DEL.ICIO.USDelta’s pilot seniority list approved
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Delta and Northwest airlines cleared another hurdle in their effort to smoothly merge when an arbitrator late Monday issued a decision on integrating pilot seniority lists.
For Delta, which closed its acquisition of Northwest in October, integrating pilot groups has been one of the stickiest issues surrounding the deal.
The arbitrator’s decision, which creates a new, unified seniority list, “marks another important step in bringing our work groups together as quickly as possible so that our employees, customers and shareholders fully benefit from the merger,” Delta spokesman Kent Landers said.
Seniority affects pilots’ pay, schedules and aircraft assignments. Pilots from Delta on average had lower seniority than pilots from Northwest because many Delta pilots retired early to save pension benefits before Delta went through a recent bankruptcy reorganization.
Delta and Northwest pilot leaders had agreed to binding arbitration on how to merge the two groups, and the combined seniority list is effective immediately. The pilot groups already have a combined labor contract.
Lee Moak, chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association unit at Delta, said in a written statement that the single seniority list is “a historic labor first and stands in stark contrast to traditional airline merger timelines where labor issues can take years to resolve, often at the expense of both labor and the merged corporation.”
The Air Line Pilots Association union represents pilot groups from both Delta and Northwest. The merged airline has more than 12,000 pilots, including about 5,000 from Northwest and about 7,000 from Delta.
In a message to pilots, Moak termed both the process and outcome “fair and equitable.”
Combining pilot seniority lists can be complex.
According to the pilots union, the integration of Delta and Northwest pilot groups is based on a “ratioed status and category” methodology, which means pilots are “ratioed into the new list based on a staffing formula and the aircraft flown by each pilot group with a rational treatment for the minor attrition differences” between the two groups. It includes conditions and restrictions, known as fences.
Pilot seniority can be a particularly contentious issue in airline mergers. Pilots from US Airways and America West are still dealing with seniority integration issues, three years after the carriers merged. The two pilot groups went through arbitration on the matter, but US Airways pilots sought to vacate the arbitration award and this year voted in a new union.
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Comments
By JB
Dec 10, 2008 12:51 PM | Link to this
We as airline pilots all know that a ratio formula creates false sonority for one group over the other. Seniority is how our careers are defined. The Delta pilots have already realized huge gains from the unprecedented attrition created from their bankruptcy. Now they will wrongly benefit from the normal but substantial attrition brought to the airline by the Northwest pilots. It's very obvious; any employee who has been in the same business longer than another has paid more dues than someone with less time and experience. Thus #1000 does not equal #1000. The burden of the integration was squarely placed on the backs of the Northwest pilots.
By LC
Dec 9, 2008 4:12 PM | Link to this
The union doesn't mandate the cockpit entry / exit procedures. The gov't does.
By dlflyer
Dec 9, 2008 3:40 PM | Link to this
When the pilots come out of the cockpit to use the restroom will their union still make the flight attendants stand guard? Hilarious!!
By Terry Garrett
Dec 9, 2008 2:09 PM | Link to this
If possible could you give me the address to tyler perry's new studio in southwest atlanta. Thank You
By Steve
Dec 9, 2008 1:18 PM | Link to this
The issue is more complex than just hire date. You also have to look at standing within the pilots of that organization. A few years ago, Delta offered an earlier retirement package that many senior pilots took. That means the average tenure (based on hire date) at Delta is lower than the same tenure at NW. So the #1000 pilot at NW might have 20 years but the #1000 pilot at Delta has 16 years. Who is more senior - they are both #1000 in their organization. Working it out fairly led to the complex formual refered to in the article.
By Laura
Dec 9, 2008 12:56 PM | Link to this
if you want to read the explanation of the details of senority list, read Star Tribune of Minneapolis.
By Art
Dec 9, 2008 12:20 PM | Link to this
The list was released at 1 a.m. this morning and has already been disseminated to all pilots.
By Dana
Dec 9, 2008 11:37 AM | Link to this
Glad to see a decision has been made - but it would be much nicer if the article actually explained something rather than regurgitated nonsensical information. ıratioed status and categoryı methodology? Come again?
By James
Dec 9, 2008 11:04 AM | Link to this
So does this mean that DL pilots hired in '07 will still be senior to NWA pilots hired in '99? That was the case with the list as previously proposed by DL. NWA's proposal was a simple integration based on hire date which made more sense.
By Peter
Dec 9, 2008 10:55 AM | Link to this
The list has been published at 0105am this morning.
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