Contract Dispute Delays 747-400 Service : United Pilots Balk at Flying Jumbo Jets

United Airlines pilots are refusing to fly Boeing 747-400 jumbo jets due for delivery next month in a contract dispute that has forced the airline to delay the start-up of service for the new planes.

“We believe that in light of (the pilots’ union’s) position, . . . immediate operation of the aircraft will complicate our contract negotiations,” Hart Langer, United senior vice president of flight operations, wrote in a letter to pilots dated June 20.

“Therefore,” he wrote, “for the time being, the start-up of 747-400 service will be delayed.”

Boeing is due to deliver United’s first 747-400 by July 5, a second one in August and two more before the end of the year.

Hank Krakowski, spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Assn., said United pilots will not fly the jets until a new contract is negotiated covering wages and working conditions for 747-400 cockpit crews.

“The pilots have been working almost 1 1/2 years without a contract, and we’d like to see a new agreement,” he said.

The new jets are expected to be used to expand United’s Pacific routes.