Comair made an offer to its pilots Tuesday that includes a substantial pay raise and a company-funded pension plan, publicly releasing details for the first time in 2 1/2 years of tense and previously deadlocked contract talks.

        The announcement comes on the heels of Thursday's offer from parent company Delta Air Lines' offer to its pilots and makes almost as many sweeping concessions as Delta's proposal.

        Officials from Comair's 1,700-member pilot union said they were pleased by the strong step forward, but disappointed that the company chose to make the offer public.

        “We welcome management's first serious proposal since we started negotiations,” said Paul Lackie, spokesman for the Comair branch of the Air Line Pilots Association. “But we feel that the company's sudden move to commence negotiations in public demonstrates a lack of respect.”

        Delta bought Comair in November 1999, with the regional carrier becoming No. 2 nationally last year in passengers — 8 million. Comair also operates the most flights at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, with about 45 percent of passengers connecting into the Delta network.

        “It's a positive sign, and appears that Delta is trying to protect its advance bookings, which are always hit by labor uncertainty,” Robert Milmore, airline analyst for the Wall Street firm Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder, said about both Delta's offer last week and Comair's offer Tuesday.

        “A Comair strike wouldn't have the total impact that a Delta strike would, but it would still hurt the company, and definitely cripple local markets such as Cincinnati,” Mr. Milmore said.

        The deal proposed Tuesday by Comair would raise total compensation by 15 to 20 percent in the first year, followed by increases in subsequent years.

        It also includes a pension plan funded entirely by Comair, a major concession, because pilots previously had only a 401(k) retirement plan.

        According to Atlanta-based pilot placement service Air Inc., Comair pilots make about $16,000 annually in their first training year and about $66,000 at senior captain status. The senior pay rate ranks fourth among regional airlines flying Canadair Regional Jets.

        The offer also provides for “significant improvements” in work rules, according to the company release, another key issue for the pilots.

        Comair spokeswoman Meghan Glynn would not offer many specifics, including the length of the deal, or how it would protect Comair jobs in light of Delta's offer that would limit the size of any future jets bought for its regional subsidiaries to 50 seats.

        Ms. Glynn said the two sides are set to meet again with federal mediators Feb. 21-23, and the offer was made to “give the union something to look at before we hit the table.”

        As for why the company went public, Ms. Glynn said, “We wanted to make sure all the pilots are aware that the company is taking a step in the right direction.”

        Negotiations started in July 1998 and entered federal media tion in August 1999. Officials from both sides have said there has been little movement in negotiations for months.

        In the meantime, Comair won a federal injunction against ALPA in December 1999 after accusing pilots of conducting an illegal campaign of grounding airplanes for phantom or minor mechanical problems.

        In December 2000, the Hebron-based regional airline asked the same federal judge to punish the pilots for violating the injunction, but Judge William O. Bertelsman declined, instead allowing both sides to look at each others' records.

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