Delta pilots confirm seniority talks fail

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pilots at Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said they had proposed a "rational and fair" proposal to their counterparts at Northwest Airlines (NWA.N: Quote, Profile, Research), but the sides could not agree on joint work arrangement necessary for the companies to merge.

Lee Moak, chairman of the Delta chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association, told fellow members in a letter on Monday that union negotiators had "worked diligently" and agreed on key contract issues like pay and benefits. They also settled on an equity stake in the merged company.

But the talks, as industry sources had confirmed weeks ago, foundered on efforts to merge pilot seniority lists. Seniority determines when pilots work, what planes and routes they fly and their path for moving up in the ranks.

"We presented a rational and fair integration method," Moak said of the Delta plan. He noted that it would have "provided all pilots of the merged corporation" with seniority "very close" to their premerger standing.

"The other committee took a different approach," he said of the Northwest group without elaborating.

Follow-up meetings produced no movement. "It became clear that the position of the other pilot group had not meaningfully changed," Moak said.

Northwest pilots were not immediately available for comment.

Both pilot groups told their respective carriers that there would be no merger without their support.

Delta and Northwest have spent recent months discussing a possible merger. But intense speculation that a deal would be struck quickly faded earlier this month when it became clear that pilots would not reach a seniority agreement.