Northwest, Delta pilots unions detail plans

Unions representing pilots at Northwest Airlines Corp. and Delta Air Lines Inc. hope to enter into a binding arbitration by the end of the year, after months of sparring over pilot seniority lists and other issues as the carriers move ahead with plans to merge.
Earlier this week, the pilots reached a tentative agreement on a joint contract that will apply to both groups when the two airlines merge. The groups also agreed on a process to hash out a merged seniority list. Atlanta-based Delta (NYSE: DAL) said that the deal, which will cover 12,000 pilots, still needs approval from rank-and-file union members.
Now, the carriers will go through a period of "good-faith discussions designed to reach a negotiated agreement," a memo from the Delta pilots union detailed, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
The executive council for Delta's pilot union approved a joint pilot labor agreement Wednesday, and the Northwest (NYSE: NWA) council will vote on it Friday.
Terms of the tentative agreement would mean that Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest's pilots have pay equity with Delta pilots on the first day of the merger. It spells out a pay raise of 5 percent for Delta pilots in 2009, in addition to annual increases of 4 percent for Delta pilots through 2012. Northwest pilots would get bigger increases to bring their pay up to par with Delta's pilots.
Both groups would be awarded equity in the merged airline.
credited by: bizjournals.com