Delta Memo looking at planning for new narrowbody aircraft for MAINLINE

[General Lee]

And you made the same dumb response on the majors board.

The fact that you can't even envision that this could be management negotiation tactics 101 speaks volumes to how management has gotten what they have.

Gonna be first in line to give up scope for pay aren't you general.

Great comeback genius. What??? How can this be a negotiation tactic when DL really does have older planes? I guess they should keep them around longer, while they turn in MX hogs, and keep older gas hogs around too? Your argument is very weak. And, NO, I won't be voting to give up any scope for pay, since the pay part will be a given thanks to the Airtran guys next door getting SWA wages. That makes it a lot easier to bring up the pay, when the same people management has been using to cry poor about during negotations just got a fat raise. Thanks SWA guys!

Anyway, I can see you are embarrassed thanks to getting "owned" twice on FI today. And while you're at it, you can read this additional article, debunking your theory AGAIN.


Bloomberg: Delta Air Plans to Order 200 Narrow-Body Jets, Seeks Options for 200 More
By Mary Jane Credeur - Jan 13, 2011 8:15 PM ET

Delta May Order 200 Narrow Jets

Delta Air Lines Inc. plans to order 100 to 200 narrow-body jets and seek options for 200 more, a possible record purchase as it moves to retire some of the oldest planes in the U.S. industry.

Deliveries may begin as soon as 2013 after a request for proposals was sent to “several” planemakers last month, according to a posting yesterday for employees on Atlanta-based Delta’s internal website. Airbus SAS, Boeing Co. and Bombardier Inc. are the biggest commercial-jet makers.

Ordering the full 200 planes would be a record, topping the plan unveiled this week by India’s IndiGo Airlines to buy 180 Airbus A320s with a list value of $15 billion. Delta would shed some of its oldest jets, including DC-9s that average 34 years of age and are among the most elderly aircraft in U.S. fleets.

“None of the other U.S. majors have planes as old as Delta,” said Jeff Straebler, a debt strategist at RBS Securities Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut. “The big costs on older aircraft are maintenance and fuel, and it was time for Delta to look at this.”

Delta, the world’s second-biggest carrier, traditionally bought Boeing jets until adding Airbus jets in its 2008 purchase of Northwest Airlines. The competitors now also may include Bombardier, whose new CSeries is designed to compete with the smallest single-aisle jets from Boeing and Airbus.

Opening for Airbus?

“There’s a better chance for Airbus now that Delta no longer exclusively flies Boeing aircraft,” Straebler said. “Delta’s big enough that they could continue with both Airbus and Boeing families, and maybe even the CSeries.”

Boeing’s 737 and the A320 are twin-engine models seating about 125 to 185 people. Their list prices, on which airlines typically get a discount, range from about $63 million to $95 million, depending on the version. Buying 200 737-800s, the top- selling U.S. jet, would cost $16.2 billion at list prices.

The CSeries seats 100 to 145 people and is intended to replace older models such as the DC-9, which was built by a Boeing predecessor. Montreal-based Bombardier is targeting the end of 2013 for the first deliveries and said last year that the list price would be $52.4 million to $60.9 million.

Delta will consider “large, medium and small” narrow-body jets, Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson said yesterday in a separate weekly recorded message to employees.

“It’s important we take a very long-term view of our fleet,” Anderson said.

Aging Aircraft

A new jet order will replace planes including DC-9s that average 34 years old, Boeing 757-200s that are 18 years old and A320s that are 16 years old, Nat Pieper, vice president of fleet strategy and transactions, said on Delta’s website posting. The new planes would be used on domestic routes.

Trebor Banstetter, a Delta spokesman, confirmed the posting’s authenticity and said the company declined to comment further on its fleet plans.

“Airbus talks to customers and potential customers worldwide on an ongoing basis,” said Mary Anne Greczyn, a spokeswoman in Washington for the Toulouse, France-based company. “When it comes down to specific conversations about fleet needs and how Airbus can meet those needs, the content of those conversations, and even the existence of those conversations, are confidential.”


A spokesman for Chicago-based Boeing wasn’t available to comment yesterday.

Delta also has been acquiring used jets, including five Boeing 757-200s and 33 MD-90s, and will continue to look for additional used planes, Pieper said.

“We’ll evaluate all our options,” he wrote.

Single-aisle jets made up more than 80 percent of Delta’s fleet, which totaled 821 planes as of September. Delta said in October it was keeping its order for 18 of Boeing’s wide-body 787 Dreamliners, a new plane now running three years behind schedule, while deferring deliveries into the next decade.

