Delta Airline pilots can expect a hefty 34 percent pay rise over the next three years amid fears the push for better pay and customer benefits from higher-priced tickets will be felt.
According to estimates from a website that prepares pilots for job interviews, Delta Air Lines’ pilot pay ranges from $66,853.80 per year for a new first officer to $257,657.40 per year for a senior captain.
That pay increase could mean the equivalent of $89,584.10 for new first officers and $345,260.92 from 2022 to 2025, which is almost $90,000 more than what top pilots are currently making.
Pilots have demonstrated their bargaining power while the staff-strapped industry has begun to see a boom in travel demand after the pandemic-related doldrums of recent years.
If approved by Delta pilots, the deal is widely expected to serve as a benchmark for contract negotiations at rivals United Airlines and American Airlines.
According to a contract viewed by Portal, Delta pilots receive an 18 percent pay rise on signing date, followed by three more pay rises in subsequent years.
Delta Airline pilots can expect a hefty 34 percent pay rise over the next three years amid fears the push for better pay and benefits will be felt by customers who buy tickets
A clause in the proposed agreement also guarantees that Delta pilots will see at least 1 percent more than competitors at American Airlines and United Airlines.
When asked about the pay rise by , the airline said it was pleased to have reached an agreement but remained curious about how it might affect customers in the future.
“We are pleased to have reached agreement in principle for a new pilot contract that recognizes the contributions of our pilots to Delta’s success,” they said.
“We appreciate the work of the negotiating teams and the mediator in reaching this agreement in principle.”
When asked again for more information on ticket prices, the airline claimed that it would not release any further information on the matter.
Any increase in their labor costs is expected to be passed on to customers through higher ticket prices, Portal reported.
The sharp pay rises are expected to add further cost pressures for airlines, just as fears of a US recession are worrying consumer spending.
Though ticket sales remain strong, investors fear travel demand could slow, making it harder for a heavily indebted industry to repair its balance sheet.
They fear airlines may be forced to borrow even more money to fund operations.
A scramble among airlines to hire staff and capitalize on booming consumer demand has strengthened pilots’ bargaining power.
Airlines are back to profits after a severe downturn during the pandemic, but inflation has raised pilots’ expectations for pay rises
If approved, the deal is widely expected to serve as a benchmark for contract negotiations at rivals United Airlines and American Airlines
As the industry becomes profitable again, pilots argue airlines can pay them more to cover their increased living expenses.
Airlines have so far relied on strong demand and higher fares to ease inflationary pressures.
Airlines and pilots’ unions have struggled to agree on new contracts this year, and the rhetoric has often turned heated.
A severe downturn during the pandemic has turned around for airlines, but inflation has raised pilots’ expectations for pay rises while airlines have come under pressure to rein in rising costs.
Pilots, battered by the pandemic and a rocky recovery that they say often leaves them overworked and exhausted, have sought better deals that offer improvements in things like schedules and vacation time, as well as pay.
The proposed deal at Delta marks a step forward in a tense negotiation, and the airline is offering richer pay raises than its competitors have previously offered
A severe downturn during the pandemic has turned around for airlines, but inflation has raised pilots’ expectations for pay rises while airlines have come under pressure to rein in rising costs
Airlines have scrambled to hire and train pilots, and regionally understaffed airlines have negotiated massive pay rises — factors that have also contributed to the new momentum.
Union leaders at the Allied Pilots Association, which represents pilots at American, last month rejected a proposal that would have increased wages by about 20 percent over two years, saying it does not adequately address pilots’ concerns about quality of life and unreliability schedules.
United Pilots also turned down a tentative deal that would have increased pay by almost 15 percent over 18 months.
The proposed deal at Delta marks a step forward in a tense negotiation, and the airline is offering richer pay raises than its competitors have previously offered.
The proposal provides for lump sum payments for part of their income from 2020 to 2022.
“There are numerous other improvements in labor rules, wages and benefits that have been achieved over the past three and a half years of negotiations,” negotiators told the pilots in a message Friday night.
“Important – there are no concessions in this agreement.”
The proposed deal also includes ten weeks of paid maternity leave, two weeks of paid parental leave and reduced health insurance premiums.
In early November, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said there was “no way” the airline’s pilots would go on strike during the crucial holiday travel season
Just days later, the pilot union voted to authorize a possible mass strike while negotiating the new contract
Delta’s negotiations began in 2019 and entered federal mediation in 2020 before being paused during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Delta pilots voted overwhelmingly in late October to authorize union leaders to call a strike if they felt it necessary — a vote that was largely symbolic but reflected pilots’ frustration at what they saw as stalled progress considered.
In early November, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said there was “no way” the airline’s pilots would go on strike during the crucial holiday travel season.
Just days later, the pilot union voted to authorize a possible mass strike while negotiating the new contract.
The brazen claim was made on national TV by Bastian, who appeared on Today for an interview with host Hoda Kotb to discuss the state of his embattled company.
Just a week earlier, Delta pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), voted to authorize a strike if necessary to receive better wages and benefits, amid talks that began in 2019 but for almost because of the pandemic were interrupted for two years.