Delta spends money on new gates.....

[General Lee]

ATL’s Gate C28 offers preview of things to come
12:40 p.m. 04/15/04

New lights, ceiling panels and seating at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s gate C28, are a preview of upcoming renovations to ASA’s Concourse C. The updated look eventually will be replicated throughout the Atlanta airport. David Sellers, director-Properties and Facilities for ASA, said the Atlanta Department of Aviation chose C28 as its demonstration gate for the new project. “Within the next few months, the DOA, through the Atlanta Airlines Terminal Corporation, will begin renovating every gate from Concourse A to D with the brighter, more spacious look,” he said. “This will be especially evident on Concourse C, where the lighting is not as bright when compared with other concourses.”

Concourse C hasn't been significantly renovated since before the 1996 Olympic Games. The AATC project and a $20 million renovation planned by ASA will transform the concourse into one of the leading regional facilities in the DL system. ASA is in the final phases of securing financing for its portion of the renovation and plans to announce detailed plans later this spring.



Bye Bye--General Lee

PS--Who do you think will pay for the $20 million renovation of the C Concourse (or ASA gates)? Do you think ASA will? Or Delta? Hmmmmmmm. Nah, ASA and Comair always pay for their own expenses....

 

[Ace757]

Man...!! For an airline that GG says is on the doorsteps of bankruptcy, and is seeking 40% from his pilots they sure like to spend a lot of money on frivolous (sp) stuff. If I were going bankrupt I dont think I would spend 20 million on brighter colors in Concurse C. And I don't think I would spend 300 mill on renovationg the JFK terminal, or paying millions to develop a new designer uniform for its employees. If you cut out all of those costs Delta could be in the black. But thats not what GG wants. General, how do you feel about your future pay cuts to go for this kind of stuff. If I were DALPA I would shove this right back in Deltas face. Unless they have a real plan for recovery that the pilots approve of I say that you guys shouldnt give anything up.

just my .02 cents

 

[SenorSpielbergo]

General: What happened to your "Delta's negotiating team" avatar. That was f'in hilarious!

 

[Oakum_Boy]

Face it y'all, Delta needs a makeover. Seriously. Front-line employee uniforms were never good looking, and Hartsfield is not an attractive airport compared with others, like CLT, ORD, DEN, etc.. Delta definitely does not need to look like Southwest or AirTran. Maybe spending money on the operation will build some brand loyalty. Unfortunately, paying the pilots a premium does not guarantee a premium product, unless they make better landings or something...

 

[Oakum_Boy]

Unless they have a real plan for recovery that the pilots approve of I say that you guys shouldnt give anything up.

just my .02 cents

The reality of the business, is that neither pilots nor their unions are in charge of recovery plans. I want a solid future as much as any pilot, but have no faith in ALPA negotiating the airline's future. Pilots should be well compensated, (an area with which I'm not very familiar), but since when does that entitle them to run the airline...???

 

[General Lee]

Oakum Boy,

You make it sound like we are not willing to negotiate. We are. This is sooooo stupid. The only hang up is that he wants 40% of our contract, and has not given any sort of plan yet, and has not asked for any other substantial contributions from other employee groups. I understand that many of them have had increases in their medical premiums---and that would be one of MANY things that we would give also. There is no argument here that we should NOT give up pay---we should. The problem now is to figure out what is fair and what will still help the company.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Emerson Bigguns]

an outsider's view....

The General has convinced me that Delta's pilots are geniune with their offer to concessions. And I also believe that the pilots are lowballing and GG is highballing. General - How much cash(exactly) will your 15-20% give and how much will GG's 40% give to the company. What I am asking is if you gave 25-30% will the company be solvent? Or is there more to be made up elsewhere?.....ie F/A's, Mechs, Managenent and improvements in the business model. My hunch is even if the pilots gave 40%, Delta would still be coming up in the red. If that is the case, GG has got some explaining to do......and I would be very vocal/public about it. More so, if my money was helping to right the listing ship, I better be in on exactly how we are bailing and patching the holes.

I really don't think the pilots want to kill the golden goose over there at Delta.

 

[General Lee]

Emerson,

From what I have heard, every 5% equals about $100 million a year in savings. I think we would give up 15-20% in direct pay cuts, plus more on QOL issues. I don't know how much they would be worth, but probably close to the pay cuts. Other cuts factored in would be per-diem cuts, which could go down 40-50 cents per hour--and that would cover all 7500 pilots plus the 14,000 stews I believe. (the per diem is tied in together for both groups I believe) Also medical premium cuts, and cuts in Variable Minimum---which currently guarantees us 5 hours a day min pay. (Stops them from giving you a 4 day trip worth 10 hours total) But remember here, I am not a negotiator and I do NOT know what Dalpa would do or would give up. These are things I have "heard" in the lounge. Thank you for looking at this objectively.

Bye Bye--General Lee


PS---I am not a negotiator, and I do NOT have the exact numbers.....

 

[Emerson Bigguns]

Herr General

Seems like GG is killing you guys in the battle of perception. I think that your position would be set in stone if you argued with firm numbers. Nobody can argue with a balance sheet. It may just force GG's hand.....get management to the table and show the "new businees strategy" or at least get it out sooner.

