Air Transport

Sun Country Airlines' pilots union will meet Thursday to discuss its response to management's wage deferral plan.

The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents Sun Country's roughly 150 pilots, has not taken a position on the management's plan to defer 50% of employee wages starting on 7 October.

"It is important to us that we hear fro you as we formulate our response," ALPA wrote pilots in an email.

The union's leadership for the airline has "studied several options" with internal advisors.

Sun Country CEO Stan Gadek announced two days ago that the airline faces a severe cash crisis while it seeks financial independence from parent company Petters Aviation, a subsidiary of Petters Group Worldwide, which is now the subject of a fraud investigation.

Lacking the parent company's support for a short-term loan, Sun Country must defer wages to balance costs until revenues pick up as the peak winter travel season.

ALPA's notice to pilots acknowledged the airline's difficult circumstances.

"These are trying times in our industry and at our company," ALPA writes. "Working together, the Sun Country pilots will best secure our future."