Release #08.DAL3
May 13, 2008

Delta Pilots Union Leader to Testify Before U.S. Congressional Subcommittee on Proposed Delta-Northwest Merger

Atlanta – Captain Lee Moak, Chairman of the Delta Master Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l, the governing body of the union representing the over 7,300 pilots of Delta Air Lines, will testify before the United States House of Representatives’ Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Aviation. The hearing will take place on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 2 p.m. EDT in Room 2167 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

The subject of the hearing is “The Impact of Consolidation on the Aviation Industry, with a Focus on the Proposed Merger between Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines.”

“Oil has increased in price by over 90 percent in the last year alone. Coupled with other economic factors beyond the control of either management or labor, our nation’s aviation industry is now in jeopardy for the second time since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001,” Captain Moak remarked. “The economics of the industry overwhelmingly suggest that the time for rational and sensible industry consolidation is now.”

At the hearing, Captain Moak will address labor issues as they relate to the integration of the Delta and Northwest pilots into a single pilot group. “We welcome the Northwest pilots as partners in the building of the new merged airline and look forward to not only the rapid completion of a new joint collective bargaining agreement but also a fair and equitable negotiated seniority list. Our goal is for both to take effect at or before the close of the corporate merger.”

The complete text of Captain Moak’s congressional testimony will be made available at the close of the hearing.

Founded in 1931, ALPA represents 55,000 pilots at 40 airlines in the U.S. and Canada. ALPA represents approximately 7,000 active DAL pilots. Visit the ALPA website at http://www.alpa.org and the Delta pilots’ website at www.deltapilots.org.

SOURCE: Air Line Pilots Association
CONTACT: ALPA, Kelly Regus, 404-763-4925 office