Delta sees SOLID PROFIT GROWTH for 2012

[FDJ2]

Over the life of the contract? Or the first year? You have to be more specific. I hope the first year personally.....


Bye Bye---General Lee

Yeah, Lee Seham and your DPA buddies you shill for can get that for you no problem, just like they did at USAPA.

 

[IamGumbyDammit]

Are 4000 people wrong? There are some pizzed off pilots out there, and they are hoping that Dalpa gets it right. I see NOTHING wrong with that. I am a bit surprised by your reaction, though. I think the MEC Chair got an earful out in Peachtree City, and that is just a hint of what a lot of people think. Fingers crossed that Dalpa can get it right. I hope so.


Bye Bye---General Lee

This is EXACTLY what management wants.

 

[Dan Roman]

General did I miss something, are you really a DPA proponent??
DPA=USAPA dude, you would spend years flying for an airline with absolutely no union solidarity or direction.

 

[xjhawk]

If a group is not happy with how things are being run, maybe this is will push Delta Alpa to do a better job for the their pilots. There is also a problem with many of the most vocal of the "union can't do anything wrong" group. If one disagrees with how things are being run or do not support the outcome of previous union endeavors, it seems some union guys start calling those people anti union or dissenters. We can all stand together as a union against the company while conducting votes for leadership and the direction of our local ALPA.

I am not defending the new union push at Delta-I do not have a horse in this race- but I will say that at my company if you disagree with how things are negotiated and you ask for things to be pushed in a different direction, they seem to think you are anti union. Oh yeah, or my favorite of their responses is if you do not like it, leave. or no one forced you to get a job here.......and all I want is for ALPA to have respected my seniority during SLI and maybe, just maybe try negotiating for the pilots on reserve for a better QOL

 

[SWA Bubba]

General did I miss something, are you really a DPA proponent??
DPA=USAPA dude, you would spend years flying for an airline with absolutely no union solidarity or direction.

Gotta' disagree with you here, Dan. DPA most certainly does NOT equal USAPA. Having an inhouse union has its plusses and minuses, and that's for individual groups to decide. For a big enough airline (us or you), it can be great, overcoming the shortcomings of a national union (ALPA). On the other hand, if not run well, it'll probably hurt. It's certainly your choice; I'm not advocatiing either option for you.

However, to repeat: Delta forming an inhouse union is NOTHING like USAPA. DPA would be to replace ALPA and represent the Delta pilots as a whole, whereas USAPA was formed specifically to circumvent an arbitrated list, and specifically to advance the interests of one set of the pilots against the other set of the pilots. Unless you're insinuating that DPA is a ruse to pit one subset of Delta guys against another, they are worlds apart. Are you saying that's the case?

Bubba

 

[curtaindriver]

Dec. 14, 2011, 3:11 p.m. EST
Delta Air sees ‘solid’ profit growth for 2012

Business travel is expected to climb next year as economy grows




B MarketWatch --By Christopher Hinton



WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Delta Air Lines said Wednesday it expects “solid” profit growth next year on the back of strong business-travel demand and cost cutting.

For 2012, the Atlanta-based carrier said it would trim between 2% and 3% from its system-wide seat capacity to help boost its ticket prices. For trans-Atlantic flights, which include some of the industry’s highest-yielding routes, Delta and its joint venture partners want to pull their combined capacity down by 7% to 8% in anticipation of a European recession.



Globally, however, Delta expects the economy to grow slowly, spurring more deep-pocketed business people to travel. Corporate travel is expected to rise 6% to 8% next year from 2011 levels, the airline said in a government filing.
In the last four weeks, health care, financial services and transportation sector related travel are up sharply from the same period last year.

Earnings in 2011 are projected to be $800 million, or $1.1 billion after adjusting for restructuring and loss on extinguishment of debt, Delta said. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research were looking for full-year adjusted earnings of $977 million, on average.

Delta posted an adjusted profit of $1.44 billion last year. Shares of Delta have had a rough year with fuel prices up sharply and concerns a sovereign-debt crisis in Europe could drag down the global economy and reduce the demand for flying. In the past year the carrier’s stock is off by nearly 38%, and it’s down about 3% in the last three months.
On Wednesday, Delta shares rose more than 2% to an intraday high of $8.35. More recently the stock was up 2% to $8.15.
To offset a roughly 40% jump in its fuel bill, Delta said it intends to lower its non-fuel costs to 2010 levels, but a climbing labor expense and higher airport fees have frustrated the attempt. Non-fuel costs per available seat mile next year is expected to rise by 2% to 4%, or about 40 cents higher than the targeted level.

Delta will focus on structural changes to help bring costs down, including the delivery on new, more fuel efficient Boeing Co. 737-900ER jets at the end of 2012 that will lower maintenance costs. There are also opportunities to increase employee productivity and eliminate more smaller-gauge aircraft, especially 50-seat regional jets.


Combined, these structural changes could lower the airline’s costs by $600 million to $750 million. The airline is also focused on reducing its debt, and projects its adjusted net debt at the end of 2011 will be $12.9 billion, down from $17 billion at the end of 2009. By the end of 2013, Delta wants to get its debt down to about $10 billion.




Bye Bye---General Lee

I appreciate you being so proud of your respective airline, but a couple of points:

1. Most carriers will experience the same in 2012.

2. It will be nice to see revenue growth coupled with actual growth of the airline.


CD

 

[fam62c]

This is EXACTLY what management wants.

That's what I was going to say. A rift within the pilot group that reduces unity and distracts the union officers from focusing 100% on contract negotiations can only be a good thing for the company. This will burn up union resources and waste time and energy. What is the difference between DALPA and DPA? Either way the union is made up of the members of your pilot group. If you change unions, elect new officers, etc. you will burn up at least a year with internal issues.

We seem to have entered an era where pilots spend most of their energy fighting with each other instead of focusing on goals that benefit the whole group.

In any case, I'm not sure it really matters anyway. Unless there is some reason the company wants you to have a new contract the way the NMB operates today means that negotiations in the airline industry are essentially endless. One problem with having a small number of mega-carriers and reduced industry capacity is that the NMB will be very hesitant to release anyone from mediation and even if they do no president will let a union stop the operation of a giant airline that's essential to the transportation system. The general public has become very anti-union.

Any leverage that unions once had in this industry is largely gone. The only thing that could change this would be a massive, worldwide pilot shortage that was so severe that airlines had to compete with one another to attract pilots. That's the dream that never seems to come true.

As strange as it seems the best way to have leverage might be to not have a NMB-certified union at all. With a tight pilot market (essential for this to work) a highly unified (this is key) and well organized group could use the "wildcat" strike as a weapon that could not be stopped by the NMB or a president. No big airline could hope to replace enough of it's pilots fast enough to avoid catastrophic losses. A non-certified pilot organization could negotiate an agreement with the company outside of the confines of the RLA thus preventing endless mediation and agreements that remain in the amendable stage for years. The RLA has become way too one-sided to work for labor anymore and the bankruptcy process that allows management to unilaterally vilolate the RLA and change agreements with no recourse options for labor just adds insult to injury.

 

[Scoot 11]

Gotta' disagree with you here, Dan. DPA most certainly does NOT equal USAPA. Having an inhouse union has its plusses and minuses, and that's for individual groups to decide. For a big enough airline (us or you), it can be great, overcoming the shortcomings of a national union (ALPA). On the other hand, if not run well, it'll probably hurt. It's certainly your choice; I'm not advocatiing either option for you.

However, to repeat: Delta forming an inhouse union is NOTHING like USAPA. DPA would be to replace ALPA and represent the Delta pilots as a whole, whereas USAPA was formed specifically to circumvent an arbitrated list, and specifically to advance the interests of one set of the pilots against the other set of the pilots. Unless you're insinuating that DPA is a ruse to pit one subset of Delta guys against another, they are worlds apart. Are you saying that's the case?

Bubba

Bubba:
I think the point here is that DPA is using the same legal representation as USAPA, ergo it's bad advice.
You make some valid points, but IMHO, the Delta pilots are better served by ALPA than the abortion counsel they have at USAPA.

 

[On Your Six]

I appreciate you being so proud of your respective airline, but a couple of points:

1. Most carriers will experience the same in 2012.

2. It will be nice to see revenue growth coupled with actual growth of the airline.


CD

Yeah, no biggie....... Your airline will probably do the same. Yeah, that's the ticket.....

Looks like the only way to combine revenue growth with high oil is to restrict capacity, but you want to grow too. More consolidation will probably be the next move, to limit the growth even more.


Godspeed!



OYS

 

[BrickTop]

I appreciate you being so proud of your respective airline, but a couple of points:

1. Most carriers will experience the same in 2012.

2. It will be nice to see revenue growth coupled with actual growth of the airline.


CD

DELTA is planning to cut ANOTHER 2-3% next year 2012. I would love to Punch Anderson in the teeth. Airports are SLAMMED, planes are stuffed like a college dorm room closet and these dipsh!ts continue to cut capacity when there is a MARKET DEMAND for more capacity. Again more evidence that the hiring boom hopefuls should seek a reality pill. Corporate profitability is the ONLY motivator of Staffing, operational and shrinking measures.

???? GROWTH??? What growth?