Delta Cuts

[RiddleEagle18]

Delta to offer voluntary buyouts to 30,000 workers and cut domestic capacity by 5% to combat fuel costs, AP reports. More soon.

cnn.com

 

[andyd]

on JP Morgan LIVE NOW: domestic capacity cut 5% by august, parking 15-20 mainline a/c and 25 RJ's. 15% International growth BY August, Intl' will equal 41% of total capacity by August.

Workforce reduction of 2000, of which 1300 will be frontline and 700 administrative. Voluntary early out/retirement offered first. No involuntary frontline furloughs, of the 700 voluntary at first and then furloughs if necessary.

 

[sqwkvfr]

I'll bet the General takes the buyout and goes to SWA.

Dream come true, huh General?

 

[JohnDoe]

Of course there wouldn't have been any employee or capacity cuts with a merger..........




(In case it was missed, note extreme sarcasm)


Wake up general, managements will say anything they have to in order to get the politicos to agree to what they want. After that happens........the excuses will fly.

 

[andyd]

No pilot furloughs, past and current hiring will be necessary to fill wide body seats continueing to be delivered and in the pipeline. RA just said that the AC cuts would be older 75's, 76er's and 88's. Some would be sold others may be parked. This could equate into 300-400 fewer pilots needed, hiring WAS projected at 600-700....so hiring will continue but at a lower and slower pace.

 

[ultrarunner]

I bet the General was bummed when he learned he couldn't take the buyout ;-)

 

[Truckdriver]

It looks like a 5% domestic mainline reduction with parking of 15-20 aircraft. I guess we won't see a transition to international like we did with the last domestic cuts. Kinda hard to move parked airplanes into international routes. 25 additional RJ's will be cut in addition to what they have alread announced. I'll bet we'll see pilot hiring slow after April but it will have to continue with the LR's and 700's coming the rest of this year.

 

[andyd]

Slam on the General if you like, despite what you may think of his comments on FI...they are purely for entertainment value and should be taken with a grain of salt. He will be a Capt soon enough and pushing 200K a year, not too bad for someone who works 12 days a month, gets first class food and does NOT have to layover in LBB. Why would he take a buy out? Reading between the lines the buyout won't be offered to pilots anyway, they need ALL of us and more. IMHO this is a not to suttle way to get rid of the senior mama's and replace them with the recent new hires at 1/2 the salary and 1/2 the waistline and 1/2 the attitude: A winning situtation on ALL counts.

For the 700 admin folks, I HOPE that some very senior people who were kicking around the idea of retireing anyway in the next year will now get an added incentive to bow out and INCREASE thier pension along the way. It will be offered to 30,000 people, I would imagine they will find 700 to volunteer.

 

[Jmoney]

Southwest?

I'll bet the General takes the buyout and goes to SWA.

Dream come true, huh General?

I don't think SWA would fool with that idiot! They like to have people who are a bit more "normal."

-Maybe he could just take the buyout and drive an ice-cream truck!

-In all seriousness-good luck to all Delta people-you all have some wonderful folks! (Except General Lee-he can go to hell!)

 

[lowecur]

I don't think SWA would fool with that idiot! They like to have people who are a bit more "normal."

- (Except General Lee-he can go to hell!)

Yeah, like SWA/FO.:laugh: :laugh:

imp:​

 

[Eagle757shark]

UPDATE 1-Delta looks to cut 2,000 jobs

Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:27am EDT
(Adds details, background)
NEW YORK, March 18 (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) is looking to cut 2,000 jobs, or more than 3 percent of its work force, as the No. 3 U.S. airline struggles with high fuel costs.
Delta, which has been unable to seal a merger with rival Northwest Airlines Corp (NWA.N: Quote, Profile, Research), will offer voluntary retirement and buyout packages to 30,000 employees.
Delta is looking to cut 1,300 rank and file jobs and 700 administrative and management jobs.
In a regulatory filing on Tuesday, Delta also said it will cut flights in the United States, aiming to reduce 2008 domestic capacity by an additional 5 percent by August, resulting in a 10 percent year-over-year capacity reduction.
These reductions will be achieved partly by taking 15 to 20 mainline aircraft and 20 to 25 regional jets temporarily out of service. (Reporting by Mark McSherry; Editing by Brian Moss)

© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

 

[9rj9]

last resort

The continued dive to the bottom, cut 30,000 jobs and replace them with part time workers, no health insurance, no retirement. Sounds good if your management or a short term stock holder, if your a customer good luck finding your bag or anyone who actually gives a sheeit if your flight is cnx'ed.
What a business plan...friging clowns in Atlanta will run Delta into bankruptcy again.

