Delta pilots reject contract offer

Delta Air Lines pilots have rejected a contract offer from the airline which offered hourly pay increases of 8%, though the pilots argued "that higher wages meant sacrificing more-lucrative profit-sharing. They said changes in sick leave and other work rules offset the gains." As a result, the airline won't be able to finalize an agreement to purchase additional new and used single-aisle aircraft from Boeing.

Personally, an 8% wage increase seems more than reasonable to me. Outside of changing jobs, I can't recall if I have ever received such a large raise. Granted, I don't know the specific financials of the contract, but I take comments from unions and their members during contract negotiations with a great big grain of salt.

The good news is that a strike does not appear to be imminent (though, as the article points out, these are rare). The current contract has a revision deadline of 31 December and will continue in effect beyond that date.