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Judge allows Comair to cut pilots' wages

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published December 22, 2006

A federal bankruptcy judge ruled Thursday that Delta Air Lines subsidiary Comair can impose wage cuts and changes in work rules for the regional airline's 1,500 pilots, the final holdouts in the airline's plan to trim labor costs as part of its restructuring.

Pilots have threatened to strike if concessions are imposed on them.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Adlai Hardin gave Comair permission to throw out its contract with the pilots.

Comair has been seeking concessions of $15.8-million a year as part of its restructuring plan to save $70-million annually. Comair's plan also includes concessions from its flight attendants and mechanics.

Comair, like its Atlanta-based parent, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2005.

Comair, based in Erlanger, Ky., near the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, went to U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York to get permission to impose concessions on the pilots after the two sides were unable to reach an agreement on cuts.

The pilots argued that they were willing to do their fair share but already had given the company almost two years of concessions.

Comair previously had an agreement with its pilots for $17.3-million in annual cuts over the next four years that was contingent on Comair getting a certain level of savings from its flight attendants and mechanics union.

Because the flight attendants approved a deal last month to cut annual costs by $7.9-million, $1-million less than originally required, the airline had to negotiate new deals with the machinists and pilots. The machinists agreed to a modified deal, but the pilots did not.

Negotiations continued sporadically between the pilots and Comair without an agreement, and the airline filed the motion in federal bankruptcy court on Nov. 2 asking for the right to impose concessions.

Comair, with 6,400 employees, operates 795 flights daily to about 100 cities in North America.

[Last modified December 21, 2006, 23:01:32]