Jason Ambrosi (left) and close friend Jason Lounsbury .jointly flew the MD-88 before the pandemic.
Delta ALPA
When the world changed in March 2020, Delta Air Lines pilot contract talks were underway and moving towards key issues led by salary and scope protection. Now the talks are resuming, with the same two issues underscored by pandemic changes.
“Delta pilots really stepped up in this recovery,” said Jason Ambrosi, chairman of the Delta chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association. “They have put their backpacks on and flown record amounts of overtime, and now they expect to be rewarded for it. Obviously, inflation is nipping away at our earnings”
Scope, which refers to the number of size of aircraft that can be flown by international and regional partners, is a particular concern for Delta pilots because the carrier is so heavily engaged with partners, led by Air France/KLM and Virgin Atlantic in the Atlantic and by Korean Air in the Pacific.
“Delta is the number one JV airline out there, a partner with almost everybody,” Ambrosi said. “Our footprint is all over the globe. Delta says Air France brings people into our hubs and they go to domestic destinations and we understand that. But we want to get an equitable share.”
Ambrosi would prefer an agreement that covers scope on every partnership, rather than the current piecemeal series of scope agreements currently in place. “Previous groups would negotiate each joint venture, with separate contractual language for each,” he said. “My goal is to be forward looking, so that if Delta adds two years from now, there is already language in place, rather than having to renegotiate. If that goes through, it will set a pattern the industry can follow.”
Besides salary and scope, Delta pilots are focused on two additional issues – a retirement savings plan in addition to the typical 401K plan, particularly important because Delta pilots lost…