The chairman of Delta Air Lines' pilots union says the two should be able to end nearly two years of contract negotiations with a couple more days of talks.

The airline, which also owns Comair, the Cincinnati-based regional carrier grounded by a two-week-old strike, has been negotiating with its 9,700 pilots since May 1999. Chuck Giambusso, chairman of the Master Executive Council of Delta's branch of the Air Line Pilots Association told The Cincinnati Enquirer in a story published Sunday that the two sides are ''48 hours ... two long, hard days of negotiation away from an agreement.'' Delta chairman and chief executive Leo Mullin told reporters last week that he was confident a contract could be reached without a strike, which could come as early as 12:01 a.m. April 29. That's the end of a 30-day cooling off period which was called after the pilots union rejected binding federal arbitration. If no agreement is reached by then and the National Mediation Board doesn't recommend that President Bush intervene, the pilots could walk out, shutting down the airline. Talks were set for the week of April 16, but no meeting times have been scheduled. Sticking points in the contract include salary, retirement compensation, increasing pay for Delta Express pilots, and how to handle the growth of regional carriers, which some pilots say are usurping their routes and jobs. Giambusso said 20 of the contract's 28 sections have been closed. Company officials say the two sides are about $1.5 billion apart in total compensation, but Mullin has said he's optimistic the labor dispute can be settled without a strike.