<p>At least 100 Delta Air Lines pilots are expected to retire effective Wednesday, the start date for a 32.5-percent pay cut agreed upon in a $1 billion concessions package aimed at saving the struggling carrier from bankruptcy.</p><p>The exact number and breakdown of early retirements versus normal retirements would not be known until Wednesday, said Karen Miller, spokeswoman for the pilots union. But she said she expected a total of at least 100 pilot retirements.</p><p>Those pilots who retire effective Wednesday will receive retirement benefits based on their salaries before the pay cuts, Miller said.</p><p>"We do anticipate there will be a higher number of early retirements for Dec. 1 than we have experienced for several months," she said.</p><p>Delta warned about the consequence of the continued wave of retirements in a regulatory filing two weeks ago.</p><p>"If our pilots retire prior to their normal retirement at age 60 at greater than historical levels, this could disrupt our operations," Delta said in a Nov. 15 Securities and Exchange Commission filing.</p><p>To try to ease staffing shortages, the nation's third-largest airline in late September reached an agreement with the pilots union to allow early retired pilots return to duty on a limited basis. But the program is voluntary for pilots and is an option for those who sign a waiver before retiring, the union's Miller said.</p><p>Only three of 71 pilots who retired early on Oct. 1 were rehired under the agreement, according to the SEC filing. The airline has not said how many of the 55 early retirements in November agreed to return.</p><p>Delta pilot retirements are effective the first day of every month and they only need to give one day's notice.</p><p>Ninety-nine pilots retired Oct. 1, 71 of them early. On Nov. 1, 69 pilots retired, 55 of which were early. Since Jan. 1, 694 of the airline's pilots have retired, of which 506 have been early.</p><p>Asked about the impact of Wednesday's expected retirements on Delta's operations, Peggy Estes, a company spokeswoman, had no immediate comment.</p><p>The news comes a few weeks after pilots ratified the pay cuts agreement with management. The cuts will remain in effect until 2009. Pilots also agreed to a 16 percent reduction in vacation pay, changes to the composition of the pension plan and increased cost sharing for active pilot and retiree medical benefits.</p><p>Without the $1 billion in pilot concessions, Atlanta-based Delta warned that it would have to seek bankruptcy protection. Even with them, the airline could still be forced into Chapter 11 because of its $20.6 billion debt.</p><p>The normal pilot retirement age at Delta is 60. Senior pilots with enough years of service can retire early at age 50, and about 2,000 of the airline's roughly 7,000 active pilots were eligible to do so as of mid-November, Delta regulatory filings show. The total number of active pilots has fluctuated in recent months because of the retirements and furloughed pilots returning to duty.</p><p>Even after the reduced pay rates hit Wednesday, pilots who retire in the next few years will not be affected much, though down the road they will. That's because a Delta pilot's retirement is based on the 36 consecutive months over the last 10 years in which they received the highest pay, Miller said.</p><p>Delta pilots who retire can elect to receive half their pension benefits in a lump sum and the other half as an annuity later, regulatory filings show.</p><p>Pension benefits paid to Delta pilots and other retirees was $1.1 billion in 2003 and $888 million the year before, regulatory filings show. The airline has not said how much it expects to pay out by the end of this year. In the Nov. 15 SEC filing, it said it expects its pension obligations to be $500 million to $550 million in 2005 and for them to be "significant" from 2006 to 2008, though it did not provide specific figures.</p><p>Joel Denney, an airline analyst for Piper Jaffray & Co. in Minneapolis, said he believes Delta is making progress on its transformation plan.</p><p>"At this point, my expectation is there's more going on behind the scenes that's continuing to move things forward and get their costs under control and get in a position to be able to be a survivor," Denney said. "The bottom line is you have to give yourself breathing room."</p><p>Shares of Delta were down 4 cents at $6.95 in afternoon trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x2862aac)</p>
