<p>Comair pilots whose 2001 contract raised the bar for wages among regional airlines are now being asked to lead the way among union employees in accepting pay freezes.</p><p>The Delta subsidiary says that without mid-contract pay freezes from pilots and flight attendants, it cannot afford to buy up to 35 new jets that management says are needed to win business that is going to competitors. Without the additional business, Comair risks stagnating in the vigorous competition among regional airlines to serve major carriers by flying smaller airplanes and shorter routes.</p><p>The Comair pilots are voting through March 1 on a new contract proposal that includes a pay freeze in exchange for other improvements that the Air Line Pilots Union requested.</p><p>"Somebody has to be first. You'd like to think it would be the pilots," said Doug Abbey, a partner at The Velocity Group, an aviation consulting firm in Washington, D.C.</p><p>Comair is still negotiating with its flight attendants, who are paid between $20,000 and $40,000.</p><p>Comair's pilots went on strike for three months in 2001 to obtain their contract, which made them the highest-paid among regional airlines. It pays a senior captain up to $109,000 _ and helps make Comair's operating costs higher than rivals.</p><p>That makes it critical that the pilots _ as the highest-paid among Comair's union employees _ lead the way in accepting pay freezes, analysts said.</p><p>"That's where you're going to extract the most costs," Abbey said.</p><p>Even though Comair is owned by Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, Delta recently bypassed Comair and awarded a contract for regional flying to Chautauqua Airlines, a low-cost operator.</p><p>Chautauqua pays a senior captain $90,720. Atlantic Southeast Airline, a Delta-owned regional carrier, gives its pilots top pay of $98,484.</p><p>The Indianapolis-based Chautauqua began its relationship with Delta in 2002 and has expanded it twice since then. Within the last year, Chautauqua has also won flying business with United Airlines.</p><p>Mesa, SkyWest and American Eagle are also regional competitors.</p><p>Comair will suffer if it continues to be bypassed, said analyst Ray Neidl of Calyon Securities in New York.</p><p>"They won't go out of business, necessarily. But they'll have limited opportunities for growth," Neidl said.</p><p>Fuel price increases, aircraft operating expenses, costs of borrowing money and expenses for use of airport facilities all contribute to an airline's operating costs. But labor costs are a visible target for management in cost-cutting efforts.</p><p>Comair now has 164 jets, but says it needs new ones with amenities that would lure customers.</p><p>Comair president Fred Buttrell has appealed to the unions by promising that expanded business could mean creating hundreds of new jobs for pilots, flight attendants and mechanics. Comair has also imposed a pay freeze among nonunion employees and 10 percent pay cuts starting March 1 for Buttrell and other top officers.</p><p>The freeze for Comair's 1,800 pilots means they would forgo an average 3 percent wage increase this year and in 2006. The freeze would continue during a one-year contract extension to June 2007, then pilots would start receiving 2 percent pay increases annually until a new contract is reached. The freeze would be lifted and retroactive pay awarded if Comair is unable to buy the new planes, union officials said.</p><p>Union leaders said the proposal also would restore the 89 days of seniority for pilots involved in the 2001 strike. The pilot union's leadership council voted 2-1 to recommend the proposal to the members.</p><p>Comair says it needs cooperation from all its 6,200 employees, not just the pilots. Comair's nearly 400 mechanics rejected a contract proposal last week. No new date has been set to resume those talks.</p><p>Comair suffered a systemwide shutdown of all flights on Christmas Day that stranded thousands of travelers. The company said numerous scheduling changes caused by a snowstorm overloaded the computer system. The storm and the resulting disruptions cost Delta $20 million, including $5 million directly attributable to Comair's Christmas shutdown.</p><p>Comair is based at Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. It carries about 30,000 passengers each day to 116 cities in the United States, mostly east of the Mississippi River, and Canada and the Bahamas.</p>
