Judge Quashes Subpoena in Delta Case

A federal bankruptcy judge quashed subpoenas by a pilots union seeking documents related to a hostile takeover bid for Delta Air Lines and testimony from its chief executive.

Judge Adlai Hardin said he didn't see how the unsolicited $8.9 billion bid, made by US Airways for Delta on Nov. 15, could be factored into the motion to alter the labor contract governing about 1,500 pilots working for Comair.

Erlanger, Ky.-based Comair is a subsidiary of Delta that operates connecting flights.

A lawyer for the Air Lines Pilots Association had argued that the US Airways bid, if successful, could make further labor concessions unnecessary. Delta has opposed the proposal.

The regional carrier was in court for the first day of hearings to seek permission to impose $15.8 million in concessions on its pilots.

In January, the pilots had approved a plan for $17.3 million in cuts spread over four years. That agreement, however, was contingent on Comair reaching a certain level of cost savings from flight attendants and mechanics. Since then, flight attendants have approved a deal to cut annual costs by $7.9 million, $1 million lower than was required under the January deal. That forced Comair to renegotiate with pilots.

About a dozen pilots appeared in court for the hearing on Monday after picketing outside the courthouse in Lower Manhattan. They walked carrying signs that read, 'Pilot wages should be negotiated, not imposed,' and 'We will not blink.'

The hearing on pilot contracts continued Monday.

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