Northwest Airlines pilots risk losing pay raises of more than 30 percent included in a tentative labor agreement because Northwest and Delta Air Lines pilot negotiators are at a virtual standstill over integrating their seniority lists, a person close to the negotiations told the Star Tribune.
The standoff between the pilot groups is blocking the announcement of a Northwest-Delta merger.
"Now the deal is at risk," the news source with knowledge of the talks said. "It is at risk by a handful, just a couple of renegade Northwest Airlines pilots who are insisting on stapling thousands of Delta pilots at the bottom of the seniority list," the source said.
The dispute could "deny 12,000 pilots and their families and tens of thousands of other Northwest employees and Delta employees the choice to improve their economic future," the source added.
The seniority list determines which airplane a pilot flies and how much a pilot earns.
"There is no [merger] deal without a merged seniority list ahead of time," the source said.
Matt Coons, a spokesman for the Northwest branch of the Air Line Pilots Association, characterized those statements as false.
"It is interesting that this person who is supposedly so close to the negotiations is making statements that are absolutely not true," Coons said.