DFW base again, I am all over it!!

Superpilot92

Thanks for your "opinion"