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Delta pilots call pay offer a 'gouge'

ATLANTA, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- A U.S. pilots' union chief is calling Delta airlines' latest cost-cutting pay concession request excessive and exploitative.

In response to the troubled airlines' proposal last week, John Malone, head of the Air Line Pilots Association unit's leadership committee at Delta sent a letter to the union's 7,500 pilots, describing the plan as "a set of demands that far exceed the economic situation the company faces," the Wall Street Journal reported

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Delta, which has been battered by more than $5.6 billion in losses since the start of 2001, insists deep expense cuts are needed to avert a bankruptcy-court filing.

Malone told pilots the union plans to continue talks with the airline but said management is trying to "gouge pilots who have demonstrated a willingness to participate in Delta's restructuring." Pay rates for pilots at Delta range from $50,000 for new hires to $280,000 for senior captains, according to the union.

Delta's proposal last week represented an increase of about 20 percent from its previous one, which was valued at more than $800 million a year. The proposal is roughly half of the airline's annual pilot costs and includes a 35 percent wage cut along with pension-plan changes.

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