Delta Pilots to Extend Picketing to Utah

Feb. 24, 2006
The pilots previously picketed outside Delta's terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Feb. 17.

Delta Air Lines Inc. pilots, still unable to reach a consensual long-term pay cut deal with management, are taking their picketing on the road to Salt Lake City.

The pilots union said Friday members will hold informational picketing at Salt Lake City International Airport on Monday. The pilots previously picketed outside Delta's terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Feb. 17.

Atlanta-based Delta's main hub is at the Atlanta airport. It also has hubs at the airports that serve Salt Lake City and Cincinnati.

If negotiators for the pilots union and company can't reach a comprehensive deal on long-term concessions by Wednesday, a three-person panel would decide the company's request to reject the pilot contract so Delta can impose more than $300 million in cuts unilaterally.

The pilots union has said it will strike if its contract is thrown out. The company has warned a strike would put the nation's third-largest carrier out of business.

The chairman of the union's executive committee, Lee Moak, said Friday in a statement that company negotiators have shown "continued reluctance to soften their outrageous demands."

Delta, which filed for bankruptcy protection in September, has said repeatedly that it is committed to a consensual agreement, but needs the long-term cuts as part of its recovery.

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