Delta, Northwest pilots unable to agree on seniority

ATLANTA -- Delta Air Lines' pilots union has told company executives it has been unable to agree on seniority issues with its counterpart at Northwest Airlines, raising serious doubts about the prospect of a combination of the two companies.

The disclosure was made this afternoon in a letter from the head of the pilots union at Delta, Lee Moak, to rank-and-file Delta pilots.

The letter does not mention Northwest, but describes the union that Delta's pilots had been negotiating with as the only one they were focused on talking with. Multiple officials close to the talks have said in recent months that the other company was Northwest.

The letter talks about the discussions with the other carrier in the past tense, suggesting at least for now there won't be further talks.

Moak said that this past weekend, he told union leaders that he had received a communication from his counterpart at the other carrier.

Moak said the other carrier stated that it was only willing to discuss its latest proposal, which Delta's pilots union believes would jeopardize the seniority and career expectations of Delta pilots.

"I declined and informed the MEC and Delta's senior executives that the two MECs were unable to reach an agreement on an acceptable seniority list integration," Moak wrote.

Moak suggested Delta pilot leaders are frustrated that "the results of their efforts will never be actualized."

A spokesman for the pilots union at Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest, Greg Rizzuto, said Monday that his union "still values any deal to help better the careers of all pilots involved in any type of future merger or acquisition with any pilot group, and due to the rising cost of oil it is imperative that a fair integration of seniority lists be found between any group."

Delta Air Lines Inc., the nation's third-largest carrier, is based in Atlanta.

A combination of Delta and Northwest Airlines Corp., which at one point had been projected to be worth $20 billion, would create the world's largest airline in terms of traffic.