USAir, Pilots’ Union End Stalemate on Wages and Benefits

USAir and its pilots’ union broke an eight-month logjam Saturday and reached a tentative agreement on wage and benefit concessions that both sides said are essential to the airline’s survival.

Several weeks of negotiations lie ahead, including settlements with three other unions. But the talks with the pilots were by far the most difficult and most important in the airline’s quest to cut its costs, which are the highest in the industry.

USAir Group Inc., based in Arlington, Va., has lost $2.5 billion over the last five years, including $684 million in 1994.

The agreement, which came after an all-night session between USAir Chairman Seth E. Schofield and the leadership of the Air Line Pilots Assn., gave the pilots “financial returns and governance participation” in return for the concessions, the airline said.

Neither side would discuss details before the plan is presented to the union’s executive council Tuesday. Sources familiar with the talks said that the pilots had succeeded in obtaining a measure of profit-sharing and some form of representation on the USAir board.

The proposed pact also must be approved by the USAir board and shareholders. Shareholders probably will be asked to take a cut in the value of their holdings.