Delta Ready To Ignite Fare Ware

Get ready for the next great air fare war.

Delta Air Lines Inc. has reached tentative agreement with its pilots’ union on a contract that would let the airline challenge low-cost competitors up and down the East Coast.

But carriers such as Southwest Airlines Co. and ValuJet Airlines Inc. are not Delta’s only target. Company officials acknowledge that if all goes well, Delta will begin expanding and target the routes of USAir Inc., which has some of the highest labor costs in the industry and is wrestling with its unions over contract concessions.

If the Delta agreement is approved by the Air Line Pilots Association, Delta hopes to move quickly, sources said, to test of its new low-cost operations in Florida. Florida is a major USAir market.

USAir spokesman Richard M. Weintraub said USAir is prepared to meet whatever the competition may bring, but he said Delta’s plans underscore the need for his own airline to deal with its labor costs.