A Delta order of narrow-body jets also would boost engine makers that are readying a new generation of engines that are about 15 percent more fuel efficient and quieter than the models they would supplant.

The geared turbofan engine from United Technologies Corp.’s Pratt & Whitney and the Leap-X from CFM International, the venture of General Electric Co. and Safran SA of France, are the choices on the announced A320 unveiled by Airbus last month. The CSeries will run on Pratt & Whitney’s geared turbofan.

Current 737s use engines from CFM, while existing A320 models use engines from International Aero Engines, a venture led by Pratt & Whitney and London-based Rolls-Royce Group Plc.

Delta rose 10 cents to $12.61 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares fell 1.9 percent in the 12 months through yesterday.



Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[JohnDoe]

Anyway, I can see you are embarrassed thanks to getting "owned" twice on FI today. And while you're at it, you can read this additional article, debunking your theory AGAIN

Please......

You should be the one that is embarrased for buying those press releases hook, line, and sinker. Management would never obscure their true motives would they.

You just can't even see the potential for negotiation 101 here. They said that the replacements would be flown by delta employees in the release. When have they ever come out and said something like that? It's contract negotiation time. Watch their feet, not their words. They keep adding 70 seaters to dci. They just added some more recently. I am sure there is zero chance they want to put these replacements for aging aircraft at dci.

 

[Cpt Oveur]

Who is really buying the idea that Delta will be purely a wide body airline and leaving the domestic ops purely to C series and 76 seat RJs? They're going to replace their own metal, that stands to logic.

As far as a tactic for negotiations, now it may have merit, it's a very big carrot to hold in front of the pilot group, but it's never going to be tossed (entirely) to DCI.

 

[JohnDoe]

Who is really buying the idea that Delta will be purely a wide body airline and leaving the domestic ops purely to C series and 76 seat RJs? They're going to replace their own metal, that stands to logic.

As far as a tactic for negotiations, now it may have merit, it's a very big carrot to hold in front of the pilot group, but it's never going to be tossed (entirely) to DCI.

Don't think anybody has said that delta will be wide body only. I don't see all domstic going to dci, but I can potentially see anything under the 757 going to them.

LM has been quoted by many as having said delta should not be flying anything under the 757.

I was in a hotel restaurant the other day getting a to-go order. Some delta pilots were sitting at a table discussing scope (not much SA on their part, I was right there at the host stand). Let's just say scope was very much for sale, and the amount of an increase in pay was pathetic.

Our new mec chairman, in a letter, recently stated compensation was the number one priority. There was zero mention of scope in that letter.

Never forget this is the same group that first let the camel's nose under the tent with rj's back in the day, combined with the group that allowed compass to come into being.

 

[General Lee]

Who is really buying the idea that Delta will be purely a wide body airline and leaving the domestic ops purely to C series and 76 seat RJs? They're going to replace their own metal, that stands to logic.

As far as a tactic for negotiations, now it may have merit, it's a very big carrot to hold in front of the pilot group, but it's never going to be tossed (entirely) to DCI.

Both you and John need to re-read the articles. The planes are replacement planes, not growth planes. Can you please explain your carrot remark? There is still a current scope clause that will not be broken. Especailly since DL is profitable. And, the Delta CEO said these new planes would be flown by mainline crews. How again can DCI be tossed any new planes? Will I take a paycut to fly a "newer" A320 instead of the older A320 sitting at the gate? UMMM, NO. The planes need to be replaced, they are getting older. What is so tough about this issue? This potential order is for replacing older mainline planes currently flying. When you buy newer planes, costs go up, but so must fares. As airlines do better profit wise, so do requests for higher wages around contract time, and that also means management has fewer excuses to cry poor. Very basic concepts.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[General Lee]

Don't think anybody has said that delta will be wide body only. I don't see all domstic going to dci, but I can potentially see anything under the 757 going to them.

LM has been quoted by many as having said delta should not be flying anything under the 757.

I was in a hotel restaurant the other day getting a to-go order. Some delta pilots were sitting at a table discussing scope (not much SA on their part, I was right there at the host stand). Let's just say scope was very much for sale, and the amount of an increase in pay was pathetic.

Our new mec chairman, in a letter, recently stated compensation was the number one priority. There was zero mention of scope in that letter.

