Bastian: No frontline layoffs in new Delta
Atlanta Business Chronicle - by J. Scott Trubey Staff Writer
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A day after closing a merger to become the world’s largest airline,
Delta Air Lines Inc. President and Chief Financial Officer Ed Bastian affirmed the company’s commitment to maintaining its hubs and retaining its frontline employees.
“There will be no front line employees let go as part of our merger,” Bastian said Thursday. “We’re going to retain all our hubs and we’re going to retain all the front line jobs.”
Federal regulators Wednesday cleared Atlanta-based Delta (NYSE: DAL) and Eagan, Minn.-based
Northwest Airlines Corp. (NYSE: NWA) to merge. Delta made its case to merge with Northwest largely on its lack of route overlap, efficiencies it could gain and its pledge not to purge frontline workers such as pilots, flight attendants and airport personnel.
Delta has its largest hub at Hartsfield-Jackson. It also has hubs in Salt Lake City, Cincinnati and New York. With Northwest—now a Delta subsidiary known as NWA Inc.—it adds hubs in Minneapolis/St.Paul, Detroit, Memphis, Tenn., and Tokyo.
During a called news conference Thursday at
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Bastian said Atlanta would be a big winner in the company’s merger with Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest Airlines Inc. Atlanta, he said, now controls its own future.
“You will have more access to more locations on a nonstop basis around the world than any city in the world,” he said. “And that’s a very, very big deal for this community.”
In particular, Atlanta gains coveted access to Asia. Delta already has nonstop links to Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai, but it now gains access within one stop to more than 15 destinations through Northwest’s Tokyo hub. Northwest is the only U.S.-flagged carrier with a hub in Asia.
Though Bastian said frontline positions would be spared from cuts, officials have said about 1,000 jobs will be eliminated throughout the headquarters of both Delta and Northwest as the carriers combine.
Between 25 to 30 senior division managers
will soon depart Delta through retirements and job buyouts, with many being replaced by counterparts at Northwest or from within, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation have told Atlanta Business Chronicle.
Bastian, who helped lead Delta out of bankruptcy and past a near hostile takeover from
U.S. Airways Group Inc. (NYSE: LCC) in 2006, now transitions to lead the integration of Northwest’s personnel, fleet and technology into the new Delta. He is now Northwest’s CEO and Delta’s president, and said he will relinquish his CFO title to a new executive to be named next week.
For the time being, Bastian said, it will be “business as usual” for the two carriers. They will still have distinct Web sites, ticketing systems and procedures. It will likely take about two years to fully integrate the carriers.
“The operating practices of the airlines are identical to what they were yesterday…we’re going to take this integration very, very slow,” he said. “We’re going to be certain we’re putting our customers first in our plans as we integrate the airlines so we’re not going to take a chance or take a risk with your travel experience.”
Delta has some obstacles ahead of it as it moves forward with combining forces with Northwest. Northwest is heavily unionized, while Delta is not.
Delta’s flight attendants voted against unionization earlier this year, but under federal labor law will hold another vote as Northwest flight attendants, who are represented by the
Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, enter the fold.
“We now have the potential to be the largest flight attendant union in the world and look forward to working together to make that a reality,” representatives of AFA-CWA said in a statement.
Bastian said Delta has a good relationship with its unionized pilots and would respect the decision of its employees if any group opts to organize.
Delta, he said, would honor its legal commitment to fulfill the pension plans of Northwest and Delta employees.
. Interesting that you mentioned that the NW 757 drivers would get ER qualified. Since they don't have separate categories like we do, I was wondering how that integration would work.
