Pilot pay has been the primary sticking point. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) union has rejected Delta's offer of an hourly pay rate of close to $239 for captains flying the advanced twinjet, a level that would give crew flying 78h a month, a base salary of $223,385. ALPA is seeking an hourly wage of $319 for the captains, equating to an annual base income of about $298,546. Delta also says the union's work rule demands would require it to hire 37% more pilots for the fleet.
The airline contends its proposal would give its pilots the best agreement in the industry, providing wages 5% above the American Airlines rate (the highest in the industry) and about 25% more than 777 pilots at United Airlines and Continental Airlines. Delta's pilots are seeking a 40% increase over American's pilots. ALPA officials contend that because the new-technology 777 allows the airline to earn more money than previous aircraft, pilots' pay should be "commensurate with its efficiencies and productivity".
Although the two sides say they are far apart, there still is a chance they could come to agreement. A Delta official says the airline will continue to negotiate with the pilots. "We are hopeful," the official says, but adds that timing required the airline to move forward with other fleet plans.
Delta started flying two 777s on 1 May, but under the existing ALPA agreement, the pilots can refuse to fly a new type after six months without an aircraft-specific agreement. The airline says it must take action now because it does not want to plan for the 777s and include them in its winter schedule, running the risk that the pilots would decline to fly them. If that happens, the airline would have to substitute smaller aircraft, thus stranding passengers.
Because winter schedules have to be ready by the start of August, when they are included in computer reservations systems worldwide, there is still some leeway. Although the union told Delta it needed to have a tentative agreement by 28 May to get pilots' ratification by August, it could conceivably shorten the voting period if necessary.
Delta operates its two 277-seat 777-200s on routes from London to Atlanta and Cincinnati and between Atlanta and Orlando. Because of the ongoing pilots' dispute, the airline said in April that it was deferring delivery of four 777s that would have joined the fleet between next December and April. Under its contract with Boeing, Delta is able to substitute one type of aircraft for another so it made arrangements to replace the 777s with four 212-seat Boeing 767-300ERs, to be delivered next year. Last month's action affects the remaining seven 777s it had on order.
"I regret the action Delta has had to take regarding the 777 programme," Delta chief executive Leo Mullin says. "The 777 was an integral part of our fleet plan and would have contributed substantially to achieving our goals."
The 777 is not the only sore point between the airline and its pilots, who are to start negotiating a new, overall collective bargaining agreement in the autumn. The pilots have sued Delta for "bad faith" for allowing Comair, its regional partner, to operate some Delta shuttle flights between Boston and Washington DC with Comair's 50-seat regional jets.
Source: Airline Business