Never forget this is the same group that first let the camel's nose under the tent with rj's back in the day, combined with the group that allowed compass to come into being.

This was all made up in your mind John. Sorry, this was 100% crazy. And can you please show proof that LM said any of that. Who quoted him saying DL shouldn't fly anything smaller than a 757? Put down the crack pipe, John.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[JohnDoe]

There is still a current scope clause that will not be broken. Especailly since DL is profitable. And, the Delta CEO said these new planes would be flown by mainline crews. ........ What is so tough about this issue?

The fact that you are 100% sure that scope will not be given up and that you are actually believing, 100%, what the delta ceo is saying pretty much says it all........

Seriously? You are putting your full failth in what the ceo is saying? The same ceo that stated he was not brought to delta to help out in a merger with northwest (and then lo and behold, merger announced)? You're right. Managements never lie and obscure their true motives......

Anybody else need any further example from general?

 

[JohnDoe]

This was all made up in your mind John. Sorry, this was 100% crazy. And can you please show proof that LM said any of that. Who quoted him saying DL shouldn't fly anything smaller than a 757? Put down the crack pipe, John.

The letter the new mec chairman just sent out, and the fact that it does not mention scope at all is in my mind? I guess you missed that letter. It came out on Jan 1st I believe. Perhaps you should read it.

It has been stated many times, with proof, elsewhere of what LM said. Do your own research.

Are you actually denying that the history exists of the delta pilot group giving up rjs back in the day? Or that northwest allowed compass to exist?

And if you really believe that there could not be any pilots willing to give up scope in exchange for pay you are once again proving you live in la la land.

Study history. You most certainly are doomed to repeat it.

Enjoy those 100 seater's dci. With people like general around, you are going to get them.

 

[General Lee]

The letter the new mec chairman just sent out, and the fact that it does not mention scope at all is in my mind? I guess you missed that letter. It came out on Jan 1st I believe. Perhaps you should read it.

It has been stated many times, with proof, elsewhere of what LM said. Do your own research.

Are you actually denying that the history exists of the delta pilot group giving up rjs back in the day? Or that northwest allowed compass to exist?

And if you really believe that there could not be any pilots willing to give up scope in exchange for pay you are once again proving you live in la la land.

Study history. You most certainly are doomed to repeat it.

Enjoy those 100 seater's dci. With people like general around, you are going to get them.

LM went to National, John. He isn't at the DL MEC anymore. That is a great thing for us. I personally saw the two new guys in charge (Omally and Van Sickle), and asked them about scope. They said it was a top priority. Also, this contract is a restoration contract. It is not a "give and take." Thanks to recent profitability and growth outlooks for the economy and business flying, there is little room to cry poor anymore. That just won't happen. Keep trying John, you are actually looking worse. And even RA (the CEO) stated specifically that these new planes will be flown by mainline pilots. Wow, it is amazing what you can't understand.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[JohnDoe]

I personally saw the two new guys in charge (Omally and Van Sickle), and asked them about scope. They said it was a top priority.

Then how come it wasn't mentioned in his letter?

He isn't at the DL MEC anymore.

And if you don't believe that other's are following in his footsteps or that he has zero access to their "ears" you are blind.

And even RA (the CEO) stated specifically that these new planes will be flown by mainline pilots. Wow, it is amazing what you can't understand.

Wow, it is amazing that you put such blind and unconditional faith in what a ceo says. Especially with previous statements coming from the ceo saying he was not brought in to facilitate a merger.

Also, this contract is a restoration contract. It is not a "give and take."

Really? That is a pretty bold statement. Pot and kettle comes to mind with regards to your statements of looking foolish.

I hope that is the case, but unlike you, I will hold everything as suspect until an agreement is in place. There is far, far too much history in place to do otherwise. And I'm not going to believe everything I read just because "the ceo said it." The fact that they are still adding 70 seaters to dci shows the direction of their feet.

 

[General Lee]

Then how come it wasn't mentioned in his letter?

I ALSO KNOW THE GUYS ON THE NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE. They are very pro-scope. We all are. I think you believe only LM or somehow Omally isn't? It's obvious you don't know the sentiment of this group. You also probably thought the CAL/UAL guys would give in too. WRONG.


And if you don't believe that other's are following in his footsteps or that he has zero access to their "ears" you are blind.
You should have heard the chears when he was elected. I am sure he does have "ears" still at DL, but he now has to focus more on National issues. That's great for us.