EB

 

[General Lee]

I don't think they want to come to the table, and that is what is frustrating.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[OPECJet]

General, that's exactly what it looks like from the perspective of a distant observer. At least this one anyway.

I hate to say it, but DL has got a lot of work to do. My last trip on the airline did not meet my somewhat low expectations in many ways. Its very hard to see an airline that was once a family become what it is now.

Spending money on the new look in the concourses does seem frivilous at this time. However, C is in need of a change.

Just my 3/4 of a cent. I'm too broke to give 2 of them.

 

[General Lee]

OPECjet,

I know, and some of our planes look old too with three different paint jobs. Sure, we need to clean up a bit---but we also need a change of attitude---from management down, and a customer service push. Grinstein has got to realize that we are "all" part of this picture, and we all need to contribute to get this thing back on track again.

Sorry for your bad experience....

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[OPECJet]

General, there is no need to apologize for my bad experience. I do appreciate the thought, and I hope the employees of my new company share the same attitude when things go bad.

Every other time I have flown with you guys I have been more than satisfied. This includes flying home Christmas Day after having flown the boss down to his beach house. I'm sure my demeanor wasn't the best, but all the employees I came across on that trip were more than accomodating.

I'm sure it will be better next time I travel. If Grinstein is who he claims to be, he should be able to help turn it around. I certainly hope so, but I'm sure we all have our doubts. Give 'em hell for all of us! 40% is a rediculous number.

 

[AFELLOWAVIATOR]

Bye Bye--General Lee

PS--Who do you think will pay for the $20 million renovation of the C Concourse (or ASA gates)? Do you think ASA will? Or Delta? Hmmmmmmm. Nah, ASA and Comair always pay for their own expenses.... [/B]

The article says ASA will pay for it. Your a #$cking idiot general. You have to be the biggest fu$%#ing idiot on this board. Grow up.

 

[rjcap]

Delta mgmt is negotiating - via the media.

Articles in AJC and USA Today. Management has beat you guys to the punch. The only question is who will blink first, pilots or Grinstein.

Updates to Terminal C in ATL were in the planning and execution stages for over 18 months. This is old news.


One question. Why is Michelle Burns taking a lateral move and leaving one potentially bankrupt company for another?
If you believe her qoutes in todays AJC she says, " Its for the challenge."
So why not stay at Delta and fix the problems here ??

Whats Grinstein up to ?????

 

[Heavy Set]

Afellowaviator,

You're a class act. Who owns ASA? Delta. I think that's the General's point.

 

[skiddriver]

ATL’s Gate C28 offers preview of things to come
12:40 p.m. 04/15/04

Who do you think will pay for the $20 million renovation of the C Concourse (or ASA gates)? Do you think ASA will? Or Delta? Hmmmmmmm. Nah, ASA and Comair always pay for their own expenses....

ASA apparently will pay in ATL. In CVG, our concourse C upgrades (plasma screen gate monitors, etc.) are being paid for by Comair. The cost of the new screens just about equalled the money Comair asked for during their first round of concession requests from our pilot group. I'll add that Mother D has asked exactly two pilot groups for wage concessions to this point, Mainline and Comair. Both have given the same answer - it depends. Of course, the General likes to act like he's the only one under the gun.

 

[General Lee]

Afellowaviator and skiddriver,

Who owns ASA? Who pays for reservations, the kiosks, insurance, etc? Delta does. Who pays your salary? Delta does. With no fuel hedging now, I think ASA/Comair will have to pay for their own fuel (according to you guys), and that doesn't leave them with much extra money for new terminals..... Wake up! But, I do think Skiddriver does see the full picture here.... We are all under the gun.


RJCAP,

There are some questions about why the CFO would leave. I don't know for sure, but you have to wonder......I won't speculate on this board, but......

Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[FDJ2]

Re: Re: Delta spends money on new gates.....

Your a #$cking idiot general. You have to be the biggest fu$%#ing idiot on this board. Grow up.

Very nice. I wouldn't it be great if we were all as grown up and professional as you. tic

 

[DrunkIrishman]

Who owns ASA? Who pays for reservations, the kiosks, insurance, etc? Delta does. Who pays your salary? Delta does. With no fuel hedging now, I think ASA/Comair will have to pay for their own fuel (according to you guys), and that doesn't leave them with much extra money for new terminals..... Wake up! But, I do think Skiddriver does see the full picture here.... We are all under the gun.

General-

You seem to contradict yourself here. On one hand you say that Delta owns, and therefore runs, ASA and Comair. All things are paid for by Delta. Yet in the succeeding sentences you talk about ASA and Comair paying for things themselves. It cannot be both ways. Which do you believe?

ASA and Comair are also sitting by watching Delta flight attendents get new uniforms and your employee buses get new paint jobs. If ASA and Comair make $XX in profit for Delta, then why aren't they getting far better amenities. It goes both ways.

You and I are on the same side, we are both pilots! Put an end to this waste of time regional/major BS.