warbirdfinder
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2004
- Posts
- 128
Mr. Grinstein and the Delta Board of Directors don't seem to be able to learn from "history". They certainly haven't learned from their mistakes in creating the SERP program for Leo Mullin, Michelle Burns, Fred Reid, and roughly 35 "special executives and lawyers". The company "retained" none of these worthless employees, while alienating 100% of the "rank and file" employees who actually make the airline run every day.
Now we get news that "SERP #2" has been created by the board. After tens of thousands of layoffs & two series of pay and benefit cuts by all employees, the company now needs to protect and retain, roughly 150 "special" executives. From what I hear, from Joe Kolshak on down, all Executive VPs, all Senior VPs, all VPs, and all Directors are included in this program.
Since an airline cannot fly without pilots, I propose that ALPA immediately demand a similar "severance package" for pilots. I would hope that the benevolent company would offer a similar severance package to all loyal Delta employees, because we cannot operate an airline without mechanics, without flight attendants, without customer service agents, etc.
This outrageous breach of trust, in the face of ALL that has been demanded and taken away, seems to prove that the BOD and management does NOT want to lead by example, and does NOT want the trust and support of line employees around the system.
Mr. Grinstein -- pull it down. Then FIRE all these greedy people who "need" this severance package. They have demonstrated their LACK of loyalty to Delta and to the line employees who have already sacrificed so much. We simply do NOT need executives willing to steal special benefits from the pockets of line employees.
I wonder how much of an additional pay cut will be requested in bankruptcy, in order to "pay" for this program.
Their comment is "the market" demands this type of severance program. HOGWASH. Perhaps it's time for the employee marketplace to demand a similar program. . . . .
Mr. Woolman must be rolling over in his grave.
This is a sad day, among many, in Delta's history.
John
************
Delta tries another executive "retention" program
By Evan Perez -- WSJ
Delta Air Lines plans to set up a severance plan that would benefit about 144 top executives as a means to keep its managerial ranks from thinning further while it pursues cost-cutting efforts, the company said.
Under the plan, qualifying executives would receive severance packages ranging from six months to 12 months of salary should their jobs be eliminated under Delta’s restructuring, or should there be a “change of control” at the company, such as in a merger.
Keeping top workers and executives has become a vexing problem for Delta since it filed for bankruptcy last September. The company says it is experiencing high attrition rates. The prospect of a severance plan for executives could run the risk of reigniting contention for Delta management, which has endured nearly three years of backlash over an executive-retention program that cost the company millions at a time when it was laying off workers and seeking union concessions.
The request to establish the severance program for executives came in a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York’s Southern District, which is overseeing the Atlanta carrier’s reorganization and must approve such plans.
Gerald Grinstein, Delta’s chief executive, and Jim Whitehurst, the company’s chief operating officer, won’t be among the upper-level and midlevel executives expected to participate in the program, a company spokesman said.
Delta is the nation’s the third-largest U.S. airline in terms of traffic. Other carriers that have filed for bankruptcy, notably United Airlines parent UAL Corp. and Northwest Airlines, have established programs that go further in trying to retain executives. In an internal memorandum circulated among Delta management, and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, company officials gingerly addressed possible questions that employees might ask supervisors. Delta officials said the severance plan “is not a new or enhanced benefit” and “the proposed plan is very conservative and at the low end of the range of competitive practices for airlines and other companies.”
Delta officials estimated that if 20% of officer- and director-level executives lost their jobs in continuing cutbacks, it would cost the company about $3 million, and as much as $15 million in the unlikely event that all the executives in the program were let go.
John Kennedy, a Delta spokesman, confirmed the contents of the memo and added that “any payments under this plan would come from Delta’s general assets” and not from a trust fund for disabled workers and survivors of former Delta workers, which Delta has tapped for severance payments in the past.
Separately, Delta’s pilots union told its members that it had presented a concessions proposal to the company but management’s response “consists of little more than their same overreaching demands.” The Air Line Pilots Association said it was activating its “strike center” as a preliminary step in case talks with the company don’t produce a deal by next month’s deadline. Delta has insisted on $325 million in wage givebacks from its pilots, who have agreed to less than half of that. Delta called the union’s action a normal part of the negotiating process and said that it doesn’t affect operations.