Wow, it is amazing that you put such blind and unconditional faith in what a ceo says. Especially with previous statements coming from the ceo saying he was not brought in to facilitate a merger.
He states it in Public, in national articles. It will be tough for him to get out of that. And, he also brags on his weekly voice messages to employees about the RJs he is parking. You seem paranoid. I bet you think he is talkjing to all the other CEOs on the "grassy knoll".


Really? That is a pretty bold statement. Pot and kettle comes to mind with regards to your statements of looking foolish. Take a look at what was taken in BK. You don't think we will get some of that back? What else is there to give up? You think it is more scope, and we are telling you no, along with the CAL/UAL pilots. Thanks to profitability, it makes it tough to cry poor. I keep having to repeat that for you. This just aint a give and take new contract.

I hope that is the case, but unlike you, I will hold everything as suspect until an agreement is in place. There is far, far too much history in place to do otherwise. And I'm not going to believe everything I read just because "the ceo said it." The fact that they are still adding 70 seaters to dci shows the direction of their feet. Was history changed in the C2K contract? It sure was. Then 9-11 came, along with the Comair strike, etc. Delta is better positioned, and they took us to the cleaners during the BK. It's time for some recoup. And, scope aint for sale. That might be the reason RA sold Compass and Mesaba, after he got the picture that 100 seaters weren't in the cards for them. The reason SKW just added 4 CR7s is because the scope limit is almost at the cap, but not just yet. We expected them to fill it to the limit, and they are almost there. Could that make sense to you? Maybe.

Please read above, and repeat 5 times.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[JohnDoe]

It's obvious you don't know the sentiment of this group.

And neither do you in reality. People say one thing to your face, but think differently in private. Have you ever noticed how nobody ever adimits to voting for crappy contracts and loss of scope? It's always "oh, I voted no on that." Yet crap still passes. So that you can read it five times as well: I hope you are right. But I am not going to sit back and assume anything. And after reading some of your 14000+ posts over the years I am certainly not going to take your word for it.

He states it in Public, in national articles. It will be tough for him to get out of that.

He also stated, in public and national articles as you say, that he was not hired at delta to facilitate a merger with northwest. Gee, what happend shortly thereafter? Anything he says can later easily be explained away with catch phrases like: "economic conditions have changed such that delta must now re-evaluate it's fleet replacement plan" Or there is the ever-popular "due to unforeseen circumstances.....yada yada." Are you really that blind to history, not only at delta, but any company?

You seem paranoid

And you seem gullible and easily swayed.

You don't think we will get some of that back?

I Never said that. But I certainly do not buy your assertion that there will be no give and take, as you stated. You actually think it will be all "take" and no "give?"

You think it is more scope, and we are telling you no

Who is we? I have yet to see an mec chairman say, in writting or in print, that maintaining scope, yet alone regaining scope, is a priority. As I said, time will tell and I hope you are right.

As I said before, I hope you are right, but unlike you I am not going to blindly sit by and assume "all is well" and unconditionally trust those that have led us astray in the past. All you have are opinions and verbal statements. Your rosy economic outlook can change on a dime. The negotiations can be extended past 2012 when there may be a more labor un-sympathetic administration in charge at the .gov.

The reason SKW just added 4 CR7s is because the scope limit is almost at the cap, but not just yet.

No.... the reason more CR7's were added is that delta wants greater numbers of larger rj's at dci. They aren't doing it just because they can. If they didn't want them, they wouldn't be adding them up to the limit. Like I said, watch their feet.

 

[PeanuckleCRJ]

The letter the new mec chairman just sent out, and the fact that it does not mention scope at all is in my mind? I guess you missed that letter. It came out on Jan 1st I believe. Perhaps you should read it.

It has been stated many times, with proof, elsewhere of what LM said. Do your own research.

Are you actually denying that the history exists of the delta pilot group giving up rjs back in the day? Or that northwest allowed compass to exist?

And if you really believe that there could not be any pilots willing to give up scope in exchange for pay you are once again proving you live in la la land.

Study history. You most certainly are doomed to repeat it.

Enjoy those 100 seater's dci. With people like general around, you are going to get them.

You're exactly right. Why would I want to fly those light twins that you regional lowlifes are flying again? Ill enjoy my huge paycheck and looking down on you as I stroll through the terminal, though.

Have fun, lifer!

 

[BID]

scope will never kill the rj industry, but FUEL prices just might.

