Pilots

An article in the New York Times entitled “Delta and Northwest in $3 Billion Deal” details the events that occurred in the merger of these two large companies. This merger has created the largest airline company in the world. Of course, this act alone is not enough to be considered an ethical issue. It’s when the details are deluged that the ethical implications are apparent.
According to the article, “The Delta-Northwest agreement came despite failed efforts to get pilots at both airlines to agree on how to combine their own ranks, an issue that could lead to labor unrest and disruptions to flight operations in the coming years. Northwest pilots immediately said they would oppose the deal.” And in fact they have opposed the deal and were left out of the negotiations. The issues of turmoil are the pay rate and agreement of who should have which seniority level.

I would think even given the merger situation that the companies would be fair in negotiations. I don’t think that it is ethical that the Northwest pilots are going to receive less compensation than an equivalent Delta pilot. This just creates unrest and disputes among employees. Of course, the employment at will factors into this situation. So if the pilots don’t like it then they can go somewhere else. But I still think it would be ethical to create a standard for which all pilots are subject to.


Reference: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/business/15air.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin