Delta, United and Southwest Airlines navigate vital labour talks as profits surge

US carriers Southwest Airlines, Delta and United Airlines are at various stages in important labour negotiations with large work groups as some airlines are attempting to create a shift in profit sharing mentality. In some cases, those efforts have not won a ringing endorsement from some unionised labour groups.

Southwest pilots are preparing to vote on a tentative agreement recently reached between management and negotiators after a prolonged three year negotiating period that entailed the aid of a federal mediator. Delta, meanwhile, is heading back to the bargaining table with its pilots after the labour group rejected a tentative deal in Jul-2015. Proposed changes in the profit sharing formula were part of the reason the agreement failed win endorsement from the pilot group.

After the abrupt exit of United's former CEO the airline's flight attendants and mechanics are looking to the new chief executive to inject fresh thinking into negotiations stagnated by animosity towards the previous airline leadership. It is a formidable task to bargain with labour groups that have a deep sense of mistrust toward management.