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Delta Cuts

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MSN Story

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23690403
ATLANTA - Delta Air Lines said Tuesday it will offer voluntary severance payouts to roughly 30,000 employees — more than half its work force — and cut domestic capacity by an extra 5 percent this year as part of an overhaul of its business plan to deal with soaring fuel prices.Executives at Atlanta-based Delta said in a memo to employees that the airline’s goal is to cut 2,000 frontline, administrative and management jobs through the voluntary program, attrition and other initiatives.
A spokeswoman says that if more than that amount agree to take the voluntary severance, that will be allowed. The severance program primarily affects mainline Delta employees. It will not affect Delta pilots, who have a union contract with the company, and employees at Delta regional carrier Comair, which is based in Erlanger, KY


Delta had 55,044 total full-time employees as of the end of last year.
Oil prices recently cracked $111 a barrel, nearly twice what they were a year ago.
The memo from Chief Executive Richard Anderson and President Ed Bastian did not mention Delta’s talks with Northwest Airlines Corp. about a combination that would create the world’s largest airline. Bastian was updating investors Tuesday at a conference in New York.
On Monday, Delta’s pilots union said it had told company executives it can’t agree on seniority issues with its counterpart at Northwest, raising serious doubts about the prospect of a combination of the two companies.
The disclosure was made in a letter from the head of the pilots union at Delta, Lee Moak, to rank-and-file Delta pilots.
The letter does not mention Northwest, but describes the union that Delta’s pilots had been negotiating with as the only one they were focused on talking with. Multiple officials close to the talks have said in recent months that the other company was Northwest.
The letter talks about the discussions with the other carrier in the past tense, suggesting at least for now there won’t be further talks.
The two carriers don’t need a pilot seniority integration deal in advance to move forward with a combination, but Delta Air Lines Inc. executives have said they would not move forward with any combination unless the seniority of their employees was protected.
A Delta-Northwest combination deal could proceed without a pilot seniority agreement, but that would be up to the boards of the two companies.
At least one airline analyst, Calyon Securities’ Ray Neidl, sounded doubtful that will happen, at least in the near term.
 
The new aircraft will be the next to go. Look for an order cancellation press release in the future.

Delta's management is being smart in making these cuts early. As demand falls (it is and will get worse), it's far better to not bleed a ton of cash while hoping that load factors increase.
There will likely be fare wars as passenger counts fall. Those flying aggressive schedules will bleed a lot more cash than those who have already reduced schedules.

The airline hiring music is about to grind to a halt, to be followed by furloughs.


From an internal memo:


International expansion
Much of the protection against increased oil prices that we enjoy today is because of your good work over the last three years to transform Delta into a global airline. This summer more than 40 percent of our capacity will be dedicated to international flying where fares more readily cover higher fuel costs. We firmly believe that global expansion, and the network diversity that it provides, is key to our long-term success.

We are in our third consecutive year of record international expansion, including the important additions of Shanghai and Heathrow in the first quarter. Delta’s international growth will continue to be supported by investments in our fleet, including the continued delivery of 22 international-capable 737-700s, 757-200-ETOPS and 777-200LRs through 2009. Because of their importance in achieving our international growth, we have no plans to defer or delay the delivery of these aircraft. While we will make small adjustments to our international plans to ensure we are focused on the most profitable routes, we will still increase international capacity by more than 15 percent in 2008. Any adjustments to international flying will focus on reducing frequencies or eliminating select seasonal routes. For example, Delta will serve Edinburgh this summer from our JFK hub but will not reinstate seasonal flights from Edinburgh to Atlanta.




Yet again Andy, you are wrong.


Bye Bye--General Lee
 
The international expansion of Delta has been bold,it was a risk which appears to be currently paying dividends for Delta and that sort of leadership is commendable in this day and age,one must give credit were credit is due.I do wonder though what impact the reemergence of Avian Influenza or indeed Sars (they have not been eradicated) may have on such a global network coupled with the fact that they will soon be transporting Americans in decreasing numbers to places were Americans can no longer afford to go.

Please dont take my points as sniping but merely as a risk evaluation.God knows this industry has a ponchant for perfect storms.
 
I do wonder though what impact the reemergence of Avian Influenza or indeed Sars (they have not been eradicated) may have on such a global network .

Please dont take my points as sniping but merely as a risk evaluation.God knows this industry has a ponchant for perfect storms.

This is my number one concern about my job at this point. A domestic reduction during a recession is common and it always returns. High fuel costs can be passed on and we have seen fare hikes stick over the last six months. Mergers can happen and usually everyone ends up with a job and is OK. What do you think will happen when someone flies into the U.S. with bird flu? They have quarantine procedures that will basically shut down international air travel. We saw a little of this with SARS, and that was just fear of someone flying with the disease. I'd imagine alot of airlines would disappear very quickly if someone brought bird flu in on one of our airliners.
 
Yeah, but my question is how will the airlines respond when the aliens arrive? Or what about when the moon collides with the sun? Better start contingency planning for those scenarios boys...
 
Conspiracy Theory

Call me a cynic, but is it possible the merger may not be completely dead after all? Could this be a means of reducing the overhead that will certainly be necessary in the support functions should the merger actually happen? You know, some of that synergy we keep hearing about. I don't think rigormortis has set in on the merger yet. Too much money at stake. If mgt wants this merger there will come a time when they move on and do it with or without the pilots coming to an agreement. Time will tell.
 
