Delta Air Lines pilots would get immediate pay raises of 8 percent under a proposed new labor contract, followed by another 6 percent hike on Jan. 1.
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That would amount to a compounded pay increase of nearly 14.5 percent as of 2016, according to a summary sent to pilots by their union.
Those pay increases would be followed by 3 percent raises in 2017 and 2018.
But some Delta pilots say the pay increases, when combined with other terms they find less favorable, are not enough from a company that has reported billions in profits.
In the tentative agreement struck between the company and the negotiating committee for the Air Line Pilots Association at Delta, the pay hike comes amid a reduction to profit sharing. The proposed deal would increase the threshold at which Delta pays pilots a greater share of its profits, setting the trigger at $6 billion in pre-tax income instead of $2.5 billion.
The pay increases and change to in profit sharing payouts come as Delta continues its recovery and growth since emerging in 2007 from a period of bankruptcy and labor concessions.
“The pilots did not want their profit sharing touched,” said Tim Caplinger, who has worked for years on an independent union to replace the Air Line Pilots Association at Delta. “The sacrifices that we made in bankruptcy, we’re here to collect on now.”
The contract also includes provisions to allow Delta to add 100-seat jets to its fleet.
Leaders of the Delta pilots union are expected to vote on the labor pact at a meeting that starts this week. If they approve it, the next step would be for rank-and-file pilots to vote on the proposed contract.
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