 

[Superpilot92]

The continued dive to the bottom, cut 30,000 jobs and replace them with part time workers, no health insurance, no retirement. Sounds good if your management or a short term stock holder, if your a customer good luck finding your bag or anyone who actually gives a sheeit if your flight is cnx'ed.
What a business plan...friging clowns in Atlanta will run Delta into bankruptcy again.

Re-read the article, they are cutting 2000 jobs by offering the severance package to 30,000 employees in hopes that 2000 will take it. They arent cutting 30,000 jobs.

 

[9rj9]

more if needed

WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines (DAL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it would enact deeper cost cuts if a plan announced earlier in the day is not sufficient to counter sharply higher fuel prices.
"If we need to, we'll go deeper," Ed Bastian told analysts at the JP Morgan aviation conference.
Delta is looking to cut 1,300 rank-and-file jobs and 700 administrative and management posts through voluntary buyouts and attrition. It also aims to reduce capacity by an additional 5 percent by August.
We want to keep our stock holders happy, and cutting jobs is the best way to run a sheeity airline.

 

[Andy]

...with the LR's and 700's coming the rest of this year.

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.

 

[General Lee]

Slam on the General if you like, despite what you may think of his comments on FI...they are purely for entertainment value and should be taken with a grain of salt. He will be a Capt soon enough and pushing 200K a year, not too bad for someone who works 12 days a month, gets first class food and does NOT have to layover in LBB. Why would he take a buy out? Reading between the lines the buyout won't be offered to pilots anyway, they need ALL of us and more. IMHO this is a not to suttle way to get rid of the senior mama's and replace them with the recent new hires at 1/2 the salary and 1/2 the waistline and 1/2 the attitude: A winning situtation on ALL counts.

For the 700 admin folks, I HOPE that some very senior people who were kicking around the idea of retireing anyway in the next year will now get an added incentive to bow out and INCREASE thier pension along the way. It will be offered to 30,000 people, I would imagine they will find 700 to volunteer.

Thanks Andyd. No, I understand when people try to slam me, it comes with this board, and I enjoy the banter. As far as the Delta cuts, yeah, it seems we will cut some mainline planes. We are still getting new ones, which will offset furloughs, and our INTL growth will continue. Point to point routes that are not profitable will be gone, which is a good thing I guess. As far as my upgrade, depending on what plane I want, it could be there today. I am still enjoying the INTL flying now, but I will look it all over when my 9 month hold is over soon. No worries.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[regionalcap]

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.

I don't think they will cancel these orders. They expect international business to grow. They need these planes for the international routes.

 

[FLYLOW22]

What an awesome time to be a new hire at Delta.

Age 65, fleet shrinkage, no seniority. uke:

 

[General Lee]

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.

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

 

[General Lee]

What an awesome time to be a new hire at Delta.

Age 65, fleet shrinkage, no seniority. uke:

Age 65 is not affecting us yet thanks to all of the retirements. Newhires on the INTL 767 in JFK are getting lines within a couple months. (still have 11 new INTL destinations coming online in June). The planes that seem to be going are mainly domestic birds, and probably older ones. And, hiring is slowing supposedly, but continuing.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[chuckthepilot]

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.

 

[General Lee]

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

 

[Wheres the van?]

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.

 

[Truckdriver]

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.

 

[On Your Six]

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...

 

[ExAF]

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.

 

[DTW320]

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.

 

[Andy]

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.

 

[chppr5]

Hey GL, STEP AWAY FROM THE KOOL-AID...........

 

[Bavarian Chef]

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