United Pilots Make A Deal

United Airlines pilots overwhelmingly ratified a contract that gives them industry-leading pay and ended a summer of labor strife at the world's largest carrier, results released Wednesday showed.

The Air Line Pilots Association said 95 percent of more than 8,000 United pilots who voted on whether to authorize the pact had voted "Yes."

The result, culminating a weeks-long voting process, had been expected ever since the pilots and United tentatively agreed to terms Aug. 26 after a turbulent summer of more than 25,000 canceled flights and thousands more delays.

United blamed its flight troubles in part on pilots who refused to work overtime during the talks; pilots said the airline had long failed to hire in sufficient numbers to maintain its increasingly ambitious flight schedule.

The pilots' contract has prompted pilots at Delta Air Lines and American Airlines, as well as other United employees, to seek similar wage hikes.

Under the pact, United's 10,500 pilots get immediate raises of 21.5 percent to 28.5 percent, plus 4 percent annual increases thereafter.

The pay of a new Boeing 737 United captain rises to about $175,000, while the pay of a new Boeing 747 United captain climbs to about $260,000.

In exchange for the pay hikes, United negotiated an increase in the number of regional jets, now 65, allowed to be used by its commuter affiliates. The affiliates, which operate as United Express, now will be allowed to fly as many as 300 of the 50-seat regional jets that customers increasingly prefer over now-used turboprops.

Now United parent UAL Corp., which last week posted its first quarterly profit loss in five years as a result of the turmoil, is under growing pressure to hand out huge pay hikes to its machinists and flight attendants.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, representing more than 44,000 United machinists, ramp workers and customer service agents, confirmed Wednesday it has begun activating strike committees around the country.

But an IAM spokesman called the moves precautionary and talk of a strike premature, saying mediated talks have only been under way since last month and are not at a stalemate.

United's 25,000 flight attendants also have threatened action if their demand for as much as a 30 percent raise isn't met soon. The airline agreed last month to reopen wage talks with the flight attendants, who signed a 10-year agreement in 1997.

Because of the steep rise in labor costs and the loss of passengers during its turmoil, analysts say UAL could suffer a money-losing year in 2001 for the first time since 1993. It still awaits federal approval of its proposed $4.3 billion merger with US Airways.

By DAVE CARPENTER