CINCINNATI – A federal judge has approved agreements between Comair and its flight attendants and mechanics on union concessions the airline says it must have to emerge from bankruptcy.
The Delta Air Lines Inc. subsidiary and the Machinists union representing its 545 mechanics agreed in October on concessions worth $1 million annually, an average pay cut of about 2.5 percent. In November, the airline's 970 flight attendants represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters approved $7.9 million in wage cuts and other concessions.
Comair, based in Erlanger, Ky., near the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, is still trying to get concessions from its 1,500 pilots.
The airline has asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Adlai Hardin to allow it to throw out the pilots' contract and impose the $15.8 million in concessions it says it needs to succeed in its restructuring plan.
Comair, like its Atlanta-based parent, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2005.
The pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, have authorized their leaders to call a strike if concessions are imposed.
Negotiations are to resume Dec. 27, the deadline for the judge to rule on Comair's motion to throw out the pilots' contract.
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