Comair has accepted a proposal by the National Mediation Board, and the airline's 1,350 pilots are set to vote on the suggested deal later this week.

        Details of the proposal are not being released, but here's a look at where each side stood entering the last set of talks, in the order of importance to the pilot union. The company positions were laid out in a contract proposal that was voted down virtually unanimously by the pilots before the strike began.

Work rules

        The pilots are seeking a 14-hour duty day, or less if the pilot is flying at night. That means that after pilots report for work, they would have 14 hours to complete their flying. The current maximum is 14 hours; the pilots say the company proposal would extend that to 15 hours.

        They are also asking for an end to flight scheduling that causes pilots to exceed their duty limits.

        In addition, the pilots want to be paid for five hours each day they are on duty regardless of a pilot's actual flying time - a demand they say would make the company more efficient.

        Pilots are paid per hour of actual flying time, starting from the time they pull away from a gate to the time they pull into a gate, and the pilots say the minimum pay demand would force the company to use them more efficiently.

        They also want a minimum 12 days off a month.

        The company says the offer defeated by the pilots in March would have retained the 14-hour duty limit and paid pilots a minimum of an hour's worth of flying time for every three hours on duty. And line holders would get a minimum of 11 days off a month.

Retirement

        The pilots want a company-funded pension plan that would pay retiring pilots 60 percent of their highest final average earnings annually until death.

        The company's proposal would fund a pension plan that, after 10 years of service, would contribute the equivalent of 6 percent of a pilot's salary. That fund could then be distributed annually after retirement or given as a lump sum.

        The pilots now have a 401(k) plan as a retirement benefit.

“Scope,” or current and future job protection

        The pilots want guarantees for jobs on equipment Comair that purchases in the future, especially the 20 70-seat Canadair Regional Jets the company had on order until recently. Those orders were recently placed on indefinite hold by the company, which cited economic uncertainty.

        In addition, the pilots want no limits placed on how many other 50-seat jets the company buys.

        Recently, parent company Delta Air Lines reached a tentative agreement with its pilots. That deal, if ratified by Delta pilots, would allow current 70-seat regional jets currently on order to be purchased for Delta subsidiaries such as Comair. But any additional 70-seat planes would require Delta to add more mainline pilot positions.

        The Delta deal does not limit purchases of 50-seat jets.

Pay

        The union has not said what kind of pay increases it is seeking, but say they are seeking a 40 percent hike in total compensation, including salary, retirement and health care benefits, over a four-year deal.

        Comair officials have said the union is seeking an 85 percent increase in total compensation over four years.

        Comair says its offer would take a senior CRJ captain immediately from about $69,000 annually to almost $85,000, with that reaching $100,000 by the end of the contract in 2004.

        A first-year first officer who makes about $16,000 now would jump immediately to almost $21,000 and, eventually, would receive $39,120 annually.

        The union disputes these figures, saying the examples cited by the company wouldn't be attainable, because mobility would be limited by Delta's limits on growth.

        With respect to retroactive pay, or the difference between the current rates and new rates dating back to when the contract came open for negotiation, the company's last offer would provide a $3 million lump sum to be distributed among the pilots.

        The pilots are seeking full retroactivity, a sum the union says is more than $30 million because the contract came open for negotiation in June 1998.

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