Welcome Back To Where You Were Four Months Ago!

Following frenzied negotiations over the past seven days, on Tuesday pilots at Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines reached agreement on a joint contract once the two carriers merge operations under the Delta banner.

What may sound as cause for celebration, however -- or at least relief -- isn't as important as it may seem. The Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune notes the agreement brings both sides back to the exact point they were at back in February... before both carriers formally announced the merger deal.

As ANN reported, that February deal included terms on a single pay contract, and benefits. So does the new deal... but what it doesn't include is any language regarding seniority lists at the merged airline. Subsequent talks on how to merge the combined pilot ranks led to the failure of the February deal, and likely spell trouble for the latest agreement.

What the latest agreement does signify, perhaps, is that both sides are a bit more willing to deal that they were four months ago. Delta pilots reached a deal with management on a new contract just ahead of the April 14 merger announcement, while Northwest pilots were working under a 2006 contract negotiated under bankruptcy.

If the airlines are allowed to merge and the new contract is approved, both prior contracts go out the window. No details of the tentative deal were released to the public, but it's likely the new contract takes away some incentives for Delta pilots -- who were able to get some additional perks under the earlier deal, in exchange for their support of the merger.

The earlier Delta pilot contract called for a five percent increase in base pay in 2009, with four percent annual raises through 2012. Overall, Delta pilots are currently paid higher wages than their Northwest counterparts... though Northwest has greater numbers of senior (read, more expensive) pilots.

Aviation consultant Jerry Glass says it was in the best interests of Northwest pilots to "take the deal now," noting they likely wouldn't be able to secure a better deal down the road... especially if current economic conditions hold, or grow worse.

"The inducement to do a deal is the fact that the industry is doing very poorly," Glass added. "Oil keeps going up and the economy is not getting better."

Now comes the thorny subject of seniority, however. Both sides are represented by the Air Line Pilots Association. ALPA President John Prater, Northwest pilots' chairman Dave Stevens and Delta pilots' chairman Lee Moak have each pledged to resolve the seniority issue before the end of the year.

First, however, both sides will have to agree to how, exactly, they'll meet to discuss seniority in the first place. Earlier this year, Northwest called for a third-party arbitrator to resolve differences -- an idea Delta pilots soundly rejected.

FMI: www.alpa.org, www.newglobalairline.com