Release #06.DAL6
March 6, 2006

Delta Pilots Voting on Strike

ATLANTA, Ga. -- Delta pilots begin voting today on authorizing a strike. The Delta pilot leadership of the Air Line Pilots Association has long held that if the contract is rejected and management begins to impose terms, the pilots have the right to strike. On December 8, 2005, in a unanimous vote, Delta pilot leadership authorized the chairman to issue a strike ballot at the time of his choosing. Chairman Captain Lee Moak initiated the ballot after weeks of working to negotiate a consensual agreement while Delta management continued to demand excessive cuts.

Captain Moak stated in a letter to pilots announcing the ballot, “Throughout the Chapter 11 process, management has been nothing if not predictable, moving only cosmetically from their pre-bankruptcy term sheet of September 12. . . .Their single-element strategy seems to be one of “bankruptcy profiteering” based in large part on the sacrifices of the Delta employees.”

An agreement was not reached between Delta and the Union by the March 1, 2006 deadline required under the interim agreement, Letter 50, and the decision on Delta management’s 1113 motion has moved to a third-party neutral panel. The initial hearing will begin March 13 with a final decision due no later than April 15. Should the panel allow management to reject the Delta pilots’ contract, the union would have the same rights as if the Court allowed a rejection, which includes the right to strike.

Voting will run from March 6, 2006 through April 4, 2006. If the majority of the Delta pilots authorize the strike, the union’s leadership would have the authority to call a strike.

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

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SOURCE: Air Line Pilots Association
CONTACT: Kelly Collins, 404-763-4925