DL CFO (Ed Bastain) meets with NWA pilots...article

[General Lee]

God is capitalize in this country. Unless your Obama... then you don't believe in God or put your hand over your heart during the pledge of alliegence

MCCAIN FOR PRES!

You mean George Bush III? I bet airline management is voting for him.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[FmrFreightDog]

God is capitalize in this country. Unless your Obama... then you don't believe in God or put your hand over your heart during the pledge of alliegence

MCCAIN FOR PRES!

Drink and post much???

 

[clippyrip]

If you keep bashing the 9s and the 742s maybe your hopes will come true.

 

[General Lee]

If you keep bashing the 9s and the 742s maybe your hopes will come true.

Do you really think I WANT the DC9s and 742s parked? I hope they aren't and are replaced with something like sized. With everyone parking older planes, does it worry me? I would think they could be next, wouldn't you? I hope not.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[JonnyKnoxville]

AMR is taking 737 deliveries to replace their MD-80s as fast as they can afford to. This action should clearly state that the MD-80 is not a good fit in the marketplace at these oil prices.

I think Delta will do the same. They just have other capital intensive projects going on right now like a merger. But make no mistake, having DC-9s and MD-80s at any airline right now is not ideal. Delta certainly will not be acquiring any more!

 

[ACL65PILOT]

I agree that we will do this, but I am not sure at what rate. We have talked about 60 73N's being on order. 30 for sure. We will wait and see how all of this pans out.
I would love to see more of these.

 

[General Lee]

AMR is taking 737 deliveries to replace their MD-80s as fast as they can afford to. This action should clearly state that the MD-80 is not a good fit in the marketplace at these oil prices.

I think Delta will do the same. They just have other capital intensive projects going on right now like a merger. But make no mistake, having DC-9s and MD-80s at any airline right now is not ideal. Delta certainly will not be acquiring any more!

The MD90 is not really an "MD80." Most AA MD80s didn't have any FMS, or probably an autothrottle system. (yes, I think an FMS system was recently fitted into the MD83s at AA). The MD88 is an advanced version of the MD88, and the MD90 has better performance with newer engines. At the price most foreign carriers are selling them, they would be considered a "steal." Have we looked into them recently? Yes. Could they replace old DC9s on certain routes? Maybe. Neither you nor I really know what DL management wants to do, but they trained every MD88 pilot at CVG on the MD90 just in case. But, you can't really equal an MD80 to an MD88 or MD90. That is like saying a 737-200 is the same as a 737-700. They kinda look the same.....


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[ACL65PILOT]

I think that if DAL management uses it they have a real opportunity here. With the DC-9's paid for they could raise fares on those routes. If the yeild dropped off they can park them quite quickly, or lower the fares. It will allow them to find exactly where the elasticity of demand is. Most carriers will not be able to do that. They cannot risk airplanes not being full, we could. I just hope that they do something like this. It would allow them the ability to see where the real market cap is. Thus, allowing them the ability to know what airframes they need to order for each route.
I know airline management and this is thinking outside the box, but one can hope....

 

[andyd]

I'm confident our guys are smart enough to figure out the tipping point on fares/routes/yields/casm/rasm and all those other big words. Aside from the furloughs that are comming down industry wide I'm looking FORWARD to 65 or 70% load factors and turning a profit at those numbers. Just think at how easy it'll be to non-rev around the system while on furlough! And how easy and stress free the commute to work will be instead of getting stuck in 44b in between two wide bodies stuffing thier faces with fastfood.

The market will right itself, if oil is here to stay at the current levels or higher (which I don't believe it will, $65-70/bbl by November) we will all, those of that are left, return to profitability. However, most of us will not have jobs and several carriers will be gone. The era of cheap tickets for the leisure traveler are GONE and none too soon!

 

[andyd]

In the meantime I am preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. My Christmas wish this year is to still have a job. But I'm not going to stop living, just change the way I'd had things layed out. The house project was just cancelled and a new double wide with polyester curtains and a redwood deck will take it's place. The cars will not be replaced over the next 2 years, we'll keep driving the old ones and I will be doing the maintenance instead of the dealership. We are in yet another new reality and re-alignment of our industry and the sooner we all make adjustments and tough decisions the better off we'll be with the commensurate lower stress level.

 

[dtfl]

What?

He believes everything he gets via chain letter. That's what.

Im NO Obama supporter..but it has been proven time and again that the pledge of allegiance issue was untrue....and an airline pilot voting for McCain. Wow.....hell,a PILOT voting for McCain. I heard McCain did dump enough Navy jets to keep McD in business, though.

aaah enough politics. We can do like PBS...CSR? Clear Schedule and Restart this race?

 

[dtfl]

If you keep bashing the 9s and the 742s maybe your hopes will come true.

I dont think folks are BASHING the whales. Hell, those would rock going to Europe...DAL is filling 777s with no problem. I heard DAL mgmt wants 74s in ATL. But..folks are thinking they are too exp to operate. IF they are paid for they are cheaper in my book...but for some reason airline mgmt thinks its cheaper to buy new jets that are more efficient...take on extra debt and just push the burden down the road.

 

[ironspud]

So what is it really: Bastain or Bastian?

 

[Superpilot92]

AMR is taking 737 deliveries to replace their MD-80s as fast as they can afford to. This action should clearly state that the MD-80 is not a good fit in the marketplace at these oil prices.

I think Delta will do the same. They just have other capital intensive projects going on right now like a merger. But make no mistake, having DC-9s and MD-80s at any airline right now is not ideal. Delta certainly will not be acquiring any more!

AA is much different than NWA/DAL. Both NWA/DAL dumped alot of expenses and debt during bankruptcy. Not to mention NWA/DAL also got much more favorable reduced lease rates or no lease payments at all for our aircraft.

 

[Superpilot92]

New article from today.

Delta, Northwest meet over pilot pay issues

June 6, 2008 1:24 PM ET

Executives with Delta Air Lines Inc. met with leaders from Northwest Airlines pilot union Thursday in an effort to solve problems over pay parity between pilots of the airlines as a merger between the two is impending.
According to media reports, leaders for the Air Line Pilots Association, Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest's (NYSE: NWA) pilot union, made it clear that Northwest pilots be paid equally to Delta's when the merger takes affect. The last time the two entities met was in early May, but they were unable to reach an agreement on a contract because of seniority ranking.
Atlanta-based Delta (NSYE: DAL) is poised to propose a phase-in of pay increases for pilots of Northwest pilots to bring them to pay parity over time, the report detailed.
Leaders for Delta's pilots union had negotiated pay raises before the merger was announced in mid-April, while a contract in place for Northwest pilots includes lower wages than Delta.
Delta Chief Financial Officer Ed Bastian, who with the executive council of the Northwest pilots union for the first time, told the Minneapolis Star tribune in an interview, "They expressed their views and I heard them and I understand them," Bastian said in an interview after the session.
Later this month, Delta and Northwest leaders head back to the bargaining table to try and hammer out an agreement.