Comair pilots have told management they will not renegotiate their contract as Comair had requested. The carrier, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines [NYSE: DAL], had asked its pilots and flight attendants in September to rework their contracts to help lower costs and make the airline more competitive with other regional carriers.

But the pilots and flight attendants were not required to reopen their contracts, and union officials said Comair management was not giving them enough time to work through various issues.

"We cannot operate in this narrow time frame," said J.C. Lawson III, chairman of Comair's branch of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents 1,800 pilots. He said no more talks were scheduled between the union and company. Talks also were halted with the flight attendants, according to company officials and the local branch of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents the airline's 950 flight attendants.

Comair, the third-largest regional carrier, based at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, wanted to lower its costs in order to receive eight of the 23 Bombardier [Toronto: BBDb] 70-seat regional jets that Delta has on order for next year, a Comair official said. Delta has said it will allocate those planes to its regional subsidiaries and affiliates that have the lowest costs.

The additional jets would help Comair achieve its long-term plan to expand its fleet by 50 percent, or 75 aircraft, by 2007.

Comair's request of its pilots and flight attendants unions came nearly two and a half years after the pilots conducted an 89-day strike, which resulted in a five-year contract that made them the highest paid among regional airlines. The airline's flight attendants signed a five-year contract in July 2002.

>>Contact: Nick Miller, Comair, 859-767-1500; John Mazor, ALPA, 703-481-4440 <<