AirTran's Learning From History

The airline, however, has made concessionary proposals, Philpot says. For instance, one proposal would start a pilot's working time at the moment an airplane starts moving, rather than at the moment when the airplane's doors close. Given that planes often sit at the gate at delay-prone airports such as Atlanta's, where AirTran has about 250 daily departures, the change could cost the average pilot about $3,500 annually, Philpot says.

Leonard, for his part, said on a conference call last month that AirTran's goal is to prevent any change in its cost per available seat mile, currently among the industry's lowest. "We can make adjustments in the contract to improve quality of work life [but] we want to make sure that we stay about CASM-neutral," he said.

The contract became amendable in April. Talks, which began in December 2004, were joined by a federal mediator in September. Both sides agree that things have moved slowly, with deals on just a handful of 19 contract sections. Discussions have been confined to about two days a month, although the pace appears to be quickening. Negotiators met Tuesday and Wednesday in Baltimore, and plan six more days of talks this month.

Philpot suggests that things could speed up, now that AirTran executives can compare their pilot costs with those at Delta Air Lines (DALRQ Quote - Cramer on DALRQ - Stock Picks), where pilots approved a contract on Wednesday.

Kolski declined to comment specifically on the talks. Early this year, in an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he called the pilots' proposals "extremely vague and undefined." He says it would be irresponsible for the company to increase pilot pay when the airline is barely breaking even. "This is the wrong time to increase our pilot costs, and we simply refuse to do it," he says.

AirTran's pilots are among the industry's lowest paid, says pilot spokesman Brian Gaudet. He says the average pilot makes about $78,000 a year, based on flying the guaranteed minimum of 70 hours a month. The airline's average pilot cost is $92 an hour, the lowest of any major carrier.

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