ASA and Comair Pilot's Picket

[jehtplane]

Biatch5:

She is a good pilot, standing up for a good cause.

Everyone else :

We are "Comair aircraft delivery test pilots" if you realize that ASA reserve pilots are being used to shuttle ASA Airplanes to maintenance for reconfiguration into Comair Airplanes. Most delivery text pilots do the job in less than 25 hours, but, to be sure Comair gets only the best, we have been testing "their" airplanes to their limits 18 hours a day for over 9, hours. Apparently most of the 860 and 870 registered airplanes are going to Comair.

Apparently Crew Scheduling has had a difficult time finding pilots to take ASA airplanes to COmair. Why don't we just tell Comair if they want them, to just come and get them.

We are replacing them with leased jets from GE capital, the reason they are getting those particular series tail numbers is because they are the same leasing company that comair uses. We are not losing aircraft to comair just re-arranging a little

 

[Smacktard]

...Apparently most of the 860 and 870 registered airplanes are going to Comair.

I said this a few weeks ago, looks like that rumor is actually true. So Comair is getting our 40 seaters and we're getting the Indy 50 seaters...there go 10 more nice planes for junked up Indy planes with the 3rd paint livery on them in 2 years...

 

[meatwallet]

Good luck ASA. Might as well pick up a bottle of lube fto help big daddy Delta slide it in

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/delta;_y...U2yBhIF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

 

[Stifler's Mom]

Nice turn out everyone. I was pleasantly suprised to see that many pilots.

Now excuse me while I get back to my blistered feet. OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jehtplane]

I just sent them a resume. Not that I would get considered but it doesn't sound like life is grand.

I've got some breaking news for you, it is bad at every airline right now.

Regards

 

[Bryan D]

Atlant Journal Constitution

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. (AP) -- Delta Air Lines Inc. will do whatever it has to do to achieve the remaining $1 billion of its targeted cost cuts and tough decisions may have to be made, chief executive Gerald Grinstein said Thursday.

"There is no area that will be safe from scrutiny," Grinstein told shareholders at the struggling carrier's annual meeting.

Grinstein said the nation's third-largest airline is on target to achieve a total of $5 billion in annual cost savings by the end of 2006, though he did not specify what it will do to reach that goal.

The Atlanta-based company's meeting included a passionate speech from the head of its pilots' union about the sacrifices pilots made to save the company from bankruptcy last fall, a threat Delta again faces just seven months later. There also were frequent interruptions from a wealthy shareholder who has been outspoken at several different companies' annual meetings in recent years.

"It's moments like these that test men's souls," Grinstein said after a series of rants by shareholder Evelyn Y. Davis of Washington, D.C.

Three company proposals were approved at the meeting while six shareholder proposals were rejected.

More than 100 pilots with Delta subsidiary Atlantic Southeast Airlines picketed outside the convention center where the meeting was held. They are unhappy about the failure to get a new contract with Delta.

At issue in the ASA negotiations with Delta are schedule, wages and retirement benefits. Some analysts have speculated that Delta might sell its regional carriers ASA and Comair Inc. to raise cash. Delta has not gone so far as to say that is its plan, though Grinstein noted at the meeting that to gain some of the benefits from the regional carriers, "you don't have to own them."

In previous weeks, several analysts have suggested Delta might be ripe for a bankruptcy filing by this fall based on the high price of fuel and worrisome comments by the airline in a recent regulatory filing. Just last week, Delta's stock fell to its lowest point in at least 32 years, but has rebounded since then.

In a research note Wednesday, J.P Morgan airline analyst Jamie Baker said that the probability of a Chapter 11 filing by Delta in 2006 remains high, though he believes a filing this year is not as likely.

Filing for Chapter 11 protection is far from the end-all for airlines. UAL Corp., parent of United Airlines, and Arlington, Va.-based US Airways Group, Inc., have been in bankruptcy for several years now and they are still flying -- even their frequent-flier programs remain in tact.

John Malone, chairman of the Delta pilots union's executive committee, told shareholders at the annual meeting that the pilots have done more than their share to help turn around the airline and now its Delta's turn to step up and show results. The pilots agreed to a 32.5 percent pay cut last fall as part of a $1 billion concessions package.

"The coming months will determine whether our investment was a prudent one," Malone said. "Unfortunately, the first-quarter results illustrate that substantial obstacles stand in the way of Delta's recovery."

Malone said Delta pilots' pensions are in peril because of the company's financial problems.

"We will hope for the best and prepare for the worst while taking heart that we have done more than our share," Malone said.

The proposals approved at the meeting included election of nine Delta directors and ratification of the appointment of the company's independent auditor.

Shareholders also approved a Delta proposal doubling to 900 million the number of shares of common stock that it is authorized to issue and reducing the par value of the common stock from $1.50 to 1 cent. The airline, which is incorporated in Delaware, believes the proposal gives it greater flexibility in using common stock for various corporate purposes because Delaware law permits a company to issue shares only if it receives value equal to at least the par value for the shares.

Of the six rejected shareholder proposals, one would have required Delta to implement employment policies that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender. Two others would have restricted executive compensation.

Shares of Delta rose 1 cent to $3.31 in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Sounds like ya'll had a helll of a show down in Atlanta today what with the picketing, a heckler and the NGPA. Delta is on the brink of bankruptcy and somebody is worried about sexual discrimination.

 

[ILStoMinimums]

Good luck ASA, hope you guys can 'raise the bar.'

 

[Freebrd]

We had three circuits going at the same time! Simply outstanding! I walked two of the circuits, and didn't see any CMR pilots, so I don't know why this thread is titled as such. There was a gentleman from Amer Eagle who walked with us, and for that, thanks. DAL MEC Chair Malone stopped by after the shareholder meeting and offered words of encouragement. No sighting of Duane Woerth though. Oh my poor aching feet

 

[Freebrd]

....oh, I mentioned no Duane sightings. Didn't see the General there either

 

[HoserASA]

I walked and it was great! Outstanding turnout for the fed-up ASA pilots to be able to demonstrate that we're tired of management's stalling. The best part I experienced was at the conclusion of the shareholder's meeting when two well-dressed guys walked up to us and announced their support! They reminded one of the characters in the Sopranos, and they sounded exactly like them!

Also Delta MEC Chairman Malone coming over and offering his support was welcomed too by our pilot group. Thanks Delta Pilots!