Delta Air Lines’ pilots have approved a new contract well in advance of an end-of-the-year deadline, reports The Economist. Around 60% of the pilots’ union’s membership voted in favour of the new deal, the union said after voting ended on Friday.
This is significant because Delta does not always have good relations with labor. As the world’s largest airline this deal should serve as a benchmark for other airlines’ negotiations with their pilots. The new contract gives pilots a 12.5% raise in the first year and 3% raises in each of the next two, but it also implements some substantial changes in the carrier’s fleet structure.
Delta has fallen out of love with small, 50-seat regional jets, which have become increasingly unprofitable as jet-fuel prices have risen in recent years. It plans to shlash the number of 50-seat planes almost in half. Meanwhile, Delta’s new fleet of 117-seat Boeing 707s—leased from Southwest, which acquired them when it merged with AirTran but would rather fly only 737s—will be flown exclusively by Delta pilots. That’s a big win for the union. Overall, the union estimates that "the number of seats flown by regional carriers for Delta will drop 15.6 percent," according to an Associated Press report.
For business travellers, this all means that if you fly Delta, over the next few years you’ll be increasingly less likely to find themselves on a tiny regional jet.