 

[RJLoser]

You're exactly right. Why would I want to fly those light twins that you regional lowlifes are flying again? Ill enjoy my huge paycheck and looking down on you as I stroll through the terminal, though.

Have fun, lifer!

This guy is great.

 

[WSurf]

LM went to National, John. He isn't at the DL MEC anymore. That is a great thing for us. I personally saw the two new guys in charge (Omally and Van Sickle), and asked them about scope. They said it was a top priority. Also, this contract is a restoration contract. It is not a "give and take." Thanks to recent profitability and growth outlooks for the economy and business flying, there is little room to cry poor anymore. That just won't happen. Keep trying John, you are actually looking worse. And even RA (the CEO) stated specifically that these new planes will be flown by mainline pilots. Wow, it is amazing what you can't understand.


Bye Bye--General Lee

General do you really believe there is no room to cry poor???? Remember Fuel is going back up again. Now they are saying 5 bucks a gallon and over 120.00 a barrel by 2012. Oh, there's plenty of Poor Crying coming!

 

[General Lee]

General do you really believe there is no room to cry poor???? Remember Fuel is going back up again. Now they are saying 5 bucks a gallon and over 120.00 a barrel by 2012. Oh, there's plenty of Poor Crying coming!

WSurf, where do you come up with this? If gas went to $5 bucks a gallon, people would stop driving, and then supply goes up, and oil falls again to $45 a barrel or less. OPEC doesn't want that. There is also legislation in Congress right now to try to stop oil speculation on a small scale. Airlines actually hedge (speculation) on a larger scale, but speculators don't have to put as much money down as airlines do when making the bet. That is what could change in Congress. Oh, and here's an article from a place called Airwise on oil and hedging.

Airlines Bet Oil Will Correct, Reduce Hedging

January 6, 2011
Top global airlines are staying away from further hedging jet fuel purchases that account for around a third of their costs, betting that a recent surge in oil prices to two-year highs will slow.
Skimping on cover risks a squeeze in earnings for these companies, which typically have razor-thin margins and had just returned to profitability in 2010 after economic turmoil had sapped corporate and consumer demand for air travel.

Two factors are giving airlines pause: they have withstood prices far higher than current levels and the global economy now seems better placed to cope with the surge; and the industry hasn't forgotten Japan Airlines' bankruptcy, triggered by wrong bets on crude prices.
"The risk is if oil prices rise too rapidly beyond a certain level, airlines will be exposed to the price risk and the hedging portfolio will not be effective," said Kelvin Lau, an aviation analyst with Daiwa Institute of Research in Hong Kong.

While there are no available figures on the volume of options being traded, transactions in OTC swaps contracts that are sometimes used by airlines as a betting tool have been falling.The visible volume of Asian regrade and jet fuel swaps purchased by banks in the last quarter of 2010, when oil prices crossed USD$90, dipped compared with the same period last year and also versus the three months to July 2008 when prices climbed to a record high of USD$147 a barrel, data showed.

"I am not seeing any airline coming out (to hedge) aggressively yet. Many appear quite comfortable with their positions," said Shukor Yusof, aviation analyst with Standard & Poor's Equity Research. "The current oil prices are not too acute for them to rush into the (hedging) market just yet."

OTC SWAPS
Some 2.85 million barrels worth of the two contracts changed hands in the October-December period last year, versus 3.55 million during May-July 2008, when Japan Airlines was disastrously betting that oil prices would keep rising.

Delta Air Lines said on December 15 that its hedge position for 2011 is about 40 percent, and of that, 40 percent is capped in the low-to-mid USD$80 a barrel range.

Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong's flagship carrier, is hedging 35 percent to 40 percent for the 2010-11 financial year compared with 50 percent a year earlier, while Malaysia Airlines is covering 33 percent in 2011 compared with 60 percent last year.

A slowdown in hedging will reduce the volume of business of banks that sell options and other derivatives to airlines to cover their bets.
Oil prices hit a 26-month high over USD$92 a barrel on December 31, closing the year up 15 percent. Strong growth from Asia, especially China, and a rebound in demand from recovering economies elsewhere fueled a four-month rally that pushed crude over the USD$70-USD$80 range it held for much of the year. Prices touched a peak of more than USD$145 a barrel in July 2008.





Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[General Lee]

General do you really believe there is no room to cry poor???? Remember Fuel is going back up again. Now they are saying 5 bucks a gallon and over 120.00 a barrel by 2012. Oh, there's plenty of Poor Crying coming!

