Release #09.PCL2
August 24, 2009

Delta Connection Pilot Leaders Ratify Tentative Deal
Agreement goes out to pilots for vote

Memphis, TN – Elected leaders of the Pinnacle Airlines pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l, (ALPA) have voted to send the tentative agreement their negotiating team reached with management on a new collective bargaining agreement out to their members for ratification.

“After more than four and a half years of grueling contract negotiations, our negotiating committee obtained a deal we can confidently send to the pilots for their vote,” said Captain Scott Erickson, chairman of the Pinnacle arm of ALPA. “I believe there is something in this agreement that benefits every Pinnacle pilot and I’m confident our pilots will feel the same way.”

The new agreement provides for pay increases, work rule improvements, job protection provisions and a significant signing bonus. The tentative agreement will be distributed to all Pinnacle pilots during the next few days and a series of road shows to address pilots’ questions and concerns will be scheduled to begin in the near future. A vote will be conducted in September.

The Pinnacle pilots’ contract became amendable May 1, 2005, and contract negotiations began in February 2005. The pilots are the only Pinnacle employee group that has not had a raise in more than five years.

“I am very proud of the steadfast resolve, unwavering dedication and top notch professionalism our Pinnacle pilots have exhibited throughout this lengthy negotiating process,” said Capt. John Prater, president of ALPA. “Our union will continue to work with Pinnacle pilot leaders to ensure that each Pinnacle member has the information he or she needs to cast their vote on the merits of the tentative agreement.”

Pinnacle pilots and management entered mediated negotiations with the NMB in late September 2006. Pinnacle employs 1,282 pilots.

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest pilots union, representing nearly 53,500 pilots at 36 airlines in the United States and Canada.

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For more information, contact:
Scott Erickson, 651-226-3797
Kimberly Seitz, 703-609-1650