Dan Ronan looks at contract talks between Delta and its pilots

Dan Ronan

CNN Correspondent Dan Ronan is in Atlanta, covering a contract dispute between Delta Air Lines and its pilots. Delta said it canceled 300 flights over the weekend because pilots refused to work overtime as contract talks pressed on.

Q: What is Delta doing to try to avoid flight delays like it had this weekend?

RONAN: It was not a good weekend at Delta, and we're finding out today that the airline is considering possible legal action against its pilot union, comprised of 9,000 pilots.

Here's what has happened: The contract talks between the two sides have deteriorated and started to worsen over the last couple of weeks. The two sides have already asked that they take the sum of their contract issues to a mediator to decide them. There's also been increasing hostility between the two sides over the contract talks. Their rhetoric has been ratcheting up quite a bit.

The company may go to court (to try to force pilots to work the extra hours). I underline the word may. The company could do that and seek a temporary restraining order against the union to demand the pilots continue working at the level they were before this reported slowdown.

About 5 percent of the airline schedule is voluntary overtime that the pilots offer, and they're paid a premium pay to get that. Let me further explain the numbers: The FAA mandates by rule that pilots for commercial airlines can only fly 100 hours a month. That is the maximum time they can be on duty, 100 hours a month. Most of the pilots for Delta and the major carriers work nowhere near that. They work probably between 78-83 hours per month. So, there's about a 17-22 hour gap (from what the FAA mandates as the maximum number of flying hours per month). If they work above that 78-83 hours, the pilots are paid premium pay, which is double time or triple time. It's good money depending on what the contract is.

So, the airline schedules about 5 percent of its flights on this premium pay. They factor it in and they plan on it. Now, they have these men and women pilots who are saying, 'We are just not going to work overtime.' And it leaves the airline 4-5 percent short on its flights.

Q: What are the core issues of this contract dispute?

RONAN: Money. Money is a big, big part of it. A couple of months ago, United Airlines settled with its pilots for a contract. United had a terrible summer of labor problems in the Chicago area and throughout the Midwest. They settled for a contract that gave the pilots a very, very lucrative financial package. In some cases, the raises were 17-18 percent, and the top pilots got somewhere in the range of about $270,000 a year, flying the biggest aircraft with the best schedules.

Delta has already told its pilots we will give you a contract that is comparable to that, but the pilots' union says that hasn't been the case at all. The pilots' union says the company has offered them a contract that is too long: Eight years is what they have offered and that only the first two years are guaranteed. So, the union isn't happy about that.

There are other issues too. Some of them include this idea of the smaller airlines. As you know, Delta and the other airlines have smaller regional carriers. The regional pilots do not have as good of contracts as the pilots with the major airlines. The union is concerned that the company, Delta in this case, will transfer more of its flights to the less expensive commuter carrier and cost them jobs and money.

Q: What is the union saying about the pilots refusing to work these overtime hours?

RONAN: The union has been very careful to say that it does not support a no-overtime campaign and then they put a comma after it and say that a pilot's decision to fly overtime is an individual decision. They've essentially said to their pilots, 'We're not going to tell you to work overtime. We're not going to tell you not to work overtime. A decision to work overtime is an individual decision. If you choose not to work overtime, that's an individual decision.'

Q: Is this expected to be resolved before the peak holiday travel season?

RONAN: That is a really interesting point. The next couple weeks are going to be very busy, especially around Christmas. There's always a possibility that the pilots could throw in a monkey wrench and say we're not working overtime during the holiday season.

Delta Air Lines
Air Line Pilots Association

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