Pinnacle Draws Nearer to Pilot Deal

Pinnacle Airlines CEO Phil Trenary last month reported “very good progress” in management’s negotiations with the airline’s ALPA-represented pilots for a new contract, several sections of which he said the company managed to close recently during four days of meetings. “We’re actually down to single digits as far as what’s left,” said Trenary. “When you get down to a handful of issues they tend to be difficult issues, but progress continues and the attitude is good on both sides.” In negotiations since February 2005, the sides entered mediated talks in September 2006. Pinnacle pilots voted to authorize a strike in December 2007, and the airline claimed that ALPA engaged in “bad faith bargaining” in a lawsuit it filed the following month. Since then, the sides have made slow progress in mediated talks and now appear close to a deal.