Pilots association rejects binding arbitration in stalled labor talks.

Publication: South Florida Sun-Sentinel (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service)

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COPYRIGHT 2001 South Florida Sun-Sentinal

Byline: Tom Stieghorst

The union for 9,500 pilots at Delta Air Lines set the stage for a potential strike in the early hours of Sunday, April 29 by rejecting an offer of arbitration on Thursday.

The development caps a bad week for Delta. Although the main airline has never suffered a pilot's strike in its 72-year history, pilots struck one of its commuter airlines, Comair, on Monday.

The Delta pilots have been negotiating with the help of federal mediators since December. Last week, the National Mediation Board offered arbitration, a sign that further mediation was futile. Delta immediately accepted. But on Thursday, as expected, the union declined.

With that rejection, the pilots triggered a 30-day cooling off period provided for in federal law. It gives the two sides a month to...

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