How much Poor Crying, WSURF? ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT? Maybe from your own mouth....read the last sentence, please.



United, Delta predicted to lead way as airlines post $4B in profits
Triangle Business Journal - by Chris Baysden
Date: Monday, January 17, 2011

The top U.S. carriers will report their largest profit – nearly $4 billion – in a decade in fourth quarter earnings reports starting this week, according to estimates by industry analyst Web site AirlineFinancials.com.

The $3.95 billion profit will come on revenue of $122 billion from the eight largest U.S. carriers: Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, United, US Airways, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Alaska Air and AirTran Airways. With the exception of Alaska, all of those carriers serve Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

AirlineFinancials.com projects that United will report both the highest net profit ($1.5 billion) and revenue ($34 billion) figures for the year. Delta will be second with a $1.4 billion profit on $31.7 billion in revenue.

American is the only large carrier expected to report a loss, which the Web site projects will be $404 million on $22.2 billion in revenue.

While those are huge profit numbers, the top carriers have been battered with $35 billion in net losses since 2001, the Web site says. This also will be the first time in a decade that the industry reported three consecutive profitable quarters.

The airlines have turned things around by cutting capacity nationally over the past couple years -- a move that helped them regain pricing power – and by improving the amount of ancillary revenue they generate (such as by charging customers to check bags). The budding economic recovery also helped by increasing passenger demand.

The result: Passengers are paying more to fly. The average fare at RDU in the first half of 2010 was nearly $209, up 15 percent from $181 in the same period a year ago, according to information provided by UBM Aviation. Those are the latest figures available.

There is some good news for RDU passengers though. After seeing declines in recent years, the airport is finally starting to see a boost in capacity thanks to new flights, UBM Aviation numbers show. The total scheduled seat capacity at the airport dropped from 560,252 in January 2008 to 496,590 in January 2009. That declined again to 459,657 in the first month of last year. But seat capacity surged up to 497,579 this month.

That increase could help to moderate the fare hikes seen in the past year – but there are a lot of other factors at play as well. Those include what happens to the price of oil, whether or not the tentative economic recovery holds, and how fast passenger demand grows.

RDU will release its 2010 passenger numbers at its monthly meeting later this week. Through the first 11 months of the year, the number of enplaned passengers at the airport grew 5.5 percent to more than 393,000.

The significant capacity increases at RDU are more the exception than the rule, according to Bob Herbst, who runs AirlineFinancials.com. He says that some airports are benefitting from reshuffling, but he only sees about a 3 percent increase in capacity systemwide.

Herbst thinks that the first quarter will be another good one for the major carriers, but he notes that with such thin profit margins – about 3 percent – a spike in fuel prices or labor trouble could quickly cause the industry to go back in the red.

“The airline employees have given up a lot over the last decade and they want it back,” Herbst says.



It won't all come back at once, but some of it will be coming back, and SCOPE can come back too. We have the payrates for large RJs, and it's time to send them our way! AMEN!

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[WSurf]

It won't all come back at once, but some of it will be coming back, and SCOPE can come back too. We have the payrates for large RJs, and it's time to send them our way! AMEN!

Bye Bye--General Lee

Believe me I hope your right. And yea we can all through quotes and articles up all day. But I think we all should hope that the industry recovers. Growth at the mainline level is what every hopes happens.
Fingers crossed!

But then again we still have to deal with greed in this country. Airline CEO's haven't been labor friendly over the last 15 years.

 

[General Lee]

Believe me I hope your right. And yea we can all through quotes and articles up all day. But I think we all should hope that the industry recovers. Growth at the mainline level is what every hopes happens.
Fingers crossed!

But then again we still have to deal with greed in this country. Airline CEO's haven't been labor friendly over the last 15 years.

No doubt there. Even with higher profits, DL is thinking about slower growth this year, maybe 1-3% total. That isn't much, and you are right, gas prices are higher, which will certainly hit the bottomline somewhere. Still, profits are a good thing, and restoration of contracts will become a priority in the next couple of years. I don't think anyone believes we will get everything we want, but there will be some things that are a priority, and other things that will be nice to have back again. Delta has done a good job avoiding other unions for the other groups (all voted down), which would have really added more of a burden to that bottom line again.

So WSurf, what's up with you? You still in EWN? I saw Pdt got the groud contract for stuff out West. Will you guys fly out there too? Would you go out there? What about you guys getting some DH8-400s? Take care.


Bye Bye--General Lee