215 pilots take Delta buyout offers

By Kelly Yamanouchi

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The pilots union at Delta Air Lines said more than 200 pilots, almost all of them from merger partner Northwest Airlines, have taken retirement incentive packages.

Of the 215 pilots who signed up for the package by the deadline Wednesday night, 201 were from Northwest. Pilots have until July 31 to revoke their decisions.

On average, the pilots who signed up for the retirement incentives were just under 60 years old.

Atlanta-based Delta, which is cutting flight capacity amid the recession, has not said how many pilots it needs to cut or whether it will need to turn to furloughs.

In a statement Thursday, Delta said it has “continued to take every step possible to offer frontline employees voluntary retirement and leave options as we manage through difficult economic conditions.”

Delta management had proposed the retirement incentive program to the Air Line Pilots Association at Delta to address “what management perceives to be a pilot staffing overage,” according to the union. The union’s leadership approved the retirement incentive program, which was offered to active pilots with at least 10 years of service and whose years of service and age total at least 55.

Pilots with less than 20 years of service will get six months of severance pay; pilots with 20 years of service or more will get nine months of severance pay. The program also includes certain coverage of COBRA or retiree health care as well as retiree travel benefits.

Delta pilots were not eligible to participate in the company’s earlier buyouts this year and last year, which Delta used to cut about 6,500 employees.

Delta has about 12,000 pilots, including those from Delta and merger partner Northwest. Delta closed its deal to acquire Northwest in October.