Now we get news that "SERP #2" has been created by the board. After tens of thousands of layoffs & two series of pay and benefit cuts by all employees, the company now needs to protect and retain, roughly 150 "special" executives. From what I hear, from Joe Kolshak on down, all Executive VPs, all Senior VPs, all VPs, and all Directors are included in this program.
Since an airline cannot fly without pilots, I propose that ALPA immediately demand a similar "severance package" for pilots. I would hope that the benevolent company would offer a similar severance package to all loyal Delta employees, because we cannot operate an airline without mechanics, without flight attendants, without customer service agents, etc.
This outrageous breach of trust, in the face of ALL that has been demanded and taken away, seems to prove that the BOD and management does NOT want to lead by example, and does NOT want the trust and support of line employees around the system.
Mr. Grinstein -- pull it down. Then FIRE all these greedy people who "need" this severance package. They have demonstrated their LACK of loyalty to Delta and to the line employees who have already sacrificed so much. We simply do NOT need executives willing to steal special benefits from the pockets of line employees.
I wonder how much of an additional pay cut will be requested in bankruptcy, in order to "pay" for this program.
Their comment is "the market" demands this type of severance program. HOGWASH. Perhaps it's time for the employee marketplace to demand a similar program. . . . .
Mr. Woolman must be rolling over in his grave.
This is a sad day, among many, in Delta's history.
John
************
Delta tries another executive "retention" program
By Evan Perez -- WSJ
Delta Air Lines plans to set up a severance plan that would benefit about 144 top executives as a means to keep its managerial ranks from thinning further while it pursues cost-cutting efforts, the company said.
Under the plan, qualifying executives would receive severance packages ranging from six months to 12 months of salary should their jobs be eliminated under Delta’s restructuring, or should there be a “change of control” at the company, such as in a merger.
Keeping top workers and executives has become a vexing problem for Delta since it filed for bankruptcy last September. The company says it is experiencing high attrition rates. The prospect of a severance plan for executives could run the risk of reigniting contention for Delta management, which has endured nearly three years of backlash over an executive-retention program that cost the company millions at a time when it was laying off workers and seeking union concessions.
The request to establish the severance program for executives came in a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York’s Southern District, which is overseeing the Atlanta carrier’s reorganization and must approve such plans.
Gerald Grinstein, Delta’s chief executive, and Jim Whitehurst, the company’s chief operating officer, won’t be among the upper-level and midlevel executives expected to participate in the program, a company spokesman said.
Delta is the nation’s the third-largest U.S. airline in terms of traffic. Other carriers that have filed for bankruptcy, notably United Airlines parent UAL Corp. and Northwest Airlines, have established programs that go further in trying to retain executives. In an internal memorandum circulated among Delta management, and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, company officials gingerly addressed possible questions that employees might ask supervisors. Delta officials said the severance plan “is not a new or enhanced benefit” and “the proposed plan is very conservative and at the low end of the range of competitive practices for airlines and other companies.”
Delta officials estimated that if 20% of officer- and director-level executives lost their jobs in continuing cutbacks, it would cost the company about $3 million, and as much as $15 million in the unlikely event that all the executives in the program were let go.
John Kennedy, a Delta spokesman, confirmed the contents of the memo and added that “any payments under this plan would come from Delta’s general assets” and not from a trust fund for disabled workers and survivors of former Delta workers, which Delta has tapped for severance payments in the past.
Separately, Delta’s pilots union told its members that it had presented a concessions proposal to the company but management’s response “consists of little more than their same overreaching demands.” The Air Line Pilots Association said it was activating its “strike center” as a preliminary step in case talks with the company don’t produce a deal by next month’s deadline. Delta has insisted on $325 million in wage givebacks from its pilots, who have agreed to less than half of that. Delta called the union’s action a normal part of the negotiating process and said that it doesn’t affect operations.