Release #06.DAL5
March 3, 2006

Delta Pilots to Seek International Mutual Assistance Agreement

ATLANTA, Ga. -- The Delta MEC, the governing body of the Delta pilots’ council of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), will meet in Amsterdam, Netherlands on March 8 and 9 to seek a Mutual Assistance Agreement with members of the SkyTeam Pilots Association (SPA). 

The SkyTeam Pilots Association consists of pilots from nine member airlines around the world who maintain international codeshare agreements with Delta Air Lines. Members include pilots from Air France, Alitalia, AeroMexico, CSA Czech Airlines, Korean Air, KLM, Continental, Northwest and Delta. Together, SPA member pilots safely fly almost 350 million passengers per year (nearly one of every four airline passengers in the world) to 684 destinations in 133 countries. 

The Delta pilots have been negotiating in good faith for a comprehensive collective bargaining agreement that will address the legitimate needs of their Company while meeting the long-term needs of the Delta pilots. Management’s failure to meaningfully engage in those discussions has now moved the matter to a neutral panel. The panel has 45 days within which to render a decision on Delta management’s motion to reject the pilot contract. If the panel decides to uphold the motion, Delta will be free to impose pay rates and other terms and conditions of employment. If the motion is denied, the contract as it existed prior to the recent interim agreement will remain in effect. 

The Mutual Assistance Agreement calls upon member pilots to “pledge [their] wholehearted and unwavering support to the pilots of Delta Air Lines in their effort to achieve a comprehensive agreement with the airline and avoid a rejection of their contract by management.” The Agreement also provides for specific and extensive measures of mutual support should the Delta pilots exercise a legal strike in response to Delta senior executive actions.

Delta MEC Chairman Captain Lee Moak said, “This Mutual Assistance Agreement will represent an unprecedented level of pilot cooperation spanning time zones, cultures, languages and customs, but bound by the common bonds and goals we share as highly-skilled professional international airline pilots.”

The Delta pilots remain committed to working with management to achieve a consensual comprehensive contract. However, the Mutual Assistance Agreement is but one of several steps the Delta pilots will engage in to prepare for the possibility of a contract rejection.

Video and photo opportunities will be available at the mutual signing ceremony on the afternoon of March 9. Delta MEC Chairman Lee Moak and representatives from the SkyTeam Pilots Association will be available for interviews as well. The meeting will be held at the offices of VNV located at Dellaertlaan 61, 1171 KZ Badhoevedorp, Netherlands.

Founded in 1931, ALPA represents 62,000 pilots at 39 airlines in the U.S. and Canada. ALPA represents approximately 6,000 active Delta Air Lines pilots and 500 furloughed Delta pilots. Visit the ALPA website at http://www.alpa.org and the Delta pilots’ website at http://www.deltapilots.org/.

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SOURCE: Air Line Pilots Association
CONTACT: Kelly Collins, 770-330-4145 cell phone, 404-763-4925 office; Atlanta, GA USA (GMT/UTC-5)