Yeah, but my question is how will the airlines respond when the aliens arrive? Or what about when the moon collides with the sun? Better start contingency planning for those scenarios boys...
Whaddayamean "when the aliens arrive"? I think it's clear that they already have and that many of them promptly joined FI.
 
Wait, you're talking about new United airplanes, right? Oh wait, United has nothing on order, period. The new airplanes we have on order are thanks to our creditor Boeing, and I don't think they will be going away. And you say bleeding cash? Didn't Bastian say we may lose $100 million total this year in liquidity, and may even squeek out a small profit? I think he did. Again Andy, you are shooting from the hip with no ammo. You can make up stuff if you want, but reading it from a press release has a bit more credibility. Could he be wrong? Maybe, but he has the SEC watching him. Could you be wrong? Oh yes.


Bye Bye--General Lee

Yep. Everything's blue skies and there are no problems ahead with international traffic growth.
So what happens to international traffic when domestic feed's reduced?
And I suppose that you don't see any problems in the credit markets either, eh?
Please remain blissfully ignorant; you have a reputation to uphold.
 
They offer the buyout to 30k, the goal is 2k, and they will take more than 2k if the numbers are there.

Sooooo potentially they could lose insert number here? How many would be too many? 30k?

30k is more than half the company.


The subject line in the next CEO email to the employees will be: "Our Pilots Killed Our Prosperity".

Or "Delta Pilots Stand in the Way of Prosperity".


just thinking like a management lackey
 
Call me a cynic, but is it possible the merger may not be completely dead after all? Could this be a means of reducing the overhead that will certainly be necessary in the support functions should the merger actually happen? You know, some of that synergy we keep hearing about. I don't think rigormortis has set in on the merger yet. Too much money at stake. If mgt wants this merger there will come a time when they move on and do it with or without the pilots coming to an agreement. Time will tell.
Ding, ding, ding, ding! We've got a winner! I think they're cleaning out shop before hand rather than after the merger.
 
They offer the buyout to 30k, the goal is 2k, and they will take more than 2k if the numbers are there.

Sooooo potentially they could lose insert number here? How many would be too many? 30k?

30k is more than half the company.
I doubt it's insert a number. Buying out older senior workers, then rehiring younger less expensive workers is not a new idea. I'm sure Doug would love to do this, but most of his workforce is union, and I would guess they would smell a rat.

The ranks of the unemployed is going to swell in the next 12 months, and many will be educated and actually be glad for the opportunity to bring home a paycheck. Smart move by Anderson, as many that will take his offer will be sorry they did so 12 months from now.

:pimp:​
 
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I...the fact that they will soon be transporting Americans in decreasing numbers to places were Americans can no longer afford to go.

Delta is already transporting Americans in decreasing numbers. That is the beauty of international flying. Delta is selling tickets in Euros to foriegn customers who view travel TO the US as a bargain. When the $ rebounds they will sell tickets in $ to Americans who can travel overseas. The international flights leaving the US are full of return passengers on round trip flights, not originations on a round trip.

Delta is selling in Euros and converting them at 1.5 to the dollar. That helps offset the high oil prices.
 
The ranks of the unemployed is going to swell in the next 12 months, and many will be educated and actually be glad for the opportunity to bring home a paycheck. Smart move by Anderson, as many that will take his offer will be sorry they did so 12 months from now.

The downside for Delta is that many who volunteer will be the highly motivated and skilled individuals who can find employment elsewhere. Exactly the kind of people who are needed to run a leaner company. The ones who stay in a buyout scenario are often the average to below average employees who couldn't find a comparable job.
 
I doubt it's insert a number. Buying out older senior workers, then rehiring younger less expensive workers is not a new idea.

You are correct. I'd expect a target figure of between 1600-1700 is what management is looking for.

The number of early outs is insignificant to match the non front line employee cuts a merger would bring. This isn't about prepping for a merger, this is about adjusting to $110/bbl oil.

There may still be a merger down the road, but these cuts are a different matter.



 
I doubt it's insert a number. Buying out older senior workers, then rehiring younger less expensive workers is not a new idea. I'm sure Doug would love to do this, but most of his workforce is union, and I would guess they would smell a rat.

The ranks of the unemployed is going to swell in the next 12 months, and many will be educated and actually be glad for the opportunity to bring home a paycheck. Smart move by Anderson, as many that will take his offer will be sorry they did so 12 months from now.


:pimp:​

While I don't usually agree with things you say, you do have a good point here. Anderson is not stupid, and you're right, getting rid of higher, longer employed people, and replacing them with newhires is a smart move.

737
 
Boy, I think we all saw this coming. Soon they won't be asking for volunteers. You can only hemmorage cash before so long.
 
Noting is official yet for classes, but from what I have been told (unofficial, official will be in a day or two) One or both classes will probably run. Summer may not have any hiring, and then reevaluate next fall.
The is a very reactive action by Delta. Not something that has happened in the past. They are doing this now instead of a year down the road when we are over 1 billion in the red.
It is better to wait on the outside looking in, than to get a number and be lobbed off in two months. I know, I waited six years. This time lets all hope it never gets to that point.
 

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