July 19, 2004
Dear Fellow Pilot:
Last month, your elected representatives directed the Negotiating Committee to reengage Delta management in talks to amend our contract and lower Delta's pilot costs. This decision was not arrived at hastily, but was based upon ALPA's ongoing analysis of Delta and its deteriorating financial condition. Recently, after months of requests from ALPA, management has been cooperative in providing us the information necessary for us to understand the gravity of the situation.
I am acutely aware of the frustration we are all feeling. People and events we cannot control have placed our livelihood in peril. It is an unnatural position for us, especially as pilots, to have so little control over our destiny. We have witnessed former senior Delta executives leverage our airline to the brink of insolvency and then leave, all the while making us the pariahs of a failing business plan. Our own Federal government and its anti-labor policies have put further downward pressure on our careers. We all know pilots at other airlines whose tales of life under restructured contracts make us question our decisions to become airline pilots at all. Nevertheless, this dismal situation is where we find ourselves: we are not the cause of the problem, but we certainly have a vested interest in finding a solution and participating in turning around Delta's financial performance.
In the near future, the Negotiating Committee will present Delta management with a proposal containing significant productivity improvements and reduction in pilot pay and benefits. These proposed concessions will be contingent upon what must be a comprehensive restructuring of all of Delta's costs. We have attempted for over a year to engage management in meaningful negotiations even as the airline has hemorrhaged cash. We are once again taking a leadership role in attempting to re-start the talks.
It is my sincere hope that given the magnitude and scope of our proposal, management will seriously engage in meaningful negotiations. The time to reach agreement with the pilots is now.
I have stated repeatedly that Delta's financial problems cannot be cured by pilot concessions alone. Everyone with knowledge of the industry agrees. Without all stakeholders participating, any restructuring attempt is doomed to fail and our sacrifices may be meaningless. ALPA's participation on the ad hoc creditors committee along with many of Delta's secured and unsecured creditors clearly demonstrates our commitment to this process. Our offer will hopefully enable management to quickly address the company's costs with all the other stakeholders.
Make no mistake: the pilots' part of a comprehensive restructuring will be significant. Many of us will be faced with tough personal decisions based on reductions in pay and changed work rules. Your MEC and Negotiating Committee do not take lightly the responsibility of restructuring our contract. The aim of your union remains the preservation of our profession, and every decision your representatives make is measured against this goal and with the overriding imperative of allowing Delta to be a competitive and profitable airline. With your ongoing support and with the unity you continue to demonstrate, I am confident we can succeed.
Fraternally,
Capt. John J. Malone Chairman, Delta MEC