OUR OPINIONS: Clock ticking for Delta, pilots
Staff
Wednesday, August 11, 2004

Delta Air Lines and its pilots need to stop pretending they are involved in a marathon and sit down together before time runs out.

Instead of trading charges and countercharges, the parties should spend time working together on a plan to keep Delta out of bankruptcy court. If they don't, someone else will decide the fate of Delta and all its employees.

The longer it takes, the more polarized pilots and other Delta employees will become. Some of those other employees feel they've already sacrificed more than their share and their empathy for the pilots is strained.

The longer it takes, the more Delta pilots will retire early to keep as much of their pensions as they can from being chewed up in bankruptcy court. The more early retirees, the more charges Delta has to record and the bigger its loss.

The latest public negotiating makes it appear Delta and its pilots are far apart; the union said it does not plan to make a new counteroffer to Delta or ask for face-to-face talks. Chief Executive Officer Gerald Grinstein --- who can be accurately charged with changing his estimates of the amount of savings needed to keep the airline aloft --- has said Delta is preparing an offer that would address the issue of an ownership stake for the pilots, among other things.

Both sides agree that cost cutting is needed to make Delta competitive. So they should sit down and make the best deal they can.

Just for motivation, Delta and the pilots might want to review recent history. Not that long ago, intransigence and time killed Eastern Airlines.