The breakaway pilot union of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)’s pilots is struggling to gain a solid footing in front of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). The union has not been able to gather enough support within 12-months required period.
The Delta Pilots Association (DPA) is struggling to establish itself in front of the older ALPA, although the union has claimed that as many as 50% of the overall pilots at Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) have signed support cards with them over the last four years. However, the current U.S. Labor law requires these cards to be signed within a 12-month period and any support card signed before that is invalid.
Tim Caplinger, founder of the DPA, said, “We’re kind of fighting apathy,” although he is hopeful about a greater turnout in the upcoming months. As of now, DPA is fighting against ALPA to gather 50% support from pilots within a 12-months period so that it can go for an election conducted by the National Mediation Board. This election would result into a single union, which will represent the pilots in front of the management.
While talking about the efforts of DPA, Captail Mike Donatelli, primary representative of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) in ALPA, said,
“When our interests are aligned (with Delta’s), we link our arms with our management. When our interests are not aligned, then we will go our separate ways.”
In October 2014, Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) did well in the domestic market as its market RPM (Revenue Passenger Miles) improved by 6.9% whereas the international market witnessed 1.8% increase in market RPM.
The shares of Delta Air Lines are trading at $44.08 per share with year-to-date growth 60.47% at current P/E ratio of 3.83%. The airline has current market capitalization of $36.28 billion.
This article has been written by Prakash Pandey.
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