With a strike threat looming, a vote on a new contract that would give the pilots of bankrupt ATA airlines partial ownership of the company has been delayed, the pilots' union said Thursday.
Rusty Ayers, a spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, said the 12 members of the union's master executive council would consider the "breakthrough" deal during a conference call on Saturday. A vote had been planned for Thursday.
"They did offer us an equity stake, but I can't at this point say what it is," Ayers said.
The union, which represents about 800 pilots and flight engineers with the airline, said this week that its members had voted to authorize a strike. After the strike vote, union and company officials quickly resumed negotiations.
The airline says operations at the carrier are continuing normally but declined to discuss any details of the negotiations.
"We continue to be encouraged by the ongoing communications and deeply appreciate the pilots commitment to the process," ATA spokeswoman Michelle Foley said.
If union leaders approve the new contract this weekend, the deal would then face a vote by the union's membership.
ATA, which is owned by ATA Holdings Corp., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October. It has cut about 3,100 jobs since it began downsizing from a work force of 7,800 people two years ago.
The company is asking a federal bankruptcy judge for permission to void its current labor contract with pilots. Union officials say the wage concessions would force the pilots to earn about 40 percent less than their contracted rate.
Industry experts have said a pilot walkout would quickly lead to the demise of the 32-year-old carrier.
ATA, once the nation's 10th-largest carrier, flies to 28 cities in the U.S., Aruba and Mexico. It operates a hub at Chicago Midway Airport and is the largest North American operator of commercial and military charters.
