Delta pilots vote against labor contract deal

Delta hoped to seal a deal ahead of schedule. Now it heads back into negotiations with the pilots union.

Delta hoped to seal a deal ahead of schedule. Now it heads back into negotiations with the pilots union.

Pilots for Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines voted against a proposed labor contract that would have given them immediate pay raises of 8 percent.

The move will send the union and the company back to the bargaining table. Of the ballots cast, 65 percent of Delta pilots voted against the tentative labor agreement, while 35 percent voted in favor of it.

Although the proposed deal included pay hikes, the union had agreed to give up some of the pilots’ profit sharing, and some pilots also disliked increased productivity requirements and other changes to work terms in the deal.

The Air Line Pilots Association at Delta, the union that represents the pilots, said it would hold a meeting later this month to determine its next step and to reassess its strategic plan.

Delta declined to comment.