UPDATE 3-Delta Air Lines pilots reject tentative contract - union

Source: Reuters

By Jeffrey Dastin

(Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc pilots have rejected a tentative contract agreement, casting in doubt both the labor deal and the airline's plans to order extra planes from the Boeing Co.

Nearly 7,000, or 65 percent, of voting pilots rejected the contract, according to Delta's Master Executive Council, part of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). Some 97 percent of eligible pilots voted.

The contract's rejection was a mixed blessing for the airline, whose shares rose nearly 5 percent. Hourly pay would have risen 8 percent upon signing, trimming third quarter earnings per share by 10 cents to $1.66, according to one analyst's estimate.

Delta has said it would purchase 20 used and 40 new single-aisle aircraft from Boeing to replace planes scheduled to retire through 2019 if the new contract was ratified. The orders were not firm.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/10/delta-air-lines-workers-idUSL1N0ZQ1OP20150710