Contract Negotiations Began In February 2005

If you're planning to fly soon on a Northwest or Delta regional flight, you may want to double-check your ticket. Pilots at regional carrier Pinnacle Airlines voted Monday to authorize a strike of the Memphis-based airline.

"After nearly three years of negotiations, during which Pinnacle Airlines has continued to post a profit and increase its flying with the new Delta Connection Air Services Agreement, our pilots have had enough," Scott Erickson, chairman of the Pinnacle pilots unit of the Air Line Pilots Association, told the Memphis Business Journal.

News of a potential strike at Pinnacle is not new... but this is the closest pilots have come to such action. As ANN reported, in May ALPA authorized $2 million in emergency funds to support pilots, in the event a strike was called.

The union says 99 percent of the airline's 1,200 pilots voted to support the strike.

The vote authorizes pilots to "conduct a lawful withdrawal of service if contract talks with management do not result in an agreement and both sides are released to economic self-help by the National Mediation Board," according to an ALPA release.

"Pinnacle pilots haven't had a raise in several years, and we've seen very little progress from management in negotiating a contract that recognizes our role in the success of this airline," Erickson added.

Negotiations between pilots and Pinnacle management on a new contract started in February 2005. The two sides entered mediated negotiations in late September 2006.

"It's a high priority for us to get a deal done," said Pinnacle spokesman Joe Williams. "Our pilots deserve it, and on more than one occasion, we thought we had a deal. We have confidence in the union leadership and look forward to getting back to the table."

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