Delta will furlough 300 fewer pilots than expected
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Posted 1:18PM on Tuesday, February 5, 2002
ATLANTA - Delta Air Lines expects to furlough 1,400 pilots instead of the 1,700 the airline estimated four months ago after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. <br>
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The revised number "was an adjustment based on operational needs," Delta spokesman John Kennedy said Monday. <br>
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The job cuts began in December and will continue into the spring. <br>
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Delta's pilot union, the Air Lines Pilots Association, is opposing the furloughs at a hearing this week in Washington. The union says the pilots' jobs are protected under the contract signed last spring, which includes a no-furlough clause. <br>
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After the attacks, the nation's third-largest airline eliminated 13,000 jobs as part of a broader effort to reduce its operations because of dramatically less traffic. <br>
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Most of those cuts were accomplished through early retirement or voluntary leave. <br>
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