ATA Pilots Union Leaders Back New Proposal

[struggle4progress]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Union leaders representing ATA Airlines' pilots have endorsed a new contract that gives the pilots partial ownership of the airline in exchange for wage concessions and clears the way for a membership vote on the proposal, the union said Monday.Rusty Ayers, a spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, said a majority of the 12 members of the union's master executive council voted for the deal on Saturday.

As a result, 800 pilots and flight mechanics of the bankrupt airline are to start voting on the proposal Tuesday morning, with balloting ending Sept. 28, two days before the current tentative agreement expires, he said.

Under the three-year deal, Ayers said ATA pilots would receive 4 percent ownership of the Indianapolis-based airline company in the form of stock options.

It also provides for slightly higher pay, better work rules and fewer cuts in health and retirement benefits than a plan he said ATA submitted to a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Indianapolis to replace the existing agreement. <snip>

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