By James Pilcher
Enquirer staff writer

Delta Air Lines' pilot union has agreed to negotiate the early retirement issue that the company says could lead it into bankruptcy if it is not settled by the end of this month.

In a message to its pilots late Tuesday night, the union said it was willing to allow the financially struggling airline to rehire pilots who have recently taken early retirement, and that talks would begin today.

Any agreement would be contingent upon a ratification vote of the full membership, and the vote needs to happen by the end of the month, union communications chair Chris Renkel told the union's 7,500 members - including more than 800 based locally.

Atlanta-based Delta, which operates its second-largest hub locally at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, has been trying to get its pilots to agree to major concessions for more than a year.

The airline is seeking $1 billion worth of annual cost reductions from its pilots by way of pay and benefit reductions and productivity increases as it tries to stave off a Chapter 11 filing. It has lost more than $5 billion in the last three years.

But just last week, chief executive officer Gerald Grinstein warned that this issue was most pressing because too many pilots were retiring early. He said that could leave the airline short-staffed on critical plane types that fly lucrative overseas routes. That could crimp the company's already-suffering cash flow, he said, in turn leading the company into bankruptcy.

More pilots than normal have been taking early retirement, primarily because they are concerned over what could happen to their pensions if they stay. Other airlines that have gone into bankruptcy, most notably United and US Airways, have either defaulted on their pensions or refused required payments.

The pilots do not need to give advance warning and can retire on the last day of the month.

Delta said it was "gratified" that the union was coming to the table for this issue.

"Delta's intent is to provide the assurances its pilots need to avoid early retirement while at the same time providing a safety net to protect the company, its people and the pilots' pension plan in the event there nevertheless turns out to be more early retirements than we can manage," the company said in a statement.

E-mail jpilcher@enquirer.com