Airline Bankruptcy: Delta Strike Threat Remote

Dec. 11--Despite hard-line rhetoric by Delta Air Lines pilots and executives in a New York bankruptcy court over the past two weeks, experts say the chances of their contract dispute degenerating into a strike are remote.

Pilots union leaders have threatened to call for a walkout if Delta persuades bankruptcy Judge Prudence Beatty to void their contract and let the airline impose new cuts. Delta wants changes -- including a 19 percent wage cut -- that would save $325 million a year. Beatty has prodded the two sides to cut a deal, but they remain far apart, according to testimony in the hearing, set to continue Monday.

The pilots union is offering wage cuts of about 9 percent, and leaders say calling a strike is one "self-defense" option they might use if the company imposes terms. Lawyers for the two sides disagree about whether a strike would be legal under the circumstances.

Legality aside, the union first would have to hold a strike authorization vote in coming weeks. Union members often approve such measures to boost negotiating leverage, so a vote in favor would not necessarily gauge true support for a walkout among Delta's 6,000 pilots.

Several pilots interviewed said they believed a shutdown would kill their financially stricken employer, which sought Chapter 11 protection Sept. 14 after years of huge losses. Some are preparing for other careers in case Delta fails -- but say they'd prefer to make any career change on their own terms rather than because of a strike.

The notion of a strike, however unlikely, comes at a sensitive time for the airline, which can ill afford to have worried passengers book elsewhere. Delta officials downplay the likelihood of being grounded.

"We don't anticipate any operational impact for our customers," said John Kennedy, a Delta spokesman.

Les Hough, research director at Georgia State University's Usery Center for the Workplace, said some pilots might express their displeasure through sickouts or work-to-rule actions that create short-term operational headaches. But a traditional strike at Delta, he said, is "highly unlikely."

"The only example of a strike being the pivotal event that led to a liquidation was at Eastern Airlines," Hough said. "The labor situation at Delta doesn't have anywhere near that level of acrimony. [Delta CEO] Gerald Grinstein is not a Frank Lorenzo in the eyes of its pilots."

Delta pilots were at the top of the industry wage scale from 2001 through 2004, then saw wages slashed by one-third in an eleventh-hour effort that helped the company avert a bankruptcy filing in late 2004. Soaring fuel prices and continuing losses forced a Chapter 11 filing this year, and now the company wants more labor savings as part of a broad plan to cut annual costs by $3 billion.

The company's proposed cut would slice average annual pay to $137,209 from $169,393, according to Delta. Delta already has imposed pay cuts on other workers, who aren't unionized.

Michael Boyd, an aviation consultant, said he understood the "hurt, anger and frustration" of pilots who are looking at a second big pay cut in about a year.

"This is an industry that can't pay the wages it used to pay," Boyd added. "Pilots at American and United are in the exact same position. For Delta pilots, a strike would be self-immolation, and they know it. Delta can't fly through a pilots strike. And even if it's just a work-to-rule action, Delta is so weak that anything that hobbles the airline could end up killing it."

Jim Hendricks, a Chicago lawyer who represents management clients, thinks the harsh rhetoric coming from both sides at Delta is a prelude to a settlement. Talks toward an agreement continue during the hearings.

"It's posturing," he said. "Delta pilots have shown restraint already because they know the company is in serious financial jeopardy. I think they'll go back to the bargaining table and make a deal that preserves their jobs."

Air Line Pilots Association spokeswoman Kelly Collins said the union wasn't just rattling sabers and was determined to keep "all legal options open to defend our contract."

"We have a good feel for this work group, and we know their resolve to defend their contract," she said.

Delta pilots haven't prepared their members for a strike or established a communications center, however, two steps that usually lend credence to threats.

Delta pilots interviewed asked that their names not appear, saying they feared repercussions from supervisors or union officials. Some said they were resigned to additional pay cuts and work rule concessions likely to keep them away from home longer. But they insist that Delta must justify new pay cuts in open court or reach a negotiated settlement.

"If the company is going to cut our pay again, we're going to make them work for it," said a 15-year pilot. "We're not going to give them a blank check, and neither should the judge."

Another expressed confidence Beatty would force an agreement one way or another. She has expressed growing disappointment with the lack of a breakthrough, and some courthouse observers in New York think she is prolonging the hearings to allow a deal to jell before she must rule.

"I think she wants to make us uncomfortable and force us to reach an agreement," one pilot said.

Several pilots said they were exploring nonflying career options and getting licenses and degrees in other fields including law and real estate. But few are ready to leap into new careers immediately. One Delta captain said all the co-pilots he'd flown with recently had launched side businesses or were preparing for new careers.

Jeffrey Bendoski, a 10-year Delta flier whose pay will fall to $78,000 from $99,000 if the company's cut is imposed, said he might leave Delta -- but only with great reluctance.

"I still enjoy the job and relish the responsibility of taking people up to 41,000 feet, bringing them down safely and delivering them to their families," said Bendoski, a 1989 Air Force Academy grad who flies Boeing 737s. "It's a real job, and I'm proud of what I do.

"But my wife is really fed up with this industry and wants me to walk away from it," he said. His wife is a teacher, and Bendoski said he was considering teaching, too. They'd each make about $40,000 and get summers off with their three kids, he said.

"There's an economic tipping point where the sacrifices a flying career demands are no longer worth it. I'm not there yet -- but another 19 percent pay cut will put me pretty close."

Bendoski, of Burlington, Vt., may testify in bankruptcy court about the impact Delta pay cuts are having on pilots. He declined to say whether he supported a strike.

"I love Delta Air Lines and want it to survive and thrive," he said. "In New York, I stopped at St. Patrick's Cathedral and said a prayer recently. I didn't pray for myself or ALPA. I prayed for Delta. I really want this airline to make it."