The union representing 800 ATA pilots and flight mechanics has voted to authorize a strike, but its spokesman said Tuesday that renewed negotiations have begun with the bankrupt airline.
"We have made progress," said Rusty Ayers, a spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association.
He declined to disclose the vote total for 15 days of balloting on the issue, which ended Monday. Before pilots can strike, the walkout must be approved by the head of the Air Line Pilots Association.
Indianapolis-based ATA, which is owned by ATA Holdings Corp., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October. It has cut about 3,100 jobs since it began reducing a work force of about 7,800 people two years ago.
The pilots say new wage concessions being proposed by the airline would have them earning 40 percent less than their contracted rate. Union officials said their ATA members have accepted $66 million in wage concessions in the past 15 months.
ATA's senior vice president of labor relations said the company was disappointed by the strike vote but encouraged by continued talks.
"The fact that pilot representatives immediately returned to the bargaining table indicates they remain willing to find a mutually beneficial solution," Richard Meyer said in a statement.
Ayers said negotiators hoped to reach a deal Wednesday, which could then be voted on by union members before the end of September.
Michael Boyd, president of The Boyd Group, an airline consulting firm in Evergreen, Colo., said a pilot strike would be crippling to the 32-year-old airline.
"In 20 minutes, the airline would be dead," Boyd said. "This is an airline that's hanging by a string. It's incumbent on both sides to keep the airline flying."
During the quarter than ended June 30, ATA Holdings lost nearly $55,000. For the first six months of the company's fiscal year, ATA lost about $417,000, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In August, the airline asked federal bankruptcy Judge Basil H. Lorch III to void the company's current labor contract with pilots. Lorch has until Sept. 23 to rule on the motion.
