Union chairman Lee Moak in a letter to membership Wednesday said 78% of the 4,590 voting pilots agreed to the modifications, which give pilots a 3.5% stake in the merged company in exchange for work rule changes that will allow Delta to place its code and brand name on Northwest flights.
The deal does not include Northwest pilots, who so far have not been able to reach an agreement with their counterparts at Delta on how to integrate seniority lists. Moak in his letter said union leaders hope to reach a deal with Northwest without having to turn to an arbitrator, a step many pilots at Delta fear due to their relative youth compared to the pilots at Northwest.
"We welcome the Northwest pilots as partners in the building of the new merged airline and look forward to working with the Northwest [Master Executive Council] to bring about the rapid completion of a new joint agreement providing immediate parity in rates of pay and to a rapid completion of a fair and equitable integrated seniority list," Moak wrote.
Delta CEO Richard Anderson in a statement applauded the ratification as an "important step" toward combining the airlines, and he said the company remains "committed to working with the ALPA leadership of both the Delta and Northwest pilots to reach a joint pilot agreement before the closing of the merger." - Lou Whiteman
See Moak's letter
See Anderson's statement
See Dealwatch: Airline consolidation
Pilots at Delta Air Lines Inc. have voted in favor of contract changes designed to facilitate the airline's planned merger with Northwest Airlines Corp.
