A discussion about the airline industry, airline employees, and all things related

By next Tuesday, Delta Pilots could be walking the picket line and the airline could be grounded.  The vote of 6,000 pilots holds the fate of nearly 50,000 Delta employees.  The airline has said if the pilots strike, the airline will have to face the prospect of the end of Delta.  The nation's third largest carrier, which is Headquartered in Atlanta, could deal the region and the US economies a blow.  The distrust and hatred between Delta's pilots and the airline's executives seems a little deeper and the implications of the possible strike are more possible than that of recent airlines. 
--------------------------------------------------

The pilots union at Delta Air Lines said it expected hundreds of pilots to march Wednesday near the airline's headquarters, ahead of a possible arbitrator's decision this weekend that could lead to a strike.

The Air Line Pilots Association's march, at 11 a.m. at the Red Roof Inn near Delta's headquarters, follows a similar event last week in which about 300 pilots filed through Hartsfield-Jackson Airport during what the union billed as a practice strike.

"This march might be the last chance Delta pilots have to send their message of resolve to Delta management before walking out on strike," the union said in a news release Tuesday. Monday, the union said its national organization pledged $10 million to support a strike, which the union said could begin as early as April 18.

The event comes as talks showed little apparent progress. A panel of arbitrators has urged both sides to reach a settlement before it is due to decide Saturday whether to reject the pilots' labor contract, allowing Delta to impose more than $300 million a year in concessions, including an 18 percent pay cut. Negotiations continued this week after a session on Saturday.

ALPA, which has offered concessions valued at roughly half as much, has said it will strike if the panel rejects its contract.

AJC.com