Hold the Line: Unity Is Our Leverage

Hold the Line: Unity Is Our Leverage

From Engage: The Podcast for Delta Pilots by Delta MEC Communications

September 7, 2026 · 36 min · Episode 92

About this episode

This episode discusses the current state of Delta pilots' negotiations and the importance of unity in protecting their contractual rights.

This Labor Day, Engage brings together union leadership for a wide-ranging conversation about where Delta pilots have been, where Section 6 negotiations are headed, and why the hard-fought protections in our PWA are not bargaining chips for management’s operational challenges. MEC Chairman Captain Eric Criswell and Negotiating Committee Chairman Captain Bill Finley discuss the return to a traditional Section 6 timeline, an expanded negotiating opener, management’s attempts to tie operational reliability to pilot contractual protections, and a simple message to management from the pilot group: concessions are not an option. Then, Strategic Planning Committee Chairman Evan Baach and Strike Preparedness Committee Chairman Eric Cowen take us behind the scenes of the union’s long-term strategy - from pilot unity and building leverage to the history of organized labor, the Pullman Strike, the Railway Labor Act and the generations of workers and pilots whose sacrifices built the profession we have today. The lesson of that history is as relevant now as ever: what we inherit, we have a responsibility to protect - and what Delta pilots negotiate today reaches far beyond Delta. Raise the…

People in this episode

Guests: Captain Eric Criswell, Captain Bill Finley, Evan Baach, Eric Cowen

Topics covered

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Delta, MEC, PWA

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