Pilots picket Delta over cuts request

More than two dozen Delta Air Lines Inc. pilots picketed the airline’s terminal in Atlanta, carrying signs berating management for asking pilots to take more pay and benefit cuts while the company tries to get court approval for a hefty severance plan for officers.

If negotiators for the pilots union and company can’t reach a comprehensive deal on new concessions by March 1, a three-person panel would decide the company’s request to reject the pilot contract so Delta can impose more than $300 million in cuts unilaterally.

The union has said it will strike if its contract is thrown out. Delta has warned a strike would put it out of business.

Delta is asking for what could amount to $14 million in severance for officers and directors who are fired as a part of reorganization.

Washington

Wholesale prices slow in January

Prices at the wholesale level rose in January at just half the pace of December as a big drop in gasoline prices helped offset higher costs for new cars, books and other items.

But the biggest one-month rise in core inflation in a year raised concerns that last year’s surge in energy costs was beginning to spill over.

The Labor Department reported that its Producer Price Index, which measures inflation pressures before they reach the consumer, rose by 0.3 percent in January, down from a 0.6 percent jump in December, with the change reflecting flat energy prices after a December surge.

However, core inflation – excluding energy and food costs – rose by 0.4 percent in January, the biggest rise since a 0.6 percent jump in January ‘05.