General Lee said:Medflyer,
I have taken your advice, and I just took a chill pill---or a Xanax....
Ok, I went to the source (ATL Chief Pilot Office) and asked them (via the phone) what was up. They said that we do want to trim those expenses for 2005---probably our toughest year in the future for payments---and this was one way to ensure it. I also asked about future flying, and they said the 767-400 will do more INTL flying (a bid today offered 20 new Capt slots and 20 FO slots for the 765--or the INTL 767-400 in ATL--a new catoagory)---including replacing a 767-300 DOM on the ATL--Lima, Peru flight. They also may start some Europe flying in the Summer, plus nonstop ATL and CVG to HNL. They also said that the four 767-200s returning from the desert probably will replace some of that DOM 764 flying, and that some of the LAX 765 guys will do a little more DOM flying instead of only Hawaii. Do I wish that we still would get the 777s for future INTL flying? Sure I do---but our management must be thinking of something else, and so far RJs can't fly nonstop to Europe from ATL.
Bye Bye--General Lee
Hey General, a couple of questions for you:
1. The 764 domestic F cabin is clearly not on par with BizElite and would create marketing issues if put on Intl ops. Are they planning to reconfigure all 25 airplanes with the J class cabin, split the fleet between J and Domestic F, or just keep as is?
2. Given your comments that this summer's transatlantic loads are already looking promising, is DL ready with additional 767 frequencies out of ATL? This will be the first summer that DL has gone from having 23 270-seat category acft (8 777 and 15 M11) to just 8. With 2 of those always tied up for 055/056 to NRT, at least 1 out of JFK to CDG, this leaves only 5 777 for ATL. The loads to CDG/LGW/AMS/FRA have been very high in past summers when they were served with multiple M11/B777 (LGW was at one point 2x M11 1 777 1 763). Isn't DL leaving potential revenue on the table by flying undersized 763 on peak flights? Or is there a closet plan to possibly reactivate M11s?
3. Not flamebait....Do you think the B777 fleet changes are truly an attempt to reduce capital expenditures by the bookkeepers, or is it really just a casualty of the mgmt/DALPA fiasco? 300m is a huge savings for the accountants at the GO, but elimination of future additional $305-an-hour positions must have caught DALPA's attention in a big way.
Thanks. I'm hoping a successful summer will cause them to end up taking these aircraft in the future.