A strike next Sunday would have grounded the USA's No. 3 airline and stranded hundreds of thousands of passengers a day, especially at Delta's hub in Atlanta. The deal now goes to pilots for a vote. Delta's 10,000 pilots were ready to walk out next Sunday unless an agreement was reached or a Presidential Emergency Board was named to intervene.
Customers can continue to book flights on Delta with confidence.
Negotiators for both sides had worked feverishly with the National Mediation Board in Washington amid threats that the White House would intervene. If no deal had been reached, plans called for Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta to make a presidential board announcement today, knowledgeable people said. At the mediation board's urging, President Bush named a board in March to help resolve a contract dispute between Northwest Airlines and its mechanics union. Delta's labor problems still aren't over. Pilots at Comair, a Cincinnati-based regional carrier owned by Delta, have been on strike a month, grounding that carrier.