Delta Air Lines flights to Bermuda could be cut off some time after April 15 after the carrier's pilots voted overwhelmingly for a strike if a management plan to throw out their contract and impose deep pay cuts is upheld by an arbitration panel.

Delta, which flies to Bermuda from Atlanta and Boston, is operating under bankruptcy protection and says it needs the cost savings if it is to keep flying. It also says a strike would put it out of business.

The 94.7 percent vote in favour of authorising a strike gives union leaders the authority to set a strike date. They didn't set a date immediately and gave no indication when they might act.

The results were announced in a memo to pilots from the chairman of the union's executive committee, Lee Moak, and first reported by The Associated Press.

An arbitration panel must decide by April 15 whether to void the pilots' contract. The union has said it will strike if its contract is rejected.

Any strike would likely prompt a court challenge by the company, which would almost certainly seek a restraining order, the AP said. Moak said in an interview the union will "do what is legal".

Moak said that during a special meeting to be held by today he will ask union leaders to give him sole authority to set a strike date.

He said the union is still open to negotiations, but he insisted the company hasn't been willing to compromise.

"It's problematic when people want to call it negotiations and one side isn't negotiating," Moak told AP.

Company spokesman Bruce Hicks said the vote made public yesterday will not affect Delta service.

"Together with our pilots and all of our employees we remain focused on our No. 1 priority, which is taking good care of our customers," Hicks said.

He added that the company is committed to seeking a consensual deal with its pilots.

"The panel asked us to work privately and quietly and we're doing everything we can to honour their requests," Hicks said.

Atlanta-based Delta sought approval to reject its contract with its 5,930 pilots so it can impose up to $325 million in long-term pay and benefit cuts, which would include a wage reduction of at least 18 percent.

Delta's pilots previously agreed to $1 billion in annual concessions, including a 32.5 percent wage cut, in a five-year deal in 2004. But Delta, which has imposed pay cuts on other employees, said it needs more from its pilots after filing for bankruptcy protection in September.

So far, there has been little movement toward a long-term deal to replace an interim deal reached in December, though both sides have met at least a handful of times since arbitration hearings in Washington ended on March 23, Moak said. The company has offered to reduce its concessions request to $305 million a year if the pilots reach a consensual deal, while the pilots say they have offered